Departed at low tide and headed south through Cattle Pass.  There was word of Minke's and J-pod out towards Port Townsend.  On the drive out we saw lots of Gulls feeding in bait, which is a good sign for whales.  We arrived on scene about an hour after departing the harbor.  As we slowly approached the area where the Orca had last been spotted a Minke whale took a breath straight off our bow!  It surprised everyone.  While we were still catching our breathes from the Minke encounter...

There is only one word that could describe today.  Epic.

The sun was shining and the water was calm.  We headed north on a whim, taking the opportunity to cruise the scenic passes between Saturna Island and Pender Island.  We ended up slightly north of the Coal Docks and found ourselves amid Orcas.  At first I thought they were Transients.  There were two whales cruising west, then three, then a whole bunch more.  They were spread out to the east and west of us and we realized...

I have to say that some of my best whale days have been gross, rainy days.  Today was no exception.

We made our way down the east side of San Juan Island and around toward False Bay.  It was one of those silent, glassy, flat water days.  No seals hauled out, no sea lions on our way south.  We passed a bunch of soggy Cormorants and saw a Bald Eagle sitting on the ground.  When we got closer to Lime Kiln we saw blows way in by the rocks.  Then we saw a few more farther north. Then a...

Leaving Friday harbor we had reports of transients around Hein Bank moving southwest.  We cruised in to the area of Hein Bank about an hour and a half later and realized that the whales had made some distance towards Port Angeles.  Finally the whales came in to site.  Our passengers couldn't have been happier.  We got a few good looks at the group of about 6 whales.  There was a very identifiable male with a tall dorsal that kind of curved at the top.  There was also a very...

[caption id="attachment_1901" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mature Bald Eagle in tree"] 

[/caption]

As seen on a Birding Tour Charter May 2011

Happy Birders on the Birding Charter. Guests are from the Tri Cities.

Mature Bald Eagle in its nest

A Bald Eagle Makes A Kill in Mid-Air- Victum is a Glaucous Winged Gull

Palagic Cormorants with Glacous Winged Gulls

Birder with camera closing in on "THE shot"

A Bald Eagle Makes A Kill in Mid-Air- Victum is a Glaucous Winged Gull

Two Bald Eagle with their Glaucous Winged Gull meal

The Tri Cities Birding Group May 7, 2011

Birders and Bird Leader Barb Jensen

Mike Oster, Lead Naturalist and also a Captain.

Today we had a charter for a group of birders which departed at 9:00. Heading south out of Friday Harbor we almost immediately saw: Pelagic Cormorants,  Brandts Cormorants, Double Crested Cormorants.
There were Black Oyster Catchers on Goose Island and also a HARLEQUIN Duck there.
Out at whale rocks we saw a large group of Stellar Sea Lions basking.
There were several Rhinoceros Aucklets and Pigeon Guillemots.
MARBLED MURLETS!!!! Yes, but had it not been for Barb Jensen I dont know if the rest of of us would have spotted them.

Bald eagles were in trees and nest. But the best was when a bald eagle snatched a Glacous Winged Gull out of the air, BAM! and brought it to shore where its mate was waiting. The eagle that caught is, then began cleaning it - feathers flying.

We also saw a pair of Peregrine Falcons - Up in the rock and trees - another Barb spotting. Someone in the group spotted a Harlequin Duck. What a beauty!

About 3 hours later we pulled back in to Friday Harbor. The day was beautiful - blue skies. Not the rain predicted.

Over and out for now,

Colleen, Naturalist

Another beautiful day.  That makes wo in a row!

It was calm enough to head south through Cattle Pass and do an entire circumnavigation of San Juan Island.  Whale rocks was packed with Steller Seal Lions,  Harbor Seals, and Cormorants and as we headed out toward the straight, with the wind at our backs, we decided it would be the perfect day to just keep on going.  We made it all the way around to Henry Island and turned out toward Speiden to try to sneak a peek at some land mammals. ...

It was a beautiful, calm day...the kind of day you just want to drive all the way to Vancouver...but it was worth it.
We heard tale of transients past East Point headed toward the coal docks.  We decided to make an attempt.

By the time we made it to the coal docks there was no turning back, eventhough the whales we still headed NW at a steady clip of 7-10 knots.  Finally another boat came into view.  Then we saw huge splashes.  Finally we caught up to the pod, almost.  They were...

After a few days of overcast skies and strong winds we had a break in the weather!  With calm water and warm sun we headed out for our 1:30pm wildlife watch.  We were lucky enough to encounter some charismatic Bald Eagles right outside the harbor to start things off.  We then cruised up to East Pt. and found four Stellar Sea Lions hauled out on the rocks causing a ruckus.

Entering Haro Strait revealed more calm waters and our first Dall's Porpoise of the season!  There were a few...

What a beautiful day!  Our trip started out sunny and even a little bit warm.  We headed out of the harbor and up past Waldron toward East Point.  A passenger spotted a pair of bald eagles as soon as we were out of the slip and harbor seals were hauled out in full force along out trek up north.  Once we got to East Point we would see and hear a huge group of Stellar Sea Lions.  As we drew in closer we were treated to both Stellars and Harbor seals sharing the rock; although divided...