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Western Gulls and Sooty Shearwaters following a pod of dolphins, Channel Islands National Park, CA; 6/18/2011.
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On our boat ride from Santa Cruz Island back to mainland California, a pod of hundreds of dolphins followed us hoping to play in the wake our boat left behind. Along with the dolphins were flocks of birds - mostly Western Gulls and Sooty Shearwaters (Above), which were trying to capitalize by feeding on the bait fish that the dolphins chase to the surface.
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| A Sooty Shearwater floating on the ocean surface (lower right), Channel Islands Nat. Park; 6/18/2011. |
This is the first time I ever saw a Shearwater, which live exclusively over open water, coming to land only to nest - mostly on small islands. Sooty Shearwaters (Above) are common visitors from the South Pacific and stretch their hunting grounds from oceans of South America all the way north to Alaska.
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| A closer look at a Sooty Shearwater, Channel Islands Nat. Park; 6/18/2011. |
Their name comes from that they are mostly a dark "sooty" brown overall with lighter undersides and under the wings. In flight (Below), their long pointy wings are very obvious, as is their very short tail. This ocean bird became #307 on my Life List.
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| Sooty Shearwater BIF, Channel Islands Nat. Park; 6/18/2011. |
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| A Sooty Shearwater "swimming" with the dolphins, Channel Islands Nat. Park; 6/18/2011. |
Sunset of the Day
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| A Waikiki sunset, Oahu, Hawaii; 7/16/2008. |
Never heard of these birds. They have cute faces. :-)
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