(tour: FON/WC-1 '10)
 

With 2 Pelagic trips:
One from Westport, in Washington State;
One from Monterey, in California.
A list of pelagic birds found during this tour.

A Parasitic Jaeger photographed in the fall.
This is 1 of 4 species in the genus Stercorarius 
seen during FONT West Coast USA tours in September.
The others are Pomarine & Long-tailed Jaegers 
and the South Polar Skua.  
All 4 species have been seen during the tours
on pelagic trips in both Washington & California.   

And birding on Land, the rest of the time:
We'll go for area specialties, and any rarities that may be present. It'll be peak time for SHOREBIRDING.
Shorebirds, rare in North America, that have been seen during previous FONT September West Coast USA tours in California and/or  Washington State have included:
Lesser Sand Plover (formerly called Mongolian Plover), Long-toed Stint, Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Curlew, Ruff.
Other rare birds along the West Coast of the USA that have been seen during this tour are noted below. 
Other LANDBIRDING will be in a number of habitats from the seacoast up into the high mountains, and beyond, in Washington on the east side of the Cascades in sage and other habitats.
High in the mountains, during this tour in the past we've seen birds such as the Barrow's Goldeneye, American Three-toed Woodpecker, and Pine Grosbeak. East of the Cascades, we've seen the Sooty Grouse (formerly called the Blue Grouse when it was conspecific with the more-easterly Dusky Grouse).     

Bald Eagles are common in the US Pacific Northwest,
both adult (above) & immature (below).

Schedule and Price Information follows.

The Cascade Mountains in Washington State.

The basic schedule of the tour:

The tour begins on Friday, September 10 mid-day, at the Seattle airport. The first part of the tour (5 nights) in Washington State. Overnights are normally in: Westport, Bellingham, and Ellensburg.

On Wednesday, September 15 (in the afternoon); the flight from Seattle to San Francisco.

The second part of the tour (5 nights) in central California. Overnights normally in Salinas and San Mateo (near the SFO airport). Departure from the San Francisco airport on Sunday, September 19.

In Washington State, areas to be visited would be: 
the coast, Ocean Shores, the San Juan Islands, the Cascade Mountains, and along the Columbia River for sage species.

In California: the coast south of San Francisco, and Monterey County from the Big Sur inland.

We'll be wherever the good birds are!

Yellow-billed Magpie, endemic to California.

Links:

List of Birds during previous FONT September West Coast USA Tours.
(327 species) 

List of Birds during previous FONT September West Coast USA Tours in CALIFORNIA  (with photos)  

List of Birds during previous FONT September West Coast USA Tours in WASHINGTON STATE  (with photos)    

List of Mammals & Other Wildlife during previous FONT September West Coast USA Tours
(59 species)

List of Butterflies (for Washington State & central California)

Previous West Coast USA Tour Highlights

A Narrative: "Following the Path of Lewis & Clark, and Crossing Paths with a Bird from Hawaii", relating to our September 2005 tour

Tour Registration Form

A deposit of US$500 is required to register for this tour.

Black-footed Albatross; Northern Fulmar; Pink-footed, Buller's and Sooty Shearwaters; Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel (out of Washington State); Black, and Ashy Storm-Petrels (out of Monterey, California, often in numbers), also Wilson's and Least Storm-Petrels (out of Monterey, California); Red-necked and Red Phalaropes; 3 species of Jaegers: Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed; South Polar Skua; various gulls, including: Heermann's, California, Western, and Glaucous-winged; the Sabine's Gull (sometimes incredibly common); Black-legged Kittiwake (Washington State); Arctic Tern; Common Murre; Pigeon Guillemot; Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets; Tufted Puffin; plus inshore species, migrants, and casuals.

Also possible:

Laysan Albatross (seen once during a FONT West Coast tour, out of Westport, Washington, in 1999)
Flesh-footed Shearwater (seen during 4 FONT West Coast tours) 
Short-tailed Shearwater (seen during 7 FONT West Coast tours) 
Black-vented Shearwater (seen during 4 FONT West Coast tours, out of Monterey, California)
Leach's Storm Petrel  (seen during 1 FONT West Coast tour, out of Westport, Washington)
Xantus' Murrelet (seen during 5 FONT West Coast tours, 1 of them out of Washington State) 
and Craveri's Murrelet (seen during 3 FONT West Coast tours, out of Monterey, California).  

And during one of our tours, in 1995, it was certainly a thrill when a Red-tailed Tropicbird appeared! 

Other marine life possible:

Dall's Porpoise (seen numerous times), 
Common Dolphin  (seen numerous times),
Pacific White-sided Dolphin (5 out of 10 tours), 
Northern Right Whale Dolphin (3 out of 10 tours), 
Risso's Dolphin, or Gray Grampus, 
Killer Whales, or Orcas (during our tours in 1991, 1995, & 2004 out of Washington State, either offshore or in the waters of the Puget Sound),
Short-finned Pilot Whale,
Baird's Beaked Whale (seen during a number of our tours, and as recently as in 2005 out of Monterey, California) 
Great Sperm Whale, 
Humpback Whale (seen numerous times, and as recently as in 2005 out of Monterey, California), 
Northern Minke Whale,
Fin Whale,
and the largest of the world's creatures, the Blue Whale (seen during 3 FONT West Coast Tours).  

Unusual were 2 Gray Whales seen during our 1992 tour, offshore from California.

Fall is the best season for marine mammals. 

Blue Whale, off Monterey, California.
(Photograph by Armas Hill.)

Other marine life during FONT September West Coast USA Tours has included: 
Steller's Sea Lion (in Washington State)
Northern Fur Seal  (in Washington State & California)
Harbor Seal  (in Washington State & California, during every tour)
Northern Elephant Seal  (in California)

And the following (all off California):  
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Blue Shark
Thresher Shark
Oceanic Sunfish 

Onshore:

The best localities onshore will be visited for the bird specialties of the areas (in both Washington and California) and an effort will be made as possible to see any rarity reported in the area at the time.

Early September is a particularly good time for shorebirds including rarities.

Some of the rarities along the Pacific Coast during the fall in recent years have included:

Little Curlew (seen during our 1994 tour in California) 
Lesser Sand Plover (formerly Mongolian Plover) (seen on our 1992 tour in California) 
Bar-tailed Godwit (seen on our '91, '93, '94, & '00 tours; in '00, three individuals, in WA) 
Long-toed Stint (seen on our '92 tour) 
Ruff (seen on our '00 tour). 

During our '98 tour, there were 2 species named Xantu: an out-of-range Hummingbird (in British Columbia), and the Murrelet (off the California coast).