Pelagic Trip from Callao (21 Sep 2003)

Arranged by Kolibri Expeditions, we took a pelagic boat trip from a harbor in Callao, just North of Lima. We went twenty miles or so out into the Pacific Ocean where the cold water of the Humboldt Current runs. This page contains my attempts at taking bird pics with only a 4X optical zoom (Nikon CoolPix 4500) digital camera. Most are fuzzy, so beware but enjoy.


I sat at the port bow of the boat, which was a sturdy fishing boat maybe 35 feet long (?) with an open bow.

The day was VERY calm, which was good for people, but the lack of wind meant a lack of albatrosses. However, it was almost always birdy.

Behind me in the bow were Dan (left) and 3 other Gringos that signed up for the trip independently of our group. The man behind them was our Peruvian bird guide from Kolibri.

A Waved Albatross, my LIFER albatross!

Waved Albatross with a storm-petrel

Waved Albatross with a Sooty Shearwater

Here's a Cape Petrel with a flock of White-vented Storm-Petrels.

Cape Petrel

White-chinned Petrels started showing up when we were near the furthest point from shore. Here's one above a Cape Petrel

White-chinned Petrels were very tame with the boat.

Note the tiny white chin patch and the the light bill tip. These two field marks separate this species from Westland Petrel.

Sweet!

White-vented Storm-Petrel

Early in the trip we saw a fair number of Wilson's Storm-Petrels. Soon we noticed that most of the storm-petrels further out were White-venteds, like this one.

Ringed Storm-Petrel (aka Hornby's Storm-Petrel)

We saw several Peruvian Diving-Petrels, both on the water and flying by. They're sort of like a cross between a Razorbill and a Dovekie in flight.

Peruvian Diving-Petrel

Peruvian Pelican

Flocks of Peruvian Boobies were common.

Peruvian Boobies

Peruvian Booby colony on the rocks.

Bottlenose Dolphin frequently visited the boat and "played" in the bow waves.

Identifying skuas was fun on this trip. Here's a Chilean Skua with very cinnamon underparts (hard to see in this photo).

Chilean Skua

Chilean Skua

Gray Gull

Gray Gull

Another Gray Gull

Sabine's Gull

Band-tailed Gulls were common. (Kelp Gulls were common, too, but I didn't manage any good pics of them.)

We saw only one Swallow-tailed Gull on the trip. Fortunately, it flew right over the boat!

We saw thousands of Inca Terns, but I got no good photos. Very cool bird, though!

On the way back to shore, we passed some islands that had impressive South American Sea Lion colonies!

South American Sea Lions (Otaria flavescens)


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Created on ... October 24, 2003 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com