FIELD NOTES Doug BELL DATE: February 28, 1988 LOCATION: Bodega Bay, Marin Co., Calif + Pelagic Birding Trip out to the Bodega Canyon & Cordell Banks (30 miles out). Drove from Berkeley to Bodega in 59 minutes - a record! Arrived at 6:00 AM. Went to the boat (TARIS II) at 6:30 - with John Trochet, Durell Kapan, Dave, Francis Will, Julie Smith, Scott Edwards. Weather was unsettled, overcast, windy. Bay itself was choppy. We were underway by 6:45 AM. A few Glaucous-winged Gulls around. Many Westerns, few Ring-billed gulls. Possible imm. Glaucous gull. Coots rafting. Couple flocks of Marbled Godwits, a few Common Loons - all in Bay. Rough water on the way out past the head. Open ocean also rough for the latter part of the morning. Generally, we saw fewer seabirds than on our Monterey trip last October. In addition, the large rafts of gulls seem to have migrated out. Over the course of the day we were treated to occasional Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters, one Pink-footed Shearwater, possibly 4 different Black-footed Albatross, one Laysan Albatross, several Northern Fulmar - one dark, one light and one intermediate color phase. A single pomarine jaeger came by, as did a Kittiwake. Several Herring Gulls. One Black-footed Albatross even set down in the water! Running with the bow of our boat were several White-sided Dolphins very close, good views. Back in Bodega Bay, the weather Sawin Bay: Eared Grebe, Western Clarks was clear & sunny, calm. Grebes (orange bill), Lesser Scaup, Pelagic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorants, a flock of 20 Brant, American Widgeon + 1 European Widgeon, Pintail, Surf Scoter.