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Photographing a Cassin’s Auklet
I just got back from a really successful pelagic birding trip to northern Vancouver Island. The American Birding Association (ABA) had a regional conference in Vancouver, which moved to Victoria on Vancouver Island. ABA conferences usually have pre and post conference excursions which explore the region the conference is centered in. Rainbird Excursions was asked to hold a cost-conference excursion. So I organised on to northern Vancouver Island. We were hoping to get to Triangle Island which is 40 miles off the north end of the island. Although the seas were quite calm the fog got thicker and thicker as we approached the end of the island to the point where visibility was less than 500 yards. At Triangle Island the other boats in the area said the visibility was zero. So seeing the birds around the island would have been an impossibility.
However, we were able to get great looks at many great birds. The highlight was a point blank lookat a Cassin’s auklet that surfaced right beside the boat. Everyone rushed to the edge of the boat to have a look and take pictures while it cooperatively swam along side. And then to give a chance to the folks on the other side, it dove and surfaced on the other side.
Sandy McRuer
Rainbirdexcursions.com