In 2026 we've added a few sets of trips that are two out of three days giving us flexibility for weather and the same group of people join us on both trips. This set, the first of the season, proved that this idea can really pay off for people looking to maximize their time searching for seabirds with us!
Friday the winds were really blowing when we met at the dock at 05:30 and we decided to push back to Saturday and utilize the weather date on Sunday. Winds strong from the west all day Friday and still southwest on Saturday, still blowing a bit...but we headed offshore Saturday morning to see what we could find.
Birding was a bit slow on the shelf and conditions were a bit choppy, but then our first Black-capped Petrel of the spring zipped into view on the starboard bow! A gorgeous light form individual (example from later in the day pictured below).
This was just the beginning of what we were going to see over the course of the day...we ended up with an estimated 155 individuals before the Stormy Petrel II picked back up in the afternoon! Wilson's Storm-Petrels put on a nice showing in the slick making some close passes,
but the Black-cappeds definitely stole the show. It was really incredible to spend an entire day studying our signature species and looking at the incredible variety that exists in their plumage. The wind helped get them flying and everyone was able to get a feel for how these birds move and hopefully compare it to some other flight styles, but that would have to wait for Sunday when we actually had other flight styles! In addition to seabirds, Atlantic Spotted and offshore Bottlenose Dolphins showed well, coming in to check out the boat, and a very brave Loggerhead Turtle stayed up for us to observe it at fairly close range on the shelf in the afternoon.
Sunday was shaping up to be a great day offshore if we could get out there (thunderstorms were forecast for the morning) and if we had enough time in the deep (a front with strong northerly winds was forecast for the afternoon). Forecasts have been less reliable over the last year or two so we were curious to see if it would indeed be 14:00 before the wind picked up, as forecast. It was already blowing light from the north early in the morning, but we met at the dock to see if we might be able to make it, even if we had to cut our time offshore of the shelf a bit short. We were super lucky and had a window...so we took it!
Day 2 of the set was much busier from the start and we saw five pelagic species on the shelf before 08:00! Black-capped Petrels were zipping around and we were lucky to have a Manx Shearwater fly by the stern, though it was a bit quick and only a few participants were able to get on it in time. A small group of Red-necked Phalaropes flew by during the 07:00 period. Terns and gannets were around in excellent numbers and we had really amazing conditions with slight seas and overcast skies. Light rain was falling, but it really didn't seem like much compared to what had been in the forecast! Offshore of the shelf break, heading to deeper water, we didn't find much Gulf Stream current and the sea surface temperature was a bit cooler than on Saturday. This meant that even with the north wind blowing the conditions were still quite nice, though the rain did begin to fall a bit harder as the morning went on! It was another amazing day for Black-capped Petrels (though they didn't come as close as they did on Saturday) and this time we had stunning views of Sargasso
and Cory's Shearwaters! Another Manx Shearwater flew by with some Sargassos and everyone was able to get on it this time to compare and contrast the two species side by side. Seeing them together is always such a treat since the Manx weigh twice as much as a Sargasso and the flight style is very different even though they are often listed as a confusion pair since visually they are both black above and white below. In the image above you can see the long tail of the Sargasso - a Manx has a much shorter tail that is white to the tip (since the undertail coverts reach almost to the end of their short tail!).
Leach's Storm-Petrels were another highlight on Sunday's trip. The first individual that came in to the slick was feeding back behind us and Brian was able to circle back perfectly for it to fly right to the bow of the boat making an incredibly close pass and giving all of us great views!
It was awesome to get to watch this bird as it moved off and flew back into the flock of Wilson's we had in the slick. Everyone could study how differently they fly, their shape and size, and see how they compared to the smaller, more fluttery Wilson's. When we had a second one fly by it didn't come as close, but we were all prepared to pick it out of the flock 😉
Passerines were also offshore Sunday, not unusual when you consider the conditions we had on previous days, but always a bit sad to see birds that want to land on the boat but just can't bring themselves to do so. A female Painted Bunting was the first of this species to ever be recorded on one of our pelagic trips!
We also saw a Palm Warbler, a Barn Swallow, and some Greater Yellowlegs (shorebirds are actually seen quite often on our trips, they do migrate over the sea!).
Around 11:15 the wind picked up from the north to about 20 knots. By this time we had gotten into a bit more Gulf Stream current and conditions rapidly deteriorated for us...however for the seabirds, it was just a boost! We kept a close watch on birds passing by as we picked up speed around 11:30, heading back to Hatteras Inlet, crossing the shelf break just six minutes later. Black-capped Petrels were still arcing all around us as we approached the lee of Cape Hatteras and then just before noon a bird zipped across the bow from the starboard prompting Brian to say "what's that?!" As it tacked back across the bow it showed its dark underwings and we both shouted "Desertas Petrel!!!!!!" He throttled back and yelled to participants to get out on deck while the bird came back across the bow once more and tacked back and forth right off the port side of the boat! Phew!! Everyone got to see this small gadfly before it quickly moved off with the wind. Just 13 miles south of Cape Hatteras and in about 200 feet of water - wow! Last year we didn't even see one of these dainty gadflies until August - so this was a really special moment that just reinforced our decision to head offshore in late April!
Thanks so much to everyone who trusted us and took advantage of the two out of three day set, having two days makes a huge difference in the number of species you can encounter as everyone on board now knows! Leaders for these trips were: Brian Patteson, myself, and Daniel Irons; Photos in the post are all © Kate Sutherland. See you all out there and thanks for reading! - Kate Sutherland
Species List for 25 / 26 April 2026
Red-necked Phalarope 0 / 9
Parasitic Jaeger 3 / 0
Common Tern 56 / 31
Common / Arctic Tern 2 / 3
Common Loon 11 / 30
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 42 / 63
Leach's Storm-Petrel 0 / 2
Desertas Petrel 0 / 1
Black-capped Petrel 146 to 168 / 138
Atlantic Cory's Shearwater 1 / 4
Manx Shearwater 0 / 2
Sargasso Shearwater 4 / 32
Northern Gannet 3 / 5
Greater Yellowlegs 0 / 4
Least Sandpiper 0 / 1
Laughing Gull 2 / 2
Least Tern 8 / 13
Sandwich Tern 0 / 3
Royal Tern 3 / 14
Barn Swallow 0 / 1
Palm Warbler 0 / 1
Painted Bunting 0 / 1
passerine sp. 0 / 2
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin 7 / 3
Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin 8 to 10 / 2
Portuguese Man of War 0 / 1
A few more Black-capped Petrel images from Saturday's trip
A gorgeous dark form individual to contrast with the light form individual in the text above.
Our token Atlantic Cory's Shearwater - this bird was in much nicer plumage than the one we saw on Saturday and gave us some nice views as it circled the boat. It was a very large bird with a hefty bill and you can see the dark under primaries here.
Another view of the Leach's pictured above showing the wing shape (broad at the base and a bit tear-drop shaped) with the contrasting gray head and long bill that is diagnostic of this species. The forked tail is also visible here and you can see how the tail looks long and tapered. In the image above in the text you can also see the "V" shaped white upper tail and how it shows that dark streak in the middle.
A couple more images of Wilson's Storm-Petrels from Saturday. Here you can see how the feet project beyond the tail when in flight and you can compare the "paddle" shape of the wings to the longer, more angled wings of the Leach's above. The differences in plumage are also pretty obvious in comparison!
Here is one of the Common Terns we had come to the slick on Sunday's trip...this one had picked up what looks like a Planehead Filefish from the Sargassum! They are also quite content to feed on the small pieces of fish that come from our frozen chum blocks.
And finally either a Fourwing or Atlantic Flyingfish from our trip on Sunday. We also saw a number of Sailfin Flyingfish on both days!
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