Seabirding: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

Friday May 31, 2013

Today was beautiful and warm with slight winds from the south offshore. We saw some Cory's and Great Shearwaters on the way out in the morning, and once we slowed down, some Audubon's Shearwaters allowed close approach and we saw our first Wilson's & Band-rumped Storm-Petrels of the day. Bridled Terns have been hard to come by the past few days since it is still a little early for them, but we had one perched on a board in a grassline that let us drift right up to it before flushing! Black-capped Petrels were close in flight and on the water, and we saw two species of jaeger out in the deep, Pomarine & Parasitic, around some flocks of Cory's and Audubon's. Great Shearwaters were also out there and we had one come in to the chum and feed on some fish we cut up for it! Just after 1330 we had an Arctic Tern fly in and hover over the boat for excellent views! The day was just perfect for spotting things in the water and there was more sargassum than we have been seeing, with a lot more life than we have been seeing! Thus, when we collected some of the brown algae for Sea McKeon, there were many critters to be examined in there before pouring the sargassum and its' inhabitants overboard! Sea's website about offshore life is here: http://offshorewildlife.com/OffshoreWildlife/Offshore_Wildlife.html

Thanks to everyone who joined us and our leaders: Steve Howell, Todd McGrath, Bob Fogg, and Dave Pereksta.

Black-capped Petrel 14-15
Cory's Shearwater 130
Great Shearwater 6
Sooty Shearwater 1
Audubon's Shearwater 51
Leach's Storm-Petrel 2
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 4
Arctic Tern 1
Bridled Tern 3
Pomarine Jaeger 4
Parasitic Jaeger 2
jaeger sp. 6

Spotted Dolphins 25-30
& many Portuguese Man of Wars

Cory's & Audubon's Shearwaters

dark Pomarine Jaeger harassing Audubon's & Cory's Shearwaters

Bridled Tern - photo Bob Fogg

Arctic Tern

Pomarine Jaeger - photo Bob Fogg

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin

Sargassum & Porcupine fish - photo Bob Fogg

Atlantic Patchwing

filefish in sargassum

Portuguese Man of War

Mahi mahi

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Thursday May 30, 2013

Winds were light from the south today so the trip offshore was very comfortable. Just outside of the inlet we had a taste for what was to come as a Parasitic Jaeger harassed a tern ahead of the boat, close enough for all to see! Then we had a Long-tailed Jaeger fly across the bow, close, and offshore we had nice looks at Pomarine Jaeger too - great day for them! The waters were quite calm, so we were searching for some birds on the horizon, and found them, feeding over some Skipjack Tuna. There were Cory's, Great, and Audubon's Shearwaters plus some close passes by Black-capped Petrels, with a couple of them even sitting down on the water and allowing close approach! One of the highlights of the morning was a Manx Shearwater in the feeding flock that sat on the water right next to an Audubon's for excellent comparison (and maybe some photos were even taken...), before it took off. Storm-Petrel numbers were low today, Wilson's perhaps the lowest ever seen in the spring, but at least we had looks at a handful of Band-rumped and one Leach's Storm-Petrel. The other highlight of the morning, well, about ten minutes to noon, was a Trindade Petrel that snuck in with the shearwater flock while we headed offshore. When we turned back and passed through again, the bird was there and made some really close passes by the boat! Thanks to the Wichita Audubon Society for joining us today and Tuesday - I think they all got some great birds, not to mention some excellent looks at Atlantic Spotted Dolphins bow riding! Happy Birthday, Bill!

Thank you also to our leaders: Steve Howell, Todd McGrath, Bob Fogg, & Dave Pereksta!

Trindade Petrel 1
Black-capped Petrel 7
Cory's Shearwater 100
Great Shearwater 4-5
Manx Shearwater 1
Audubon's Shearwater 31-32
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 32-33
Leach's Storm-Petrel 1
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 4
Bridled Tern 1
Pomarine Jaeger 2-3
Parasitic Jaeger 3-4
Long-tailed Jaeger 3
jaeger sp. 1

Common Loon 5
Arctic Tern 2
Common Tern 2
Sterna sp. 8

Short-finned Pilot Whale 20
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin 8-10
Bottlenose Dolphin 6

Trindade Petrel - photo Brian Patteson

same individual

Black-capped Petrel on the water

& taking off - photo Brian Patteson

Great Shearwater

Manx (L) & Audubon's Shearwaters - photo Brian Patteson

taking off... - photo Bob Fogg

Amazing how much larger the Manx is!

We could tell the jaeger species by the species they chased! Here - Pomarine Jaeger & Audubon's Shearwater

Second summer Parasitic Jaeger - photo Brian Patteson

Parasitic Jaeger & a Wilson's Storm-Petrel - photo Bob Fogg

Nice shot of Parasitic Jaeger chasing a Wilson's - you can see the storm-petrel's feet!

Pilot Whale

Atlantic Necromancer

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Wednesday May 29, 2013

Winds were blowing from the south southwest this morning, and the forecast held the promise of more wind offshore. We had two Pomarine Jaegers and a handful Cory's Shearwaters pass us in the morning much to the delight of the passengers. Conditions were good to head out to the deep and we slowed as we crossed the temperature break with some Wilson's Storm-Petrels showing up plus a Long-tailed Jaeger. The first Black-capped Petrel of the day was quite distant, and a short time later Dave Shoch shouted "Trindade Petrel!!" and though it also stayed a bit distant, everyone had a look!! Audubon's Shearwaters were cooperative so that everyone had nice looks, but no Great Shearwaters joined us today. A small number of Wilson's Storm-Petrels joined us in the slick and we were again treated to excellent views of Leach's and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, a couple of them flying together for nice comparisons! A few more Black-cappeds made nice passes as the day advanced. Overall it was a great day offshore and all aboard were pleased.

Thanks again to everyone who joined us and Dave Shoch who has been with us for six trips, plus our other leaders Steve Howell, Todd McGrath, Dave Pereksta, and Bob Fogg.

Trindade Petrel 1
Black-capped Petrel 6-7
Cory's Shearwater 42-46
Sooty Shearwater 2
Audubon's Shearwater 11
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 70-90
Leach's Storm-Petrel 5-6
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 9-10
Pomarine Jaeger 3
Long-tailed Jaeger 2
jaeger sp. 2

Common Tern 2

Bottlenose Dolphin 20+

Trindade Petrel - photo by Bob Fogg

Black-capped Petrel

Black-capped Petrel - photo Bob Fogg

Cory's Shearwater

Scopoli's Shearwater

Audubon's Shearwater

Audubon's Shearwater - photo Bob Fogg

Leach's Storm-Petrel

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel

Pomarine Jaeger

Long-tailed Jaeger - photo Bob Fogg

Bottlenose Dolphin

Sargassum Midgett

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Tuesday May 28, 2013

Today was one of those rare days when everyone aboard saw each species well, unless they failed to let us know they missed something! Before 0700 a couple of young Spotted Dolphins came in and rode our bow wave until a few adults showed up and they peeled off! There was a little wind from the south, but not much, so it was a fairly calm day and we saw quite a few birds on the water. A little before 1100 Dave Shoch saw a shadow cross the deck in front of him, he looked up, and there was a second cycle White-tailed Tropicbird! Excellent spot! It was a lifer for most of our passengers, so definitely the most exciting bird of the day. We also had excellent looks at Leach's & Band-rumped (only Grant's type seen today) as well, and close Cory's, Great, Sooty, and Audubon's Shearwaters. Black-capped Petrels were scarce, but we had a couple make nice passes. The highlight of the afternoon was an adult Pomarine Jaeger that flew in from the stern and flew around the boat for at least an hour!

Thanks to everyone who joined us today and thanks to our leaders - Steve Howell, Todd McGrath, Dave Shoch, Bob Fogg, and Dave Pereksta!

Black-capped Petrel 6
Cory's Shearwater 55
Great Shearwater 2
Sooty Shearwater 3
Audubon's Shearwater 7-8
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 130
Leach's Storm-Petrel 12-13
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 15
White-tailed Tropicbird 1
Pomarine Jaeger 1
jaeger sp. 3

Common Loon 3
Common Tern 13

Gervais Beaked Whale 6-8
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin 15-20
Bottlenose Dolphin 20

Cory's Shearwater