Seabirding: Out in the Blue Desert: A Tale of Three Jaegers (5/30/15 by Steve NG Howell)

Three days left of the 2015 Spring Blitz, and every day has been different. Today, after passing through a few shearwaters and jaegers on the transit offshore we came upon some dolphins, and then a feeding flock of Cory’s, Great, and Audubon’s Shearwaters near the shelf break – just like yesterday, but with nicer sea conditions, a low swell and light easterly wind. It was a pretty day to be out, and we enjoyed some great flyingfish as well. But then it got quiet, and hot. The tropical Atlantic is the second biggest desert on the planet (after the tropical Pacific), and by mid-late morning we came to appreciate that just because it’s full of water doesn’t mean it’s not a desert. The 360-degree vista of blue water was punctuated by only a handful of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels in the wake, as we headed deeper into the desert. Few people realize that Black-capped Petrel is an oceanic desert species, adapted to cover huge areas in search of food, and we did have a few nice views of this threatened gadfly petrel. But mostly it was hot and seemingly lifeless.
Around lunchtime, however, a cry of “jaeger in the wake” stirred folks to life, and one, then two, then three jaegers were behind the boat – two Long-tailed and a Parasitic, affording great comparisons. Then a Pomarine Jaeger came in, a few more Long-taileds, and a couple more Pomarines – wow! For well over an hour we got to study all three jaeger species together, including 1st-summer, 2nd-summer, and adult-type of both Long-tailed and Pomarine, along with an uncharacteristically cooperative 2nd-summer Parasitic. A few Great and Cory’s Shearwaters joined the fray as numbers of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels increased – we had found an oasis of birds out in the desert. A Bridled Tern and a very obliging Arctic Tern appeared, and then Kate spotted a Scopoli’s Shearwater in the wake, amid the ‘blizzard’ of jaegers. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and surely millions of electrons were captured by the digital cameras on board!

Heading back we enjoyed more flyingfish, and closer inshore a couple of Manx Shearwaters flew by. Well within sight of land Bob spotted a skua on the water and Brian pulled the boat right up to a very confiding South Polar Skua - nice. A few more shearwaters, some Spotted Dolphins, and a turtle rounded out the transit back to the inlet after ‘just another amazing day at sea.’ As they say, ‘today was typical of today.’ You never know what you’ll see, or when.

Thanks to our leaders: Steve Howell, Bob Fogg, & Jeff Lemons - and thank you to Steve & Bob for the blog photos! Big "Thank You" to Steve for writing today's post and some of the captions, he very kindly gave me more time to sleep tonight!! -Kate

Black-capped Petrel 5
Cory's Shearwater 130
Great Shearwater 36-37
Sooty Shearwater 2
Manx Shearwater 4
Audubon's Shearwater 19
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 80
Leach's Storm-Petrel 3
Oceanodroma sp 1
Bridled Tern 1
Arctic Tern 6
South Polar Skua 1
skua sp 2
Pomarine Jaeger 3
Parasitic Jaeger 1
Long-tailed Jaeger 11

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin 10-12
Bottlenose Dolphin 25-30
Loggerhead Turtle 2

Photos: Steve's have his name on the photo, Bob Fogg's are labeled!
Black-capped Petrel, white-faced

Audubon's Shearwater

Cory's & Audubon's Shearwaters by Bob Fogg

Cory's Shearwater by Bob Fogg

Scopoli's (nominate Cory's) Shearwater

Bridled Tern by Bob Fogg

Bridled Tern & Long-tailed Jaeger by Bob Fogg

Adult Arctic Tern

by Bob Fogg

South Polar Skua on the water by Bob Fogg

1st-summer Long-tailed Jaeger, the first bird

1st-summer Long-tailed Jaeger, the second bird

1st summer Long-tailed, dorsal by Bob Fogg

2nd-summer Long-tailed Jaeger, dorsal

2nd-summer Long-tailed Jaeger, ventral – note the barring under the wings

Adult-type Long-tailed Jaeger

Adult-type Long-tailed by Bob Fogg

Parasitic Jaeger 2nd summer dorsal

Pomarine Jaeger 1st summer ventral with retained juvenile outer primaries and middle secondaries

Pomarine Jaeger subadult (some underwing barring)

Pomarine Jaeger adult-type

Jaeger 3-way: Parasitic 2nd summer below, Long-tailed 1st-summer at top (nearer camera, so looks big!) and 1st-summer Pomarine on right

Jaeger 3-way with Great Shearwater: Parasitic 2nd summer left, Long-tailed 1st-summer middle, and 1st-summer Pomarine on right (bleached and retained juvenile outer primaries create false Long-tailed upperwing pattern)