Friday June 1, 2012

Today we enjoyed fairly gentle seas before the wind picked up in the afternoon, with a few rain squalls. After yesterday's great day we figured today would be quieter, but there were better numbers (and views) of Cory's (and Scopoli's, image below showing effect of more extensive white underwing-tip) and Audubon's shearwaters, a few Black-capped Petrels, an obliging Band-rumped Storm-Petrel among the Wilson's in the slick, and a couple of nice surprises - a Bridled Tern that flew around the boat in mid-morning to give great views, and a then a South Polar Skua that did likewise in the afternoon.  (Thanks to Steve for writing the blog post, and sorry for the delay in posting...spotty internet service until this morning...)

Black-capped Petrel   7-8

Cory's Shearwater   41

Sooty Shearwater   1

Audubon's Shearwater   25-30

Wilson's Storm-Petrel   205-215

Leach's Storm-Petrel   2

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 1-2

Bridled Tern   1

South Polar Skua   1

Pomarine Jaeger   1

Parasitic Jaeger   1

Black-capped Petrel (Nate Dias)

Cory's (Scopoli's) Shearwater

Some of our loyal Wilson's Storm-Petrels...

(Nate Dias)

Bridled Tern images

 South Polar Skua

Thursday May 31, 2012

Well, the seas were much calmer than yesterday and we headed offshore without much spray.  The day began slowly with a few Wilson's Storm-Petrels gathering in the slick, then, around 0900, a Trindade Petrel popped up behind us (likely riding in a swell...) that gave distant and fleeting views.  While we were watching for the gadfly petrel, a Masked Booby was spotted coming in from the same direction!  It flew right in to the boat, made a lap, dove, and then was off.  A European Storm-Petrel came towards the boat in the slick before 1000 and we were able to chum it in so that everyone aboard was able to see it feeding & hanging out with the slightly larger Wilson's Storm-Petrels.  About 1100, Brian yelled, "what is this coming in?!" and sure enough, a Fea's Petrel flew right into the slick hanging around for a few minutes and making incredibly close passes before moving on!  Overall a day with not many individuals, but we had great looks at each of the eleven species we saw!

Trindade Petrel (dark morph)   1
Fea's Petrel   1
Black-capped Petrel   6
Cory's Shearwater   9-10
Great Shearwater   1
Audubon's Shearwater   10-11
Wilson's Storm-Petrel   210
European Storm-Petrel   1
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel   5-7
Masked Booby   1
Pomarine Jaeger   2

 Fea's Petrel ~ Steve Howell

Dave Shoch:

Black-capped Petrel

The EURO...

(Nate Dias)

 

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel

Masked Booby (Dave Shoch)

(Nate Dias)

 Flyingfish...

Wednesday May 30, 2012

Well, we looked at it this morning and decided that we could get in the morning before the wind really came on this afternoon...turned out that it blew a bit harder than we expected, but the seas were beautiful and the birds were really flying and making close passes by the boat.  We had excellent views of Black-capped Petrels, Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, and Leach's!  Not to mention the shearwaters and Wilson's that were really getting up there in the breeze!  We were back to the dock early since conditions offshore deteriorated quite quickly once the winds picked up from the south east, but the day was still a full one and the birds were in their element (even if it was, very obviously, not ours!!!).

(List subject to change!)
Black-capped Petrel   2-3
Cory's Shearwater   32
Sooty Shearwater   7
Audubon's Shearwater   34
Wilson's Storm-Petrel   152-162
Leach's Storm-Petrel   3
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel   1-2
Parasitic Jaeger   1
Pomarine Jaeger   6

Black-capped Petrel (Steve Howell)

 Sooty Shearwater (Dave Shoch)

 Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (great job Bob Fogg!!!)

 Pomarine Jaeger (Nate Dias)

Tuesday May 29, 2012

There was a bit more wind offshore than was called for, but that was fine with us...birds were up and flying today!  We had Black-capped Petrels come in to the slick, including one white-faced, juvenile individual.  A Fea's Petrel popped up in the slick and then spent at least 10 or 15 minutes making a variety of close passes by the boat (yes, the shark liver worked!).  We did see Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, but they did not spend much time close in the slick like our cooperative Wilson's.  Three Pomarie Jaegers spent much of their morning following us, and we had many Cory's & Audubon's throughout the day.

Fea's Petrel   1
Black-capped Petrel   12
Cory's Shearwater   60
Great Shearwater   1-2
Sooty Shearwater   4
Audubon's Shearwater   39
Wilson's Storm-Petrel   100-130
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel   2
Pomarine Jaeger   3
jaeger sp. 1

Fea's Petrel (Steve N.G. Howell)

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel molting

Pomarine Jaegers:

Monday May 28, 2012

Well, it was an unprecedented day offshore with the same number of rare gadfly petrels and Black-capped Petrels ~ ZERO!  While there was a report of a distant Black-capped Petrel, it was just that, distant.  The seas were much more comfortable today than they have been with just slight (3-4 ft) seas, a lot of sun, and just a bit of wind.  Audubon's Shearwaters were the highlight of the day with more than 50 seen!  We also had nice Cory's Shearwaters and at least 2 Great Shearwaters plus some quick moving Sooties.

Cory's Shearwater   66
Great Shearwater   2
Sooty Shearwater   2
Audubon's Shearwater   86-88
Wilson's Storm-Petrel   50+
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel   3
Leach's Storm-Petrel   2
Parasitic Jaeger   2
Pomarine Jaeger   4
jaeger sp.   2

Cuvier's Beaked Whale   1

Feeding Cory's Shearwater (Nate Dias)

Audubon's Shearwater (Dave Shoch)

Common Terns (3 photos ~ Steve Howell)

 Cuvier's Beaked Whale (Dave Shoch)