Seabirding

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Sunday June 9, 2013

Yesterday we ended up having to cancel the trip due to remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea. There were Magnificent Frigatebird sightings up and down Hatteras Island, so many of our participants (& us) were more than happy to be onshore, especially when the winds did not diminish over the course of the day! We were able to rebook many of our people from Saturday for today's trip so the boat was full when we left the dock this morning at 0538, and still full when we returned! The inlet and ocean were much calmer than we expected and we headed offshore, encountering no bird life on the way out - not exactly a promising sign. There was a current edge with a small temperature break in about 600 feet of water, but still no birds. We slowed and put out a slick attracting three Wilson's Storm-Petrels; a Cory's Shearwater flew by in the distance. Soon after 0830, we finally saw an Audubon's Shearwater and our first couple of Black-capped Petrels. The day just continued to improve as a Pomarine Jaeger flew directly towards us and flew circles around the boat, dropping down to the water numerous times to pick up scraps of fish and shark liver. We had our first Band-rumped Storm-Petrel before 0930, and while it was a short visit, we had more time with the three individuals in the afternoon and everyone had great views! While a few participants were looking for rare gadfly petrels, many were new to pelagic birding and were excited to see each species we encountered. One Great Shearwater even showed up in the slick and obligingly flew around next to the boat with a Cory's. On the way in just after 1530, Brian saw Kenneth Kelly pointing at something just off the bow - and a young Brown Booby flew right in for a great pass on the starboard side!

Thanks to everyone who joined us today and thank you to our spotters Scott Winton, Jeff Lemons, & Ali Iyoob for helping us out!

Black-capped Petrel 12
Cory's Shearwater 27
Great Shearwater 1
Audubon's Shearwater 13
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 70-75
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 4
Brown Booby 1
Pomarine Jaeger 1
jaeger sp. 1

Short-finned Pilot Whale 6-8

I did not have much time to take photos today, but here are a few from the trip - plus one from Brian of the Pomarine Jaeger!

Cory's Shearwater

Audubon's Shearwater

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (Grant's type)

Brown Booby (I made it outside with the camera a little late!)

Pomarine Jaeger - photo Brian Patteson

Friday, June 7, 2013

VENT - June 5 & 6, 2013

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours chartered us for two days of pelagic trips led by longtime friend, and leader for us when he has time to come to the Outer Banks, Michael O'Brien. It was an interesting two days with northeasterly winds on Wednesday shifting to more south southeast yesterday. Numbers of Black-capped Petrels are still low this spring, but they made some nice passes and were seen well. Cory's, Great, and Audubon's Shearwaters were also seen well over the course of two days, and while we had one Sooty Shearwater each day, the best view was on Wednesday when one flew into a slick we were drifting with out in the deep. Wilson's Storm-Petrel numbers were solid for the two days and we had a good showing of Leach's & Band-rumpeds on Wednesday, but Thursday - wow - the Band-rumped Storm-Petrels were the highlight of the day flying with us in the slick for hours and making close passes when we drifted! The Leach's were flying by a little more distant on Thursday, but a couple came by close in the slick, and there was a nice flight of them inshore in the afternoon. We were lucky to spot a Bridled Tern on a piece of flotsam on the way out Wednesday morning; this young individual sat for us to approach before flushing from its' perch. Long-tailed & Pomarine Jaegers were seen each day, but on Wednesday we had one Pomarine and two Long-taileds follow us in the slick for hours! Excellent views of each species, their interactions, and behaviors! An interesting note was the inshore flight of shearwaters (mostly Cory's) and Leach's Storm-Petrels on the way back Thursday afternoon.

Non-avian life was seen as well with 2 species of beaked whale glimpsed on Wednesday, and closer interactions with Spotted Dolphins and Pilot Whales on Thursday. We also had a quick look at a Loggerhead Turtle on the way out Thursday morning and one of the participants spotted some Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) on the surface in the afternoon. As Brian turned back on them, one breached! Incredible to see this massive creature, silvery in the afternoon light, leap out of the water momentarily! We spent some time observing them moving in line on the surface and Brian commented that because the water is so warm this time of year, it is rare to see them on the surface, typically they are much deeper. We also had a Hammerhead shark sighting, though we did not get a really good look at the head to see if it was a Scalloped or Great Hammerhead. On Wednesday we dipped some Sargassum (two species!) in the afternoon and had incredible creatures in there: a Sargassum frogfish, some Seaslugs (nudibranchs), shrimp, a filefish, and some swimming crabs. A link to a blog post by Sea McKeon about the inhabitants of this type of brown algae is here. Early that same morning on the way out, a small group of flying squid flushed by the boat! Flying fish were also seen in large numbers each day.

Species List for June 5 & 6
Black-capped Petrel
Cory's Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Audubon's Shearwater
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Leach's Storm-Petrel
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Bridled Tern
Pomarine Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger
Cuvier's Beaked Whale
Gervais' Beaked Whale
Pilot Whale
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Loggerhead Turtle
Ocean Sunfish
Hammerhead

Thanks to Bob Fogg for photos from the two trips, and also for joining us for a number of trips this spring. Capt. Brian Patteson also contributed some excellent photos for this post!

Wilson's Storm-Petrels - photo by Bob Fogg

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - photo Brian Patteson

Leach's Storm-Petrel - photo Bob Fogg

Band-rumped Storm-Petrels (2) with Wilson's in the slick - photo Brian Patteson

Band-rumped Storm-Petrels - 3 photos Brian Patteson

Band-rumped Storm-Petrels - 3 photos Bob Fogg

Pomarine Jaeger - photo Brian Patteson

Pomarine Jaeger - 2 photos Bob Fogg

Long-tailed Jaeger - 2 photos Brian Patteson

Long-tailed Jaeger - photo Bob Fogg

Sargassum frogfish - 2 photos Brian Patteson

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Monday June 3, 2013

We decided to go a little farther offshore this morning before slowing down since it still looked like we had eddy waters inshore. We found the birds, and even some current and nicer water, out over 1,000 fathoms (6,000 feet). The wind was blowing 25-30 from the south for most of the day and it was a little bumpy, but so worth being out there with the seabirds in their element! Black-capped Petrels were zipping around in the deep water and we had excellent views of Cory's, Great, and Audubon's Shearwaters arcing way up in the air and also zipping by the boat at high rates of speed. On one of our drifts we had a Sooty Shearwater fly in for a few minutes, and while we were moving a Manx Shearwater flew down the port side for a quick, but close view! The storm-petrels were finally following us in good numbers with more Wilson's than we've had so far this spring, and great looks at both Band-rumpeds and Leach's. The only species of jaeger seen was Pomarine and we had one individual that followed us in the slick for well over two hours in the afternoon. The first Sooty Terns of the season showed up today as well, and while the first was not very close, the second individual flew right down the port side, excellent view.

The thrill of the day, though, came after 1230 when Steve Howell spotted a small gadfly petrel medium distance from the boat on the starboard side. When the shout of Bermuda Petrel went out, the bird was heading away from us and did not return for a closer pass. Sandwiches were thrown overboard, chum was tossed out, and everyone rushed to the bow hoping to catch a glimpse of this bird we have not seen here since 2009! It is always tough to get on everything seen on pelagic trips, and many aboard did not see the bird, but just knowing it's out there made the day. We were about to pull into the marina, as Brian pointed out the hopper dredge that had just arrived, everyone looked over towards it and Sea McKeon shouted "Frigatebird"! Sure enough, a young Magnificent Frigatebird was flying over the dredge right there at the dock, perfect end to an epic day!

Thanks again to everyone who joined us, and thanks also to our leaders: Steve Howell, Bob Fogg, and Nick Bonomo, we could not do it without them!

Bermuda Petrel 1
Black-capped Petrel 18-20
Cory's Shearwater 130
Great Shearwater 11
Sooty Shearwater 1
Manx Shearwater 1
Audubon's Shearwater 67
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 400+
Leach's Storm-Petrel 5-6
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 5
Sooty Tern 2
Pomarine Jaeger 5

Magnificent Frigatebird 1
Common Tern 3

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin seen

Black-capped Petrel

Black-capped Petrel - photo Bob Fogg

Black-capped Petrel

Black-capped Petrels & Wilson's Storm-Petrels in the slick!

Cory's Shearwater - photo Bob Fogg

Nominate Cory's (Scopoli's) - photo Bob Fogg

Great Shearwater

Manx Shearwater!!

Wilson's Storm-Petrels in the slick - photo Bob Fogg

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (Grant's type)

Sooty Tern - photo Bob Fogg

Magnificent Frigatebird - photo Bob Fogg

Atlantic Patchwing

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Sunday June 2, 2013

Well, we had the wind today, but since the Gulf Stream current is so far to the south, we did not have its' counteraction to lay down the waves! There were not many birds on the way out, but after we slowed and the morning progressed, we picked up good numbers of Wilson's Storm-Petrels in the slick and even had some Black-capped Petrels make close passes. Band-rumped Storm-Petrels were seen well and we even had at least one in the slick for over an hour and a half that allowed all interested to study it thoroughly. Cory's, Great, and Audubon's Shearwaters were all seen well and we even had a hungry Great come in and eat some Mahi mahi guts near the boat. Yesterday we had Parasitic & Long-tailed Jaegers, and today we had Pomarine Jaegers - and great looks at that! On the way in, beach in sight, we saw a skua fly by at a high rate of speed that headed away from us - probably a South Polar, but no photos.

Thanks to our leaders today: Steve Howell, Bob Fogg, & Nick Bonomo. Thanks too to all who joined us offshore!

Black-capped Petrel 9-10
Cory's Shearwater 120
Great Shearwater 4-5
Audubon's Shearwater 43
small black & white shearwater sp. 2
Leach's Storm-Petrel 1
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 5-7
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 340-410
Pomarine Jaeger 3
prob. South Polar Skua 1

Pilot Whales 8-10

Black-capped Petrel - photo Bob Fogg