Spring Blitz Links...

Now that the Blitz is over, we wanted to share links to some of the posts written by participants who were out with us over the 12 trips.  We wanted to thank everyone who joined us and our leaders/spotters over the course of the 13 day stretch: Todd McGrath, David Shoch, Bob Fogg, Dave Pereksta, Tom Johnson, and Seabird McKeon - they all did an excellent job!

Our next trips are on schedule for June 6, 7, & 8th and Steve Howell will be joining us for them.  Call Brian at (252) 986-1363 before 10pm if you would like to join us!  We look forward to seeing some of you out there!

By Bob Gosford from Australia who was with us on May 21, 2014 (and yes, we are actually in the north Atlantic)
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2014/05/23/of-boats-birds-and-a-wild-ocean-finding-the-worlds-rarest-seabird-in-the-southern-atlantic/

By Chloe Walker a young birder from Tennessee who joined us for May 21, 23, and 24th, she will be helping us as a Junior Leader next year (schedule permitting)!
http://chloesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-grand-slam-at-sea.html
http://chloesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-second-pelagic-trip.html
http://chloesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/another-lifer.html
http://chloesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/p/pelagic-photo-gallery.html

By Paul Lagasi from Canada who was with us May 26, 27, and 28th and got some excellent photos!
http://birdquest2004.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/seabirding-pelagic-trips-may-26th-27th-28th/

Monday June 2, 2014

The winds have been unexpectedly north and east the past few days, more than we expect or typically see here this time of year.  There was still a little wind today, more east than north east when we got out there.  Wilson's Storm-Petrels were just outside of the inlet and we had a Sooty & Cory's before 0630!  Tom came running to the wheelhouse to alert us of an adult Arctic Tern flying up the stern before 0700, and as we continued offshore, a young Long-tailed Jaeger darted in front of us harassing a tern before moving off.  First Long-tailed of the spring and a sign of things to come this morning...!  We found a rip with some grass a little after 0700 and slowed down to check it out.  There were Cory's Shearwaters flying around and we found another Arctic Tern, this one a first summer individual, feeding with some Common Terns.  Another treat was a small group of Red-necked Phalaropes, lingering, who allowed us to approach fairly closely as they spun around in some sargassum.  A couple of Pomarine Jaegers flew in plus another Long-tailed Jaeger who spent a few moments chasing one of the Poms!  We picked back up around 0750 to continue offshore.

By 1000 we had excellent looks at Leach's Storm-Petrels who were here with the wind and hungry enough to feed in the slick for most of the day.  Band-rumped Storm-Petrels also showed well, with a good number of fresh individuals mixed in with the molting birds.  We had excellent views of Audubon's Shearwater over the course of the day, a few even came in to the slick!  Just after 1000 we were elated to see a South Polar Skua flying in to the boat!  A young Long-tailed Jaeger pursued the much larger bird to our delight!  They put on quite a show behind us before settling to feed in the slick. By the end of our time offshore, we had a slick that was loaded with Wilson's Storm-Petrels plus Cory's & Great Shearwaters, Leach's & Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, and the occasional Audubon's or jaeger.  Noticeably absent were good numbers of Black-capped Petrels!  This is often the case when we have winds from the east, but we only saw three today.  The first one flew right in and buzzed the boat, so everyone had some nice, identifiable, views!!  Overall an awesome day to be offshore, and the swell that was out there in the deep was amazing!  We had a good one even if a mega rarity did not show...

Thanks to everyone who joined us offshore today!  Big thanks to Bob Fogg & Tom Johnson for helping us out over the past many days and for sorting their photos in a timely fashion to contribute the best ones to the blog daily!

Black-capped Petrel  3
Cory's Shearwater  55
Great Shearwater  9
Sooty Shearwater  6
Manx Shearwater  1
Audubon's Shearwater  35
Wilson's Storm-Petrel  220-250
Leach's Storm-Petrel  15-17
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel  10-12
Red-necked Phalarope  10
Bridled Tern  2
Arctic Tern  3-4
South Polar Skua  1
Pomarine Jaeger  4
Long-tailed Jaeger  4
small jaeger sp.  1

Common Tern  5
Sterna sp.  4

Cuvier's Beaked Whale  1 probable
Bottlenose Dolphin  8
Loggerhead Turtle  1
Hammerhead  1

Cory's Shearwater (Bob Fogg)

 Leach's Storm-Petrel (Bob Fogg)

 Feeding flock of Wilson's Storm-Petrels (Bob Fogg)

Young Arctic Terns - two images by Tom Johnson

South Polar Skua (Bob Fogg)

 Long-tailed Jaeger worrying the South Polar Skua (Tom Johnson)

Pomarine Jaeger (Tom Johnson)

Long-tailed & Pomarine Jaegers (Tom Johnson)

 Two images of young Long-tailed Jaeger

June 1, 2014 - Weathered Out!

The weather got us today!  So, as I have done in years past, here is a list of species we have seen on this date.  Brian has run eleven trips on June 1 since 1997!  Notable species missing are Bermuda Petrel & European Storm-Petrel - so perhaps tomorrow will be the day for those.  Thanks to everyone for showing up promptly to the boat and thanks to those with schedules flexible enough to come tomorrow!  We have filled the trip for June 2.

Trindade Petrel
Fea's Petrel
Black-capped Petrel
Cory's Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Audubon's Shearwater
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Leach's Storm-Petrel
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-billed Tropicbird
Masked Booby
Northern Gannet
Red-necked Phalarope
Laughing Gull
Sooty Tern
Bridled Tern
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
South Polar Skua
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger

Snowy Egret
Barn Swallow

Pilot Whale
False Killer Whale
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
Sperm Whale
Gervais' Beaked Whale

Saturday May 31, 2014

The winds were light at the boat this morning, but again, were forecast to increase through the day.  We had a beautiful ride across the bar and headed offshore in just a bit of swell.  By midday, it had freshened from the north west and was a little sloppy, but good for birds!  A dark Trindade Petrel flew right in to the slick about 1018 this morning!  Excellent views, and photos, were had by all.  In our hearts, we wanted a mega rarity today, but alas, this expectation was not to be realized.

Storm-petrels were very cooperative today with numerous Wilson's coming in close when we drifted, and some great views of Leach's & Band-rumped near the boat.  Cory's Shearwaters were flying by closely, though Audubon's were a bit tougher to see than yesterday.  A large jaeger zipped across the bow mid afternoon not giving us much of a chance, but thankfully a nice, adult Pomarine Jaeger tucked in behind the boat and followed us for miles feeding in the slick at the end of the day.  Before picking up to head in, we emptied all of the chum and waited.  Wilson's Storm-Petrels that were not even in view with bins appeared in moments!  A nice fresh Band-rumped Storm-Petrel also put in an appearance.  The ride home was a bit choppy, but winds are supposed to change around a bit tonight into tomorrow and we will see what we get!

Thanks to everyone who joined us offshore, and a thanks to Chris Hitt for organizing a group of birders from the "700 Club" for a couple of days out there!  Thanks also to our leaders: Todd McGrath, Bob Fogg, Dave Pereksta, and Tom Johnson!

Trindade Petrel  1
Black-capped Petrel  40
Cory's Shearwater  65
Sooty Shearwater  2
Audubon's Shearwater  16
Wilson's Storm-Petrel  155-165
Leach's Storm-Petrel  4-6
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel  9-11
Pomarine Jaeger  1
jaeger sp. (large)  1

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin  3
Pilot Whale  seen
Mola mola  1
hammerhead sp.  2
Loggerhead Turtle  1

Trindade Petrel (two photos by Bob Fogg)

 & two by Tom Johnson

Wilson's (Tom Johnson)

fresh looking Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (Bob Fogg)

 fresh Band-rumped (Tom Johnson)

Pomarine Jaeger (Tom Johnson)

 Pilot Whales offshore (Bob Fogg)

Friday May 30, 2014 by Todd McGrath

Another day of moderate to brisk NE winds. The run out of the inlet was good, with more of the water staying in the ocean than several of the recent outings. It was a comfortable ride to the gulf stream. Immediately after slowing down, we turned up an adult Bridled Tern. We began working offshore, and found good numbers of Cory's and Audubon's Shearwaters, including several small groups of Audubon's on the water, allowing some of the season's best views.
 Eventually the Black-capped Petrels put in an appearance at the slick, making close passes to the delight of the photographers on board.
Wilson's Storm-petrel numbers were steadily building, and it wasn't long before the first Leach's and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels were sighted. The numbers weren't high, but the quality of looks was excellent, with several very close approaches in the slick. A beautiful sub-adult Pomarine Jaeger stayed with the boat on and off for a couple of hours, occasionally being driven off by Black-capped Petrels, in a reversal of roles.
Our search for birds was interrupted briefly by a pod of Offshore Bottlenosed Dolphins who surrounded the boat and did a bit of bow riding, their whistles and clicks could be heard by those in the bow pulpit. The marine mammal show continued with a breaching Gervais' Beaked Whale. Three quick leaps and the whale was gone. several lucky photographers caught the jumps, not easy to do.
As we headed for home, a very large whale breached once behind the boat, but was not seen well enough to identify. 
It was a smooth ride back to the dock, and a very pleasant day at sea. No rare birds, but that's why they are rare!
-Todd McGrath

A warm welcome to my niece, Hazel Elizabeth Scott, who was born last night (May 29) at 2305!  6 pounds 15 ounces & 21 inches - hopefully she'll be out with us on her birthday in the coming years!  (Kate)

Thanks to everyone who joined us offshore today and a special thank you to our leaders: Todd McGrath, Bob Fogg, Dave Pereksta, and Tom Johnson for helping us out on Day 10 of the Spring Blitz!

Black-capped Petrel  35
Cory's Shearwater  52
Sooty Shearwater  4
Audubon's Shearwater  48
Wilson's Storm-Petrel  215-235
Leach's Storm-Petrel  2
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel  6
Oceanodroma sp.  1
Bridled Tern 1 adult
Pomarine Jaeger  1

Royal Tern  1
Barn Swallow  1

Bottlenose Dolphin  17
Gervais' Beaked Whale  1

Black-capped Petrel, white faced individual (Bob Fogg)

 Black-capped Petrel, white faced & dark faced (two photos Tom Johnson)

Our Pomarine Jaeger (Bob Fogg)

 same individual (Tom Johnson)

Breaching Gervais' Beaked Whale (Tom Johnson)

 Bottlenose Dolphin (Tom Johnson)