Monday May 24, 2021 - Black-cappeds and Band-rumpeds - Kate Sutherland

Light westerly winds greeted us this morning and we ran offshore in just a bit of swell.  We made good time on our run to the shelf and we slowed down a little before 0800.  Black-cappeds were checking out our slick almost right after we slowed and we had our first Band-rumped Storm-Petrel in the 0800 period (Kate Sutherland). 

They're finally beginning to show up and it was nice to see our "miniature Black-cappeds" making their passes close to the boat and farther back in the slick.  Everyone was able to spend some time getting familiar with their wing shape, flight, and feeding behavior.  We only encountered the larger, molting "Grant's" type today.  Bottlenose Dolphins and Pilot Whales were also right there when we slowed down.  There was even some interaction between the two species while we were observing them right next to the boat!

As I was watching a Band-rumped behind us just before 1100, a Fea's Petrel flew through my field of view!!  What?!?!?!?  How did one sneak up on us on such a calm day?  Well it did, and no matter because it made some incredible passes for us and no one could possibly miss it!  Participant Chris Thomas shared a couple of his photos with us: 

We had it flying with Black-cappeds and Cory's Shearwaters and the study in size, shape, and flight style was perfect.  One more species for the Blitz!

Around noon some shearwaters and petrels were seen up ahead flying around, but not really in a feeding flock, they looked a bit more agitated.  The reason flew in to visit us in the form of a nice South Polar Skua - yeah - other birds are not too fond of them sometimes!  It was super cooperative and we saw it well a couple of times.  Earlier in the day we had witnessed a Parasitic Jaeger chasing a Black-capped Petrel, the tables were turned there for a few minutes!  Not very close, but here is an image I captured!  

On the way back inshore to the inlet there was a young Red-billed Tropicbird that we jumped off the water!!  One more species for the Blitz!  It flew directly away from us, and though we gave chase, it won and we just had some distant and fleeting views.  Oh well, maybe we can find it or another one out there tomorrow.  Not a bad day with calm seas if we can see 16 pelagic species!

Thanks to everyone who joined us out there - we had a few five day trippers who really did well on their trips, including leader Jacob Farmer!  Thanks to Ed Corey and Jacob for helping Brian and I lead the trip today.  The winds will be different tomorrow, so we'll see what we can turn up!

*All photos today by Kate Sutherland except the Fea's Petrels above by Chris Thomas!

Species List for May 24, 2021

Fea's Petrel - 1

Black-capped Petrel - 35 to 36

Cory's Shearwater (Atlantic) - 51

Cory's type Shearwater - 6

Great Shearwater - 3

Sooty Shearwater - 19

Manx Shearwater - 1

Audubon's Shearwater - 31

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 160 to 170

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel - 5 to 8

Red-billed Tropicbird - 1

Red-necked Phalarope - 4

South Polar Skua - 1

Pomarine Jaeger - 2

Parasitic Jaeger - 2

jaeger sp. - 1

Arctic Tern - 1

Common Tern - 3

Pilot Whale (probably Short-finned) - 15+

Bottlenose Dolphin (offshore population) - 26+

Loggerhead Turtle - 1

Portuguese Man-of- War - 1

Fea's Petrel - a couple more images!

Black-capped Petrel dropping in to feed on the chum 

Sooty Shearwater with some natural food - maybe a piece of squid?

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel - Grant's type

Parasitic Jaeger

South Polar Skua taking off

Pilot Whale (top) and Bottlenose Dolphin (bottom)

Sunday May 23, 2021 - A Change in the Wind - Ed Corey

After a week and a half of winds out of the Northeast, the brisk westerly blow this morning gave us completely different conditions for tacking offshore. The jog out to the deeper water was interspersed with visits from several species of shearwaters heading north, including Sooty, Manx, and Cory’s. These migrating tubenoses gave us hope for an exciting day on a wind that can occasionally be a bit challenging for pelagic diversity.

 

Reaching the shelf break around 8, we began to coax in Wilson’s Storm-Petrels to our slick, gathering a robust flock behind the boat in short order. Audubon’s Shearwaters were on the move, working into the wind and showing us why they earned the nickname “Pseudo-droma”, as their arcing is strongly reminiscent of a small gadfly petrel. A couple of Great Shearwaters found our chum block, providing a great comparison with the superficially similar Black-capped Petrels.

 

Around 1030, a darker gadfly approached from starboard, checking out the crowd. This dark-morph Trindade Petrel gave all on board excellent looks as it made multiple passes before heading back out to sea (Kate Sutherland).

A short time later, and some excited pointing overhead and shouting led to our first White-tailed Tropicbird of the Blitz! It hovered above us for several minutes, occasionally venturing out ahead of us, only to come back within view, its honey-colored tail streamers glowing against the clear sky (Kate Sutherland). 

A little after noon, Kate spotted a larger storm-petrel working its way up the slick. As we slowed down to assess the situation, a Band-rumped Storm-Petrel came powering in, giving all of our passengers an excellent chance to study the difference in flight styles between this species and the nearly ubiquitous Wilson’s. The start of some primary molt on this bird pointed towards a Grant’s Band-rumped, versus the smaller Madeiran-type we sometimes see off of Hatteras.

(Thanks to everyone who joined us out there today and thanks to Ed Corey and Jacob Farmer for helping us lead the trip - and a big one to Ed for writing the blog and contributing photos! -k8)

Species List for May 23, 2021

Trindade Petrel - 1 dark morph

Black-capped Petrel - 35 to 38

Cory's Shearwater (Atlantic) - 66

Cory's type Shearwater - 2

Great Shearwater - 4 to 5

Sooty Shearwater - 64 to 65

Manx Shearwater - 6

Audubon's Shearwater - 34

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 190 to 220

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel - 3

Red-necked Phalarope - 5

White-tailed Tropicbird - 1

Pomarine Jaeger - 4

Parasitic Jaeger - 1

Long-tailed Jaeger - 1

jaeger sp. - 2

Arctic Tern - 6

Common Tern - 2

Common/Arctic Tern - 1

Bottlenose Dolphin (offshore population) - 32+

Dorsal view of the Trindade Petrel (Kate Sutherland)

Black-capped Petrel with a ship in the background, then closer (Kate Sutherland)

Great Shearwater having an interaction with one of our Pomarine Jaegers over the chum block (Kate Sutherland)

Dorsal view of Great Shearwater (Ed Corey)

Pomarine Jaeger (Ed Corey)

White-tailed Tropicbird (top Kate Sutherland, bottom Ed Corey)

May 22, 2021 - Pipeline brings us a Wedgie - Kate Sutherland

Not as much wind today, light from the north as we headed offshore, Brian and I were hoping there'd be something to see out there...not an issue!  We were busy on the shelf with a gorgeous Long-tailed Jaeger, a number of Manx Shearwaters, and our first South Polar Skua of the day.  We reached the shelf break and birds were a little slow to pick up the slick, but when they did - we had them!!  Up to six Pomarine Jaegers, four Long-tailed Jaegers, and three South Polar Skuas behind us with Great and Sooty Shearwaters, occasional Cory's, Manx and Audubon's making appearances, and at least 170 Wilson's Storm-Petrels at the peak - certainly some life offshore today.

We found a current edge in 3-400 fathoms in 77 degree water that we were following around 1000, it was running NE / SW and on the offshore side there was about 3 knots of current.  We were joking that this was the pipeline bringing us all the jaegers and skuas!  I was on the top deck and we were working to the west with the sun on the stern when I saw a different looking shearwater, but it was in the glare.  I called it down to Brian and then a skua came in, chasing it down the slick!  Fortunately he was able to circle back and the bird came sailing by the port side, and as my mind was still flipping through the index cards of seabird images up there...Brian yelled out "WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER!!!!" (photos Brian Patteson) 

And just like that, before I could get there, the image was added to my in-person collection!  I have never seen a Wedge-tailed, but do have Bob Flood's shearwater guide so have watched some videos and  imagined the possibility!  Since the bird stayed with us for almost ten minutes, everyone had incredible, point blank views of the mega for the Atlantic and thousands of images were captured.

Since today is only day three of the Blitz, this is short...but I might revisit it later in the year!  Thanks so much to everyone who joined us today, and to all of those who gave us some really great seabird karma ;) Thank you to Ed Corey and Jacob Farmer who helped Brian and I lead the trip.  

*and thank you to Ned Brinkley, who was certainly there with us today!!!!!  This one's for you, Ned!

Species List for May 22, 2021

**Wedge-tailed Shearwater** - 1

Black-capped Petrel - 7

Cory's Shearwater (Atlantic) - 32

Great Shearwater - 9

Sooty Shearwater - 79

Manx Shearwater - 13

Audubon's Shearwater - 23

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 250 to 300

Red-necked Phalarope - 16

South Polar Skua - 4 to 5

Pomarine Jaeger - 9

Long-tailed Jaeger - 5

Arctic Tern - 2

Bottlenose Dolphin (offshore population) - 20+

Portuguese Man of War - 1

Wedge-tailed Shearwater - Kate Sutherland 

& Ed Corey

South Polar Skua - in flight by Ed Corey, on the water with Sooties and Wilson's by Kate Sutherland

Pomarine Jaeger with a Long-tailed Jaeger that was chasing it - Kate Sutherland

Long-tailed Jaegers - Brian Patteson top, Kate Sutherland bottom

Friday May 21, 2021 - Brian Patteson

 It seems that we’ve had more northeasterly wind than usual this month, and today was no exception. The forecast for offshore waters was at 10 to 20 knots, but the actual conditions were a solid 20 knots of wind. It’s nothing we haven’t dealt with many times before, so we took our time and started a bit inshore of where we ran to yesterday. There was a good showing of birds on the shelf, but we didn’t find our Black-capped Petrels until we got out past 100 fathoms- over 25 miles out.

Shearwaters were more numerous than they had been yesterday, and we got good looks at five species! We also had a few Pomarine Jaegers working the shearwaters over from time to time. I was a bit worried that we weren’t going to see a skua today, but the inshore tack produced a nice South Polar Skua.

We also had better looks at Leach’s Storm-Petrel than what we managed yesterday, and a couple of these were in the shelf waters! Overall it was an excellent day with birds pretty much from start to finish.  It was a salty ride, but the beauty of Hatteras is that we can make it out and see these birds in less than ideal conditions (for humans- perfect for seabirds) because the deep water and the Gulf Stream is so close. Tomorrow looks like it should be a bit easier for humans, but will it be as good for birds? I would like to thank everyone for coming out today, and our deck crew Kate Sutherland and Jacob Farmer for helping me run a tight ship.

*all photos today by Kate Sutherland

Species List for May 21, 2021

Black-capped Petrel - 14 to 16

Cory's Shearwater (Atlantic) - 130 to 140

Cory's type Shearwater - 40

Great Shearwater - 17 to 20

Sooty Shearwater - 58 to 68

Manx Shearwater - 7

Audubon's Shearwater - 6

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 285-335

Leach's Storm-Petrel - 4

Red-necked Phalarope - 3

South Polar Skua - 1

Pomarine Jaeger - 8

Long-tailed Jaeger - 1

Arctic Tern - 8

Common Tern - 1

Common/Arctic Tern - 14

Bottlenose Dolphin (offshore population) - 5 to 6

Hammerhead shark (likely Scalloped) - 1

A nice sea composition with a Black-capped Petrel

Atlantic Cory's Shearwater - we didn't find any Scopoli's out there today

Atlantic Cory's Shearwater feeding in one of the flocks we encountered at the end of the day

Wilson's Storm-Petrel showing the yellow webbing on their feet!

A record shot of one of the Leach's Storm-Petrels we saw today

One of the Cory's / Pomarine chases we saw today!

Our young Pomarine Jaeger on the water

Thursday May 20, 2021 - Spring is Here! - Kate Sutherland

 Winds were light from the north this morning when we reached the ocean and we had smooth running to the shelf break.  Not many birds around for that leg of our journey though we did have a handful of Red-necked Phalaropes and a Manx Shearwater.  When we slowed down, there wasn't much to see right away but a bird over a charter boat ahead looked promising...  Within a few minutes we had South Polar Skuas, a Pomarine Jaeger, and a Long-tailed Jaeger around us!

Wilson's began to gather in the slick, and the day just improved from there.  Just before 1030 we were watching Sooty Shearwaters feed in the slick, one was darting around and we thought we saw a Trindade Petrel back there...Brian turned the boat around and sure enough, there was a light morph individual right in the slick! 

This bird was super cooperative and made a number of close passes by the boat.  Yes, everyone saw it well!  During the 1130 period participant Daniel Irons spotted a flock of terns feeding with some shearwaters in the distance - it turned out to be a flock of Arctic Terns that showed well near the boat.  They returned when I put out a fresh chum block just after noon and had a Roseate Tern with them - wow!  Our first Great Shearwater of the season turned up there as well, and we had another before the day was out.  Overall a nice start to the Blitz - looks like a bit more wind tomorrow so we'll see what we can find!

Thanks to everyone who joined us today and a big thank you to Jacob Farmer for helping us lead this trip!  Happy Birthday Jacob!!  Roseate Tern :)

*all photos today by Kate Sutherland

Species List for May 20, 2021

Trindade Petrel - 1 light morph

Black-capped Petrel - 18 to 20

Cory's Shearwater (Atlantic) - 48

Scopoli's Shearwater - 1

Great Shearwater - 2

Sooty Shearwater - 22 to 26

Manx Shearwater - 2

Audubon's Shearwater - 12

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 300+

Leach's Storm-Petrel - 1

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel - 1

South Polar Skua - 4

Pomarine Jaeger - 8 to 9

Long-tailed Jaeger - 1

Arctic Tern - 11

Roseate Tern - 1

Baltimore Oriole - 1

Barn Swallow - 1

Bottlenose Dolphin (offshore population) - 15+

Trindade Petrel

Light form Black-capped Petrel with almost no black around the eye!

A more typical Black-capped Petrel

Sooty Shearwaters were very attentive in the slick

Wilson's Storm-Petrel in the slick

South Polar Skua on the water

One of our Pomarine Jaegers

Young Arctic Tern

Some of the offshore Bottlenose Dolphins we saw surfing the waves!