Taxonomy and Molt, up close and in person (6/5/2015 by Steve NG Howell)

Last week, in the hot calm conditions, several people opined that we needed some wind, even though we saw plenty of birds back then. Well, today we got some wind – 15 knots or so from the north, blowing against cross swells and the northward-flowing Gulf Stream made for a choppy, white-cap day. Viewing conditions were challenging, with birds getting lost in the troughs, but there was plenty to watch, and fewer birds meant we could study what we saw.
We enjoyed some great looks at Black-capped Petrels, including at least two dark-faced types, our first of the season and likely a different species from the white-faced type that predominates here in spring. (Later in summer, the black-faced types predominate, and they differ in their molt timing from the white-faced birds, indicating a different breeding season). We also had excellent comparisons of Great and Cory’s Shearwaters behind the boat for a long time. Moreover, we had a chance to compare the two ‘subspecies’ (= species) of Cory’s, when a Scopoli’s Shearwater (the Mediterranean-breeding taxon) joined 2 ‘regular’ (= Atlantic-breeding) Cory’s and 2 Greats for over 30 minutes.
Careful observation of the Great Shearwaters revealed a recently fledged juvenile, our first of the season; most other birds have been 2-year olds completing wing molt, plus a few 3rd-years, with very worn wings just starting molt. (The adult Greats bypass us here, heading to molt in waters off New England and Atlantic Canada.) Wilson’s Storm-Petrels were with us almost continually, and several molting Band-rumped Storm-Petrels showed well, being of the winter-breeding population (= cryptic species) known as Grant’s Storm-Petrel.

A nice selection of flyingfish and some bow-riding Bottlenose Dolphins rounded out another fine day at sea off Hatteras.

Thank you to everyone who joined us offshore today and to Jamie Cameron, Steve NG Howell, and Nick Bonomo for helping to lead the trip!  Thanks to Steve for composing the blog post and contributing photos for today! -Kate

Black-capped Petrel  12
Cory's Shearwater  43
Great Shearwater  7-8
Audubon's Shearwater  5
Wilson's Storm-Petrel  81
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel  5
Barn Swallow  1
Bottlenose Dolphin  23-26

Black-capped Petrel, white-faced, well into wing molt

 Black-capped Petrel, dark-faced not yet starting wing molt

Black-capped Petrel (center) between Great (left) and Cory’s Shearwaters

Cory’s Shearwater, the ‘regular’ type; note the dark ‘hand’ to the underwing

Scopoli’s Shearwater, smaller, slighter, and narrower-winged than Cory’s, with white fingers in the hand

 Cory’s Shearwater getting air

Fresh-plumaged juvenile Great Shearwater

Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, compare shape with Band-rumped (next photo)

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (Grant’s type), compare the structure with the Wilson’s preceding

Bottlenose Dolphins, offshore type

 Atlantic Patchwing, usually the commonest big flyingfish we see

June 3 & 4, 2015 VENT Charter (by Steve NG Howell)

The past two days, June 3-4, we had a charter with a Victor Emanuel Nature Tours group led by Michael O’Brien. Both days offshore were great, but quite different from each other – as is typical of any two days offshore in the Gulf Stream. Both days featured some morning rain, but then cleared off, the first day mostly cloudy and mostly calm, the second day with a pleasant breeze and low seas. Day 1 included great views of the Gulf Stream signature species – Cory’s and Audubon’s Shearwaters, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, and the flashy Black-capped Petrel. The Band-rumps were more numerous than we had seen all spring, and at one point we had close-up Band-rumped and Leach’s Storm-Petrels feeding with the Wilson’s Storm-Petrels behind the boat. Also nice were a couple of Arctic Terns, a very obliging Bridled Tern, and a group of Common Terns, some of which landed on the bow! We also enjoyed a group of Gervais’s Beaked Whales and numerous sightings of Pilot Whales. Day 2 started early with a nice White-tailed Tropicbird and then a South Polar Skua, two species we hadn’t seen the day before. Amazingly, we saw a second White-tailed Tropicbird and two more skuas in the afternoon! Black-capped Petrels and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels showed well again, and we also saw Pomarine and Long-tailed Jaegers. It was also nice to simply watch the Wilson’s Storm-Petrels pattering within arms’ length, some birds molting but the juveniles in fresh plumage. The diversity of flyingfish was a bonus, including Atlantic Patchwings and Oddspot Midgets, plus the rarely seen flying squid! All in all, a couple of really nice days offshore and a great group of people.

List June 3, June 4
Black-capped Petrel  11, 26
Cory's Shearwater  144, 56
Great Shearwater  2-3, 5
Audubon's Shearwater  84, 25
Wilson's Storm-Petrel  105, 123
Leach's Storm-Petrel  9, 4
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel  21-22, 9-10
White-tailed Tropicbird  0, 2
Northern Gannet  1, 0
Bridled Tern  1, 0
Common Tern  7, 0
Arctic Tern  2, 0
Sterna sp  2, 0
South Polar Skua  0, 3
Pomarine Jaeger  2, 2
Long-tailed Jaeger  1, 1
jaeger sp  5, 3

Pilot Whale  30+, 0
Spotted Dolphin  0, 3
Bottlenose Dolphin  20+, 15+
Gervais' Beaked Whale  5, 0

Loggerhead Turtle  0, 1

Black-capped Petrel - white-faced type

 Closer, ventral view of a white-faced Black-capped

 Dorsal view of a white-faced bird by Bob Fogg

We had excellent numbers of Audubon's Shearwaters on Wednesday's trip!

 Some were even searching under the sargassum for food. (Bob Fogg)

Wilson's Storm-Petrels in the slick

Erratic flight of the Leach's Storm-Petrel was well captured here by Bob Fogg.

 This Leach's with a darker rump gave us pause on Wednesday!  (by Bob Fogg)

Molting Band-rumped Storm-Petrel by Bob Fogg

 An individual Band-rumped Storm-Petrel more advanced molt

 Another view of a molting Band-rumped Storm-Petrel

& the White-tailed Tropicbirds from June 4th!!  First:

 Second:

1st Summer Bridled Tern by Bob Fogg

Common Terns perched on the railings of the pulpit.  (Bob Fogg)

& one feeding in the slick, by Bob Fogg

Arctic Tern from Wednesday by Bob Fogg

Two of our South Polar Skuas from Thursday!

Pomarine Jaeger by Bob Fogg

 1st Summer Long-tailed Jaeger

Pilot Whales

Flying squid (rarely seen and hard to capture an image!)

 Oddspot Midgets!!

Striking Gold in the Blue Desert (6/1/2015 by Steve NG Howell)

Day 13, the last day of the Spring Blitz, was only unlucky for those who weren’t on board! The light south winds dropped to glassy calm, and then switched offshore to a light northwest for a while; the seas were low and gentle, the sky sunny and hot – a beautiful day at sea. As we edged off the shelf break on our way out some Bottlenose Dolphins came to bowride for quite a while, and then two South Polar Skuas joined us for over an hour, giving amazing views and photo opportunities. The first of several Band-rumped Storm-Petrels appeared shortly afterward, a fresh-plumaged bird presumed from a summer-breeding population, probably a Madeiran Storm-Petrel unlike the Grant’s of yesterday; later we saw several Grant’s and another Madeiran, along with almost constant Leach’s Storm-Petrels among the Wilson’s. A group of beaked whales showed briefly and sounded – a more typical view than yesterday’s sighting.
Just before 10am Kate spotted a superb adult White-tailed Tropicbird that circled the boat, and then we found two Long-tailed Jaegers on the water, joined by a third Long-tailed and then a Pomarine in the wake. That Pom soon left but a Parasitic Jaeger appeared, and another Long-tailed. As they left, another South Polar Skua arrived, and yet another, along with two new Pomarine Jaegers, including a nice dark-morph first-summer... Meanwhile, storm-petrel numbers increased, with all three species giving repeated views, and a Manx Shearwater made a quick but close pass of the stern.

Kate, the star of the day, then spotted a Fea’s Petrel in the wake! The bird made a nice pass of the stern for all to see, although the skuas and jaegers may have discouraged it from sticking around. The day offshore had passed too quickly, and it was time to leave the deep, although not before another skua came in to check us out. But it wasn’t over yet. People started to relax as we headed in, but then Bob spotted a distant tropicbird on the water. Brian maneuvered right up to it in perfect light – great views of an immature Red-billed Tropicbird, our first of the season and a wonderful way to cap off the Spring Blitz! So, two species of tropicbird, Fea’s Petrel, and a great showing of skuas, jaegers, and storm-petrels. Who knows what we’ll see next weekend – spaces are still available!

Thank you again to everyone who joined us, we had nine participants and everyone had been with us for multiple days!  Big thanks to Larry French who came for the entire run from Montana, we enjoyed having him aboard!  Thanks to Steve Howell & Bob Fogg for again doing a superb job as leaders and photographers!  It was an excellent run and Steve will be sticking around for our weekend trips June 5, 6, & 7th email me at cahow1101@gmail.com if you would like to join us!  -Kate

Fea's Petrel  1
Black-capped Petrel  6
Cory's Shearwater  38
Great Shearwater  6
Manx Shearwater  1
Audubon's Shearwater  16
Wilson's Storm-Petrel  200
Leach's Storm-Petrel  25
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel  8
White-tailed Tropicbird  1
Red-billed Tropicbird  1
Arctic Tern  6
Sterna sp  2
South Polar Skua  5
Pomarine Jaeger  4
Parasitic Jaeger  1
Long-tailed Jaeger  8

Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin  10-15
Gervais' Beaked Whale  5

Fea's Petrel coming...

 & going...

Great Shearwater, 2nd-cycle bird with a few juvenile secondaries remaining (the

brown feathers)

Manx Shearwater making its quick pass of the stern, note the distinctive face and neck pattern

Artistic photo of a Wilson's Storm-Petrel by Bob Fogg.  It was slick calm out there for most of the day!

 "Our" flock gathered up on a little extra chum by Bob Fogg.

Band-rumped (left, a molting Grant’s type) and Wilson’s Storm-Petrels

A nice shot of the Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (molting individual) by Bob Fogg.

Band-rumped (left a fresh, Madeiran type) and Wilson’s Storm-Petrel

Another photo showing a fresh Band-rumped Storm-Petrel by Bob Fogg.

Adult-type White-tailed Tropicbird, with outermost primary just growing in

& by Bob Fogg

Immature Red-billed Tropicbird – an obliging bird!  by Bob Fogg

Red-billed Tropicbird taking off – innermost primary has been shed at start of 2nd-prebasic molt

Arctic Tern, perhaps a 2nd-summer (note the dark bill tip)

We had five South Polar Skuas today!  It was quiet and calm out in the Gulf Stream and a bit disconcerting to see these huge birds powering towards the boat on the horizon.  They enjoyed following us around today - photo by Bob Fogg

 Bleached adult South Polar Skua by Bob Fogg

 South Polar Skuas in the wake

 Another South Polar Skua

Pomarine Jaeger adult-type by Bob Fogg

Dark Pomarine Jaeger, 1st-summer with unmolted juvenile outer primaries

1st-summer Long-tailed Jaeger in confusing plumage, with tail points like a Parasitic, and unmolted juvenile outer primaries

 A different individual 1st summer Long-tailed Jaeger by Bob Fogg

Adult-type Long-tailed Jaeger (some adults can have a few barred coverts like this)

Bottlenose Dolphin spy-hopping