FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] FW: Sept. 23(24) and 30 (Oct. 1) Pelagic Trips fr. VA Beach (long)

[jjfoxfox@xxxxxxxxxxx]

FYI. There are lots of birds out there!! We are way overdue for an Albatross 
(at least in my fantasy:-))

> 
> Dear Seabirders,
> 
> I posted these trips on our website several weeks ago after getting
> several requests from birders in Virginia as well as birders from some
> other nearby states.  I had expected to have more reservations by now,
> but I'm not sure how well the word has gotten out to the intended e-mail
> recipients and various birding lists.  So if you know someone who might
> be interested in these trips, please pass this message along.
> 
> It has been a while since we ran a September pelagic trip from Virginia
> Beach, and I know there has been some interest, but in 2004 and 2005
> finding a boat to run the trip on was a problem.  Now that we have our
> own boat for pelagic birding trips, the 56 foot long "Stormy Petrel", I
> am ready to run her up to Cape Henry for a couple of weeks if there are
> enough registrants to run trips there on September 23(24) and 30
> (October 1).  These are Saturday trips w/ obligatory weather dates on
> Sunday.  The cost is $160/person which is slightly more than our
> Hatteras trips, but probably less than it should be considering the
> amount of fuel necessary to re-position from Hatteras and run these
> trips, where our destination (Norfolk Canyon) is more than twice as far
> offshore as the continental slope is down here.
> 
> September is an interesting time to go birding offshore from the
> Virginia Capes.  It is a good time for Gulf Stream eddies to drift in
> over the shelf waters, and there should be a variety of seabirds
> transiting the waters at that time.  Our target rarity is White-faced
> Storm-Petrel, which we have seen here previously as late as Sept. 23
> (2001).  That has been our latest survey of these waters to date during
> this early fall period, and there have been some October sightings of
> White-faced from both the Northeast canyons as well as the Outer Banks,
> so it seems plausible to occur on either trip.
> 
> The list of possible bird species for late September is long and varied.
> The following species have been observed in mid to late September in
> waters NORTH of the Gulf Stream between Ocean City, MD and Oregon Inlet,
> NC:
> 
> Northern Fulmar, Trindade (Herald) Petrel (once) , Fea's Petrel (once) ,
> Black-capped Petrel, Cory's Shearwater, Greater Shearwater, Manx
> Shearwater, Audubon's Shearwater, Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Leach's
> Storm-Petrel, White-faced Storm-Petrel, tropicbird (sp.), Red-necked
> Phalarope, Red Phalarope, South Polar Skua, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic
> Jaeger, Long-tailed Jaeger, Sabine's Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake,
> Bridled Tern and Sooty Tern.
> 
> And there is no reason to believe that some of the other mega-rarities
> which have recently been found off Cape Hatteras might not occur here at
> times-  so we'll keep a close eye on the storm-petrels for European and
> Black-bellied as well as White-faced.
> 
> It is essential for us to have at least 25 paid participants on each
> trip to run this program, so please let us know ASAP if you wish to join
> either trip.  The future of pelagic birding off the Va. Capes depends on
> this, but don't assume these trips to be an annual feature of our
> schedule.  If it goes well I hope to repeat in in the future with
> slightly varies timing, but possibly NOT EACH YEAR.  I am also
> considering October 7(8) as a possibility if there is enough interest in
> that date.
> 
> At present we need between ten and fifteen more registrants for each
> trip to make this work.  I can be reached at (252) 986-1363 or via
> e-mail to take reservations and answer questions.  We will hold
> reservations for a few days while we await your check and registration
> form (see our wesbsite- http://www.seabirding.com/)
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Brian Patteson
> 
> Hatteras, NC
> brian@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 


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