[Bristol-Birds] Hatteras Field Trip
- From: JPMOYLE18@xxxxxxx
- To: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:33:41 EDT
The attendence of members on our Hatteras/Outer Banks field this past
weekend was rather poor. Intitially, 6 signed up to go. Then, before the
deadline
to send in reservation money for the pelagic trip, two dropped out for
financial reasons. Eventually, one more had to drop out due to a serious
family
health situation. Thus, three of us were left....and we went! When we arrived
in
Buxton in the afternoon, it was a bit windy but OK. After getting settled we
did a little birding. On Saturday we were up early for our all day pelagic
trip. It was windy when we set sail, and eventually the winds produced 8-12
foot waves with heavy rain falling at times. We did see some good birds,
however, and returned to shore with a decent list. On Sunday, I had to leave
early
due to a health problem in my own family, but we birded until noon on Pea
Island. Lois Cox and Wilma Boy stayed on until Tuesday. Here is the list from
our abbreviated and poorly attended trip, which includes birds going to and
coming back from Hatteras: (app. means approximate number due to the
possibility
of repetitive sightings) Pied-billed Grebe, Black-capped Petrel (20+),
Cory's Shearwater (app. 10), Audubon's Shearwater ( app. 3), Wilson's
Storm-Petrel (app. 10), Brown Pelican (at least 100), Double-crested Cormorants
(many),
Anhinga (1), Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron,
Tricolored Heron, White Ibis (several), Mute Swan (4), Snow Goose (1), Canada
Goose, American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Pintail (at least 1000),
American
Wigeon, Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk,
American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover,
Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, American Avocet (11), Lesser Yellowlegs, Willet,
Sanderling, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Pomarine Jaeger (1), Laughing Gull,
Ring-billed
Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Caspian Tern, Royal Tern, Common
Tern, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Pileated Woodpecker,
Eastern Phoebe (1 possible at sea), Tree Swallow (many), Blue Jay, American
Crow,
Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, European
Starling, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Northern
Cardinal,
Rufous-sided Towhee, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark,
Boat-tailed Grackle and House Sparrow. We also were graced with visits by
Spotted Dolphins (the deep sea version of the porpoise) and Mahi Mahi (caught
by the
ship's captain) a spectacularly beautiful fish with a back of briliant blue
changing to lime green and then yellow as you scanned torward its belly and
gracefully streamlined. At the Gulf Stream we encountered Sargassum Weed
floating, and the samples brought on board harbored tiny Sargassum Fish. A
great
experience in spite of the heavy seas!
John Moyle Glen Alpine Road Kingsport, Sullivan County
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