Hello all,
Below are clipped and pasted several postings to Carolina Birds and to the
Pelagics Listserv group by Brian Patteson that I think are worth passing on.
First is a link to an image of a European Storm-Petrel taken 27 May off
Hatteras, NC on Brian's website. Having just seen hundreds of this species in
Iceland
this month, I do concur that this is the species captured in the photograph
here. The shape of wing, tail, and head, as well as the strong white area in
the underwing (never this strong and consistent in Wilson's), all point to this
species, for which only one confirmed record exists for North America
otherwise.
Brian also goes into detail on last weekend's Hatteras trip, which was
marvelous. Virginia birders will note that this has been a "big year" for
Red-billed Tropicbirds, and Brian and company even discovered both a Red-billed
Tropicbird and a White-faced Storm-Petrel three weeks ago near Hydrographer
Canyon --
south of Massachusetts! The tropicbird has never been documented off
Virginia, though it surely has occurred here. For those interested in adding
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel or White-faced Storm-Petrel (or maybe a tropicbird!)
to
their Virginia list, Brian's August trip off Virginia Beach (on a large, stable
catamaran boat, very comfortable and modern) offers a very good chance, while
the September boat has great chances for White-faced Storm-Petrel and for the
less-common offshore migrants such as Long-tailed Jaeger. Some Virginia
September trips have found even greater seabird diversity than North Carolina
May
trips -- over the past 10 years of Virginia September trips, Sabine's Gull,
Fea's
Petrel, White-tailed Tropicbird, South Polar Skua, Sooty Tern, Manx
Shearwater, and a dark gadfly petrel, almost certainly Herald (Trinidade)
Petrel, have
been seen here. Most trips find something truly remarkable.
Brian's notes are below. If you're thinking of coming down for one of the
late-summer or the fall pelagic trips off Virginia, Brian encourages early
sign-ups, so that he doesn't have to cancel the trips in coming weeks.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
+++++++++++++++++++
Hello Seabirders,
In going through some images taken with my Canon digital SLR this May, I
found a rather startling picture which includes a small storm-petrel
which looks like it could be Hydrobates pelagicus, the European or
British Storm-Petrel. I have only one image of the bird which happened
to be in the same frame as a Band-rumped Storm-Petrel which I was
attempting to photograph. I have posted the image to my
website-http://www.seabirding.com/ on a page where visitors can post
their comments. To see it, click on the storm-petrel image under News
and Features on our opening page.
We still have room on all of our August trips. This has been the month
for some great rarities off Cape Hatteras-most notably Swinhoe's
Storm-Petrel and Bulwer's Petrel. Who knows what might be next?
I would also like to mention that Chad Dorsey, who was with us on the
three-day Canyons trip organized by C.O.R.E. on the Yankee Freedom, has
compiled an
excellent website with a trip report and some excellent background information
about the trip at
http://www.suscom-maine.net/~cdorsey/core/. This is a great trip for
someone with an interest in both seabirds and cetaceans and a desire to
spend a bit more time on the water than a day trip can provide.
Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
brian@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Dear Carolinabirders,
Our trip Saturday from Manteo found calm conditions and good birding.
Because the Gulf Stream had been a bit farther offshore normal for most
of the summer, we ran more to the south than we usually would in July
and started birding east of the Diamond Shoals Light Tower in over 100
fathoms. Beyond 1000 fathoms, we found 84 degree water and fair numbers
of Black-capped Petrels, Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, and a couple of
Leach's Storm-Petrels. The greasy calm conditions also made it good for
cetacean spotting and we found a pod of at least 10 Cuvier's Beaked
Whales, which unfortunately sounded before we got very close. It wasn't
long before a White-tailed Tropicbird out in an appearance; it was a
lifer for many in the group. Ironically, most of our tropicbirds this
year have been Red-bills! The next group of Cuvier's was far more
cooperative. Not wanting to spook them, we shut down the engines and
they actually came zipping under the boat and surfaced a few yards
astern. Birding was relatively steady and it continued to be a good day
for spotting cetaceans, with more Cuvier's, some Sperm Whales, Risso's
Dolphins, and offshore Bottlenose Dolphins. We took a little time to
dip up some Sargasso Weed and inspect its inhabitants, which included a
peculiar crab and some fishes, adapted to blend right in with this
floating brown algae for protection from the seabirds and pelagic fish
which forage in this drifting marine ecosystem. Working our way north,
we found the Gulf Stream current edge and worked it westward toward the
shelf break. Doug Gill spotted something big and white floating along
the change, and I figured it would be a big piece of trash, but much to
everyone's delight it was a Masked Booby, our first for the year! We
continued seeing birds until it was time to head for home, a succesful
trip. A list of birds and cetaceans seen follows below.
We still have room on trips from Hatteras this weekend. Saturday August
2 has enough passengers to run, but we still need a few more to run a
trip on Sunday. Please let me know ASAP if you are interested, as I
have until Wednesday to decide the fate of Sunday's trip. Two days
doubles your chances for the rare seabirds, particularly since
Saturday's trip gives us an idea of where to concentrate our efforts; as
the birds exploit different areas from week to week, the first day helps
us to get our bearings.
Other upcoming trips-
August 9, 10- Manteo
August 16, 17- Va. Beach, VA- could be good for White-faced Storm-Petrel &
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
August 23, 24- Hatteras
August 30, 31- Manteo
September 6, 7- Va. Beach- think White-faced!
September 13, 14- Hatteras
October 11- Hatteras
For information about all of our trips please visit our website at
http://www.seabirding.com/.
Pelagic Seabirds Seen July 26, 2003 SE of Oregon Inlet
Black-capped Petrel- 62
Cory's Shearwater- 41+
Greater Shearwater- 2-3
Audubon's Shearwater- 28+
Wilson's Storm-Petrel- 423
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel- 20-25
Leach's Storm-Petrel- 3-5
White-tailed Tropicbird- 1
Masked Booby- 1
Bridled Tern- 11
Sooty Tern- 14
Least Tern- 2
Cetaceans and other Marine Life
Sperm Whale- 2-4
Whale sp- 2
Cuvier's Beaked Whale- 21- 25
Beaked Whale sp- 2
Atlantic Bottlenose Dophin- 54+
Risso's Dolphin- 35-45
Loggerhead Turtle- 2
Scalloped Hammerhead Shark - 1
I would like to thank all who came out with us on July 26, the Country
Girl crew- John and Randy, and the Seabirding crew- Butch and Kate.
I hope that some of you can join us yet this summer.
Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
brian@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.seabirding.com/
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