Hi Texbirders and Pelagics Fanatics,
The second Texas Pelagic trip of the year is set to sail this coming Saturday
Aug 8th at 6:00 am for a 12 hour adventure in the Gulf of Mexico. The forecast
is for 2 to 4 foot seas. August is a good time for all the regular Pelagic
seabirds plus all a number of rarities have been encountered in August as well.
Additionally August is prime time for Whale Sharks in the Gulf. There is still
plenty of room onboard the newly renovated Osprey for this trip so why not come
on down to South Padre Island to join us. You could combine the Pelagic trip
with a chase of the Collared Plover.
WHY GO ON A TEXAS PELAGIC?
If you talk to any of the Texas Pelagic leaders and regulars they'll probably
tell you some of the most amazing bird and wildlife encounters they've ever had
in the state of Texas occurred on a Texas Pelagic. We had two such trips last
year. We saw a high of 9 pelagic species on both trips and a couple review
species as well. In addition on one trip we saw 18+ Sperm Whales, some right
next to the boat, and 250+ Melon-headed Whales. These are some of the amazing
wildlife encounters you may experience on a Texas Pelagic.
We've worked closely with the Osprey owner and captain to stick exactly to our
planned course to maximize our time in deep pelagic waters and get farther
offshore. We closely monitor marine weather and will not sail if seas are
forecast to be greater than 5 feet, otherwise we may not reach the shelf edge
and our participants will have a better experience. The Osprey just finished
major renovations to make it a dedicated "luxury" nature cruise boat.
If you've never been on a Texas Pelagic this is the year you should try one or
two. If it's been a long time since you've been on a Texas Pelagic come back
this year and see how much fun they can be. If you're afraid of seasickness try
using the Transderm Scop patch (prescription needed) and enjoy a day at sea
with our great pelagic leaders and groups. These trips are also a great way to
spend a hot summer weekend out birding where it is definitely cooler offshore
than it is onshore.
SEABIRDS:
The regular species we expect to find during the course of the season include
Audubon's and Cory's Shearwaters, Band-rumped and Leach's Storm-Petrels,
Bridled and Sooty Terns, Masked Booby, Pomarine Jaeger and Magnificent
Frigatebird. The common subspecies/species of Coryâs Shearwater found in
offshore Texas is called the Scopoliâs Shearwater. There have been some
photos documenting the much less common borealis subspecies of Coryâs
Shearwater for Texas. Also the Band-rumped Storm-Petrel is actually a complex
of species-sub-species with the Grantâs Storm-Petrel being the common Texas
species. There are photos suggesting other subspecies.
A full rundown of the species list for Offshore Texas Pelagics can be found at:
<http://texaspelagics.com/pelagic-sea-birds/tx-seabirds/>
http://texaspelagics.com/pelagic-sea-birds/tx-seabirds/
These Gulf of Mexico Pelagic trips typically don't yield high numbers of birds
but we seem to always make up for it with a high quality sighting or discovery.
In the last few years, some of the better birds have included Red-billed
Tropicbird, Great Shearwater, and Sooty Shearwater. â¯One trip was fortunate
enough to have a mixed species flock that included both Brown Noddy and Brown
Booby in the same binocular view/camera viewfinder! â¯And of course in Sept
2003 we had an incredible Yellow-nosed Albatross encounter! â¯It is exciting
possibilities like this that keeps folks coming back for more. There are
undoubtedly new discoveries still to be made offshore.
Email me to sign-up for this or future Texas Pelagic Trips. Check out the
website for registrations information. www.TexasPelagics.com
<http://www.TexasPelagics.com>
Good Seabirding,
Gary Hodne
Director / Pelagic Leader for www.TexasPelagics.com
<http://www.TexasPelagics.com>
TOS Life Member
The Woodlands, TX
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