The following note below was posted to the "Pelagic Birding" listserv and=20
might be of interest to Virginia's birders. In addition to very high-qualit=
y=20
shorebirding on North Carolina's Outer Banks in July, the pelagic birding ca=
n be=20
incredibly good, too! Red-billed Tropicbirds have been seen in numbers this=
=20
spring by both charter boat fishermen and by birders, and Fea's Petrels have=
=20
been seen on numerous trips. This latter rare species may be seen as late a=
s=20
September (a month in which there is also a Virginia record). Don't forget,=
=20
too, that Brian offers boats for White-faced and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels a=
nd=20
various tropical goodies off Virginia Beach on the very fast, very stable=20
"Bluewater Bullet" 16 & 17 August and 6 & 7 September. This might be the ye=
ar, at=20
last, to finally add Red-billed Tropicbird to the state's list! I hope to s=
ee=20
fellow Virginians on some of these well-run ventures this year; I'll bring t=
he=20
crackers. =20
Best fishes,
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA=20
+++++++++
Dear Pelagickers,
We have run nearly a dozen trips this spring, with some outstanding results=
!=20
=20
Red-billed Tropicbirdshave made an excellent showing, with five birds seen=20
over four
trips in May (see my photos on the website- http://www.patteson.com/), one i=
n=20
early June, and last Saturday I watched an adult bird with a ridiculously=20
long tail for
about 20 minutes while I was working on a charter boat fishing out of
Hatteras. I also saw a Fea=E2=80=99s Petrel less than 25 miles southeast of
Hatteras on the same trip. On June 7 on a birding trip from Hatteras,
we saw a dark morph Herald Petrel and a Red-billed Tropicbird, as well
as several Band-rumped and Leach=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrels. A close encounte=
r
with a pod of rare False Killer Whales was yet another highlight of that
trip. The following day=E2=80=99s trip was rather uneventful, perhaps the
result of a strong southwesterly wind and a rather distant Gulf Stream
edge. Ironically, I saw lots of birds six days later on a strong
sou=E2=80=99wester, but the Gulf Stream edge was not so far offshore. And f=
or
those who were with us on June 7 and 8, I should mention that the
Bridled Terns arrived in numbers on June 9, though they have not been as
common for the last couple of days. All of this goes to show that you
just can=E2=80=99t tell how the birding will be out on the ocean even from o=
ne
day to the next; you have to go out and take your chances, and if you go
out for two days, chances are good that you will see something special.
Our next chance to go birding off Hatteras is the weekend of July 19 and
20. This is prime time for tropicbirds, and though the White-tailed
Tropicbird has not been around much yet this summer, they should be here
soon, and our July trips have been as good as any for seeing that
species. Hopefully, the Red-bills will linger until then as well. The
last year that Red-bills were around in numbers (1995), I saw five
between July and September. Both Fea=E2=80=99s Petrel and Herald Petrel hav=
e
been seen on past July trips, and I feel that our chances with these
species, as well as Bermuda Petrel, are better than some of our old trip
tallies would suggest, as our chumming seems to be more effective
nowadays. Of all of the rare Pterodromas that we saw around Memorial
Day this year, most came to our slicks and some were observed feeding on
our chum! July is also great for Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, and Leach=E2=
=80=99s
Storm-Petrel is more likely in July than August. Black-capped Petrels
are expected and are sometimes very common in July. Finally, if that=E2=80=
=99s
not enough enticement, the only records of Bulwer=E2=80=99s Petrel off Cape
Hatteras were on July 1 and August 8.
With a new port engine, the Miss Hatteras is as smooth as ever and ready
to take us to the Gulf Stream next month. I hope that you can join us
on these trips. So far, interest has not been as strong as it was for
the spring though these trips can be just as good for rarities and even
better for some of the more regularly occurring species. We now have
the results of most of our spring trips up on the website, and we have
also added some cracking new images of many of the birds seen last
month, which I took with the new Canon digital SLR. Take a look at
http://www.seabirding.com/ . We also have room on all of our other
summer trips from both Virginia and North Carolina. We are running two
trips each weekend between July 19 and September 14. I hope that you
can join us for a weekend.
Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
brian@xxxxxxxxxxxx
A list of trip results from the spring can be found below -- but make sure=20
you check out the new photos posted to the website, too!!=20
=C2=A0=20
Friday May 23, 2003
Manteo Country Girl =20
Trinidade (Herald) Petrel=20
2=20
Black-capped Petrel=20
23=20
Cory=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
71=20
Greater Shearwater=20
5=20
Sooty Shearwater=20
26=20
Audubon=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
31=20
Wilson=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
414=20
Leach=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
19=20
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel=20
10=20
South Polar Skua=20
1=20
Pomarine Jaeger=20
6=20
Parasitic Jaeger=20
1=20
Bridled Tern=20
1=20
=C2=A0Other Species Seen:=20
Common Loon=C2=A0 1=20
Northern Gannet=C2=A0 595=20
Common Tern=C2=A0 11=20
Sanderling=C2=A0 8=20
Red Knot=C2=A0 1 =C2=A0=20
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin=C2=A0 15-20=20
Bottlenose Dolphin=C2=A0 19=20
Dolpin sp.=C2=A0 2=20
=20
=C2=A0=20
Saturday May 24, 2003
Hatteras Miss Hatteras =20
Black-capped Petrel=20
46=20
Cory=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
156=20
Greater Shearwater=20
14=20
Sooty Shearwater=20
6=20
Manx Shearwater=20
2=20
Audubon=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
37=20
Wilson=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
350=20
Leach=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
5=20
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel=20
5=20
White-tailed Tropicbird=20
1=20
Red-necked Phalarope=20
24=20
Pomarine Jaeger=20
8=20
Parasitic Jaeger=20
1=20
Arctic Tern=20
12=20
Bridled Tern=20
2=20
Sooty Tern=20
56+=20
Other Species Seen:
Common Loon=C2=A0 3
Northern Gannet=C2=A0 10
Laughing Gull=C2=A0 1
Roseate Tern=C2=A0 1
Common Tern=C2=A0 ~25
Least Tern=C2=A0 ~15=20
Black Tern=C2=A0 1
Black-bellied Plover=C2=A0 1
Ruddy Turnstone=C2=A0 14=20
Semipalmated Sandpiper=C2=A0 1
peep=C2=A0 sp.=C2=A0 6
Northern Waterthrush=C2=A0 1=20
Mesoplodon sp.=C2=A0 2=20
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin=C2=A0 6=20
Bottlenose Dolphin=C2=A0 7=20
Dolphin sp.=C2=A0 4=20
Loggerhead Turtle=C2=A0 1=20
Atlantic Longbilled Spearfish=C2=A0 1 (caught & released )
Scalloped Hammerhead
=C2=A0=C2=A0 =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 =20
Saturday May 24, 2003
Manteo Country Girl =20
Trinidade (Herald) Petrel=20
1=20
Fea=E2=80=99s Petrel=20
1=20
Bermuda Petrel=20
1=20
Black-capped Petrel=20
40=20
Cory=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
42=20
Greater Shearwater=20
41=20
Sooty Shearwater=20
6=20
Audubon=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
25=20
Wilson=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
487=20
Leach=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
4=20
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel=20
3=20
Red-billed Tropicbird=20
1=20
Red-necked Phalarope=20
30=20
Pomarine Jaeger=20
3=20
Bridled Tern=20
83=20
=C2=A0Other Species Seen:=20
Common Loon=C2=A0 1=20
Northern Gannet=C2=A0 49=20
Forster=E2=80=99s Tern=C2=A0 1=20
Common Tern=C2=A0 10=20
Semipalmated Sandpiper=C2=A0 1
=20
Sunday May 25, 2003
Hatteras Miss Hatteras =20
Black-capped Petrel=20
52=20
Cory=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
132=20
Greater Shearwater=20
15=20
Sooty Shearwater=20
5=20
Manx Shearwater=20
2=20
Audubon=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
42=20
Wilson=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
353=20
Leach=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
1=20
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel=20
3=20
Red-billed Tropicbird=20
1=20
Red-necked Phalarope=20
3=20
Pomarine Jaeger=20
4=20
Long-tailed Jaeger=20
1=20
Arctic Tern=20
7=20
Bridled Tern=20
1=20
Sooty Tern=20
34=20
=C2=A0Other Species Seen:=20
Common Loon=C2=A0 seen=20
Northern Gannet=C2=A0 seen=20
Laughing Gull=C2=A0 1=20
Roseate Tern=C2=A0 1=20
Common Tern=C2=A0 seen=20
Forster=E2=80=99s Tern=C2=A0 1=20
peep sp.=C2=A0 12=20
Barn Swallow=C2=A0 2=20
Blackburnian Warbler=C2=A0 1=20
Clymene Dolphin=C2=A0 150-200=20
Bottlenose Dolphin=C2=A0 7+=20
Loggerhead Turtle=C2=A0 1=20
Atlantic Manta=C2=A0 1=20
Mahi Mahi=C2=A0 2 caught 1 seen
=C2=A0 =20
Sunday May 25, 2003
Manteo Country Girl =C2=A0=20
Black-capped Petrel=20
44=20
Cory=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
65=20
Greater Shearwater=20
23=20
Sooty Shearwater=20
8=20
Audubon=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
26=20
Wilson=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
328=20
Leach=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
5=20
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel=20
3=20
Red-necked Phalarope=20
20=20
Pomarine Jaeger=20
4=20
Bridled Tern=20
2=20
Sooty Tern=20
3=20
Dark Tern sp.=20
8=20
Other Species Seen:=20
Common Loon=C2=A0 1=20
Northern Gannet=C2=A0 8=20
Laughing Gull=C2=A0 1=20
Royal Tern=C2=A0 4=20
Sandwich Tern=C2=A0 2=20
Roseate Tern=C2=A0 2=20
Common Tern=C2=A0 25=20
Dowitcher=C2=A0 1=20
Barn Swallow=C2=A0 1=20
=20
Monday May 26, 2003
Manteo Country Girl =20
Fea=E2=80=99s Petrel=20
1=20
Black-capped Petrel=20
32=20
Cory=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
48=20
Greater Shearwater=20
15=20
Audubon=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
33=20
Wilson=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
315=20
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel=20
3=20
Oceanodroma sp.=20
2=20
Red-necked Phalarope=20
5=20
Pomarine Jaeger=20
4=20
jaeger sp.=20
2=20
Arctic Tern=20
2=20
Bridled Tern=20
7=20
Sooty Tern=20
18=20
=C2=A0Other Species Seen:=20
Common Loon=C2=A0 3=20
Northern Gannet=C2=A0 39=20
Laughing Gull=C2=A0 1=20
Royal Tern=C2=A0 4=20
Sandwich Tern=C2=A0 3=20
Common Tern=C2=A0 9=20
Least Tern=C2=A0 2=20
Red Knot=C2=A0 8=20
Great Blue Heron=C2=A0 3=20
Barn Swallow=C2=A0 1=20
Sperm Whale=C2=A0 6=20
Bottlenose Dolphin=C2=A0 25
=20
Tuesday May 27, 2003
Manteo Country Girl =20
Fea=E2=80=99s Petrel=20
2=20
Black-capped Petrel=20
63+=20
Cory=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
60+=20
Greater Shearwater=20
27=20
Sooty Shearwater=20
8+=20
Audubon=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
35=20
Wilson=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
549=20
Leach=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
12=20
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel=20
19=20
Red-billed Tropicbird=20
2=20
Arctic Tern=20
2=20
Sooty Tern=20
3=20
Other Species Seen:=20
Common Loon=C2=A0 3=20
Northern Gannet=C2=A0 seen=20
Gannet/booby sp.=C2=A0 1=20
Common Tern=C2=A0 seen=20
Mesoplodon sp=C2=A0 1=20
Cuvier=E2=80=99s Beaked Whale=C2=A0 1 female=20
Bottlonose Dolphin=C2=A0 30+
=20
Friday May 30, 2003
Manteo Country Girl =20
Fea=E2=80=99s Petrel=20
1=20
Black-capped Petrel=20
58=20
Cory=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
112=20
Greater Shearwater=20
8=20
Sooty Shearwater=20
1=20
Audubon=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
26=20
Wilson=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
137=20
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel=20
4=20
Long-tailed Jaeger=20
1=20
Arctic Tern=20
1-2=20
Bridled Tern=20
6=20
Sooty Tern=20
1=20
=C2=A0Other Species Seen:=20
Northern Gannet=C2=A0 4+=20
Laughing Gull=C2=A0 2=20
Common Tern=C2=A0 5=20
Least Tern=C2=A0 9=20
Sanderling=C2=A0 2=20
Sperm Whale=C2=A0 1=20
Bottlenose Dolphin=C2=A0 39+=20
Dolphin sp.=C2=A0 32=20
Mahi Mahi=C2=A0 caught 10-11=20
=20
Saturday May 31, 2003
Manteo Country Girl =20
Trinidade (Herald) Petrel=20
2=20
Black-capped Petrel=20
52=20
Cory=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
54=20
Greater Shearwater=20
1=20
Sooty Shearwater=20
1=20
Audubon=E2=80=99s Shearwater=20
6-7=20
Wilson=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
137=20
Leach=E2=80=99s Storm-Petrel=20
3=20
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel=20
8=20
Bridled Tern=20
5=20
=C2=A0Other Species Seen:=20
Laughing Gull=C2=A0 1=20
Common Tern=C2=A0 2=20
Red Knot=C2=A0 1=20
Sanderling=C2=A0 8=20
shorebird sp.=C2=A0 1=20
=C2=A0 Sperm Whale=C2=A0 1=20
Mesoplodon sp.=C2=A0 2-3=20
=C2=A0
=20
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