With the cooperation of Paulagics, and on the heels of the insanely successful August trip, we have planned an 18 hour exploratory overnight pelagic trip out of Freeport, NY on Friday, October 24th/Saturday October 25th. The close approaching date would mean we would need commitments relatively quickly.
The plan for the trip is to leave the dock at 11:30 PM on Friday October 24th, aboard the 100' Starstream VIII (From the Captain Lou Fleet), and be at the Hudson Canyon at sunrise. This trip sails at an interesting time of year when many birds are moving into and out of the North Atlantic. Likely species for offshore pelagic trips in this region at this time of year include Great, Manx and Cory's Shearwaters as well as Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers, Northern Fulmar, Red Phalarope, and plenty of migratory waterfowl (and, depending on the winds, even some more terrestrial migrants, including many species of passerines). This is also an excellent time of year to find a good diversity of gulls offshore, as Black-legged Kittiwakes should be in, and Bonaparte’s Gulls should be moving, with the potential for other small gulls (Read: LITTLE GULL, and exceptionally: ROSS’S GULL). SABINE’S GULL should also still be a distinct possibility, as are both SOUTH POLAR SKUA and GREAT SKUA. The deep water off the East Coast is very under-birded at this exciting season, and the possibilities for out-of-left-field species is very much there. The only Atlantic Ocean record of BULLER’S SHEARWATER was from late October, as was one of the two accepted North American records of CAPE VERDE SHEARWATER (from New Jersey and Maryland, respectively). There will be food on board (both human food for purchase, and plenty of chum for the birds), and there will be several experienced pelagic leaders to help people see and identify whatever we come across, be it birds, cetaceans, or other marine life. The trip returns to the dock the evening of Saturday October 25th. The fee (including tip for the mates) is $235 per person. ****This trip will be booking directly through the Capt. Lou office. * *Call (516) 623-5823 to reserve a spot.* ***If you are planning on going, please do not hesitate in calling. Because the trip is less than two months out, time is of the essence to register. Hope to see you aboard! -Doug Gochfeld. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
