I shared this recap on NJ Listserv yesterday, I figured some of the NY birders
may like to read my brief recap as well...
I sailed with Paulagics from Brooklyn to the Hudson Canyon on the
Sun/Mon trip. The forecast was looking treacherous and I almost
convinced myself not to go although I handle rough seas pretty well. 6ft
seas, 30 mph wind and up to 4" of rain was forecasted but the trip
still sailed. I medicated myself with Dramamine when I got on the boat
and quickly dosed into a restless half-conscious sleep until 4am. The boat
was surprisingly steady when I awoke, seas were only about 2ft, a light
sea breeze and a view of the moon setting over the water. Perfect
pelagic birding conditions!
The first bird of the day was a Leach's Storm Petrel flying
around within 20' of the back of the boat. Naked eye and lit only from
the boats lights, this birds flight style is so distinctive from
Wilson's it made for an easy Id. We had these birds with us for the
entire portion of the offshore trip. Probably a dozen individuals. I
appreciated the opportunity to familiarize myself with this species.
Second bird of the day came powering up the slick before sunrise.
"It's a Skua!!!", that got the blood flowing. What a hulking beast of a
bird! We were graced with 6 individuals throughout the trip with a few
coming so close you could, as Paul said, "smell the penguin on their
breath". We had 3 at once that stayed in view for probably an hour. You
know it's a good trip when it gets to the point when everyone says "oh
it's just the Skuas coming around again", sarcastically of course.
We had a Pomerine Jaeger and a Long-tailed pass by early in the
day leaving us wanting more. An excellent showing of Cory's, Great,
Sooty, Audubon's and Manx Shearwaters satiated our desire for seabirds.
There weren't many moments during the trip that a shearwater wasn't in
view. I made the most of this opportunity to study the difference in
flight style, plumage and especially structure of these birds. I have
distinguishable tan lines, or sunburn lines, around my eyes from holding
my bins up to my face so much. Terns were flying by all day and we were
able to discern at least 3 as being Arctic.
The real excitement for me came on the way back to the dock when
we were around 50 miles out. The conditions started deteriorating
quickly. Rain was falling, the wind kicked up and the seas became VERY
rough. Most folks headed into the cabin while some braved the elements
for the shearwater show. We were passing groups of shearwaters that
contained hundreds of birds. Sooty, Great and Cory's were everywhere!
Slicing and dicing through the air propelling themselves through 40knot
winds and 8ft+ seas. It was exhilarating watching these birds arcing and
blasting past the boat. At one point I counted 26 Sootys around the
boat that were identifiable by naked eye. Watching these birds harness
the energy of the wind through their dynamic flight is mesmerizing. I
wish there were more opportunities to get out to see and watch these
avian acrobats.
The boat we went out on was awesome too. I had a bacon, egg and
cheese sandwich for breakfast and a cheeseburger for lunch.
As always, Paul led an incredible trip and the leaders never cease to amaze me.
Everyone on board was able to get on all the birds, with the exception of MASH,
you have to be out of the cabin at the right time to catch these passers-by.
Here's an approximation of the total, conservatively estimated(my list, not
"official")
Sooty Shearwater- 90
Great Shearwater- 75
Cory's Shearwater- 125
Shearwater sp. - 450
Audobon's Shearwater- 3
Manx Shearwater- 4
Pomarine Jaeger- 1
Long-tailed Jaeger- 1
Arctic Tern- 3
Wilson's Storm-petrel- 100(maybe 3x this figure)
Leaches Storm-petrel- 8 (maybe 3x this figure)
South Polar Skua- 6
Jon Stippick
Newfield, NJ
jonstippick at gmaildotcom
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