Reports | 2002 Reports

2002 Pelagic Birding Trip Reports

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All trips to Stellwagen Bank or Jeffrey's Ledge unless date in red. See Trip Notes for details.

9/21/02 - Jeffries Ledge
Report From Stefan Rayer
After having endured 5 consecutive whale watching trips out of Newburyport without spotting a single shearwater, today's (Saturday) trip to Jeffrey's Ledge was graced by 1000+ GREATER SHEARWATERS. Most of the shearwaters were unusually close to shore, with the biggest rafts only 10-15 minutes from the mouth of the Merrimack. Must have been a good spot, for we also found a Minke Whale in the area. Among the masses of Greater Shearwaters I was able to detect 2 MANX SHEARWATERS and a possible SOOTY SHEARWATER (I didn't get a good enough look for a lifer). Out on the ledge, we had a very cooperative juvenile Humpback Whale and two Fin Whales. Bird numbers were rather low on the ledge compared to the early part of the trip, with only a couple GANNETS, small flocks of Greater Shearwaters, and maybe 100 Storm Petrels. No phalaropes or jaegers, but all in all a very enjoyable outing.

9/21/02 - New Hampshire Pelegaic
Report from Steve Mirick
We took the 1:30 PM whale watch from Rye Harbor, NH on the "Granite State" and were treated to the best shearwater show I have ever seen in NH waters with over 4 species of shearwaters including 900 Greater Shearwaters ALL INSIDE THE ISLES OF SHOALS southwest of White Island!!! 800 of them were sitting in one flock on the ocean as we steamed by them only 3 to 4 miles offshore! Curiously, we missed them on the way out with a count of only 75, but had the big count of 900 on the way back. Out past the islands, we headed into MA waters where things slowed down considerably and there were only a few shearwaters out toward Jeffrey's Ledge. This is in contrast to Jim Berry's report from Wednesday when it sounds like he had more shearwaters out on the Ledge. Also, our gannet count was considerably less than Jim's. I talked to the Captain, and he says that large numbers of shearwaters have been regularly feeding inside of the Isles of Shoals, apparently attracted to bait fish pushed by small tuna.
Greater Shearwater - 950 (900 inside the I.O.S.), Sooty Shearwater - 5 (3 or 4 inside the I.O.S.), Manx Shearwater - 3 (1 inside the I.O.S.), CORY'S SHEARWATER - 1 ( Inside the I.O.S. Only my second NH record!), Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 4 (All off shore. They certainly seem to have cleared out!), Northern Gannet - 30 (2 adults), Red Phalarope - 1 (Offshore. Probably in MA waters), Tern sp. - 2 (may have been Forster's).
Fin Whale 1, Humpback Whale 2, Harbor Porpoise 5.

9/18/02 - Jeffries Ledge
Report from Jim Berry
While New Hampshire's "Hagfish Irregulars" were stubbornly watching hawks, yours truly was the token birder on UNH's monthly hagfish-collecting trip to Jeffreys Ledge today. The zephyrs seemed consistently out of the north, but it didn't make any difference, since the sea was flat and the conditions perfect for viewing (except, of course, for the glare of the sun). In the following list, I'm not making any distinction among Maine, NH, and Mass. waters, since the charts don't show state lines past the Isles of Shoals anyway. But we did cruise in all 3 states, going out north of the islands and back south of them, and I attempted a state-by-state breakdown (however inaccurate) if anyone is interested.
Common loon 2, greater shearwater 950, wilson's storm-petrel 160, n. gannet 330 (mostly immatures and subadults), d-c cormorant 450 (most in the Piscataqua), common eider 150, (crude estimate; distant flock near Duck I.), w-w scoter 1 (way out at sea), red-necked phalarope 4, bonaparte's gull 115 (all in the Piscataqua), tern sp. 15, forster's tern 5 (Jeff. Ledge, seen and heard), warbler sp. 3, sparrow sp. 2.
White-sided dolphin 100+, fin whale 2, harbor porpoise 2, small shark sp. 1 (it had 2 small floppy dorsal fins), hagfish 2 barrels full, monarch only 1.
Not one of the 5 landbirds tried to fly to the boat, despite the fact that one of the sparrow-like birds looked like it was about to go down. Remarkably, I didn't see a single flock of early-migrating ducks; just a few small flocks of cormorants. As for pelagic birds, the variety was disappointing, but the greater shearwaters were in large flocks on the water in several places, on and off the ledge. Several times we drove right past them, and they reluctantly took off in the relative calm. I tried hard, but could not make any of them into cory's or even sooties. I didn't see a single small shearwater among them. jaegers too were absent, as were laughing gulls. The stars of the show were the dolphins. The herd was right where we were planning to drop the mackerel-baited barrels, and we cruised slowly among them for about an hour while we waited for the barrels to fill up with hagfish (which feed on dead things that drop to the bottom, in barrel traps or otherwise). one dolphin was even tail-slapping--the first time I have seen this behavior in a dolphin. We also saw quite a few of them jump clear out of the water, and they often swam under the bow, probably wishing we were going faster.

9/15/02 - SSBC Plymouth Whalewatch out of Plymouth
Report from Mike Emmons
Taking the 9 a.m. whalewatching boat out of Plymouth, the South Shore Bird Club lead by David Clapp had the following: 420 Greater Shearwaters, 19 Manx Shearwaters, 8 Sooty Shearwaters, 35 Red-necked Phalaropes, 4 Red Phalaropes, ~200 Wilson Storm-petrels, 12 Leach's Storm-petrels, 1 RAZORBILL, 1 Parasitic Jaeger, ~4000 Tern Species (Common). Whaling was relatively slow, more blows than sightings.

9/15/02 - North Stellwagen
Report from Jim Wallius
I was on the Hurricane II of the Cape Ann Whale Watch for this morning's trip to the northeast corner of Stellwagen Bank. It was a beautiful morning, but slow for birds and mammals. The blue whale hasn't been seen since Tuesday. This is an idea of what I noted while beyond a mile outside of the entrance to Gloucester Harbor.
1 Magnolia Warbler (briefly landed on the boat twice), 15 Red-Necked Phalaropes, 60 Greater Shearwaters, 100 Common Terns, 20 Double-Crested Cormorants, 1 Red-Throated Loon, 2 Northern Gannets (1 adult), 40 Wilson's Storm-Petrels (widely scattered), 3 Bonepartes Gulls, Some Herring Gulls, Some Great Black-Backed Gulls.
8 Fin Whales, 2 Humpback Whales, Several small Blue Fin Tuna

9/9/02 - NEWBURYPORT, MA approx. 80 miles east to CASHES LEDGE.
Report from Rick Heil and 110 others
Weather: Clear, W-SW 10-15 mph, 70's; seas 0-2'
Common Loon (1-basic): Approx. 60 miles offshore, Cory's Shearwater (1), Greater Shearwater (210), Manx Shearwater (8), Wilson's Storm-Petrel (520), Leach's Storm-Petrel (39), Northern Gannet (8), Great Cormorant (3 juvs.)-Salisbury jetty, White-winged Scoter (1f.), Red-necked Phalarope (74), Red Phalarope (315), phalarope sp. (30), Pomarine Jaeger (4; 1 ad., 3-2S/3S), Parasitic Jaeger (1 ad. or near ad.), jaeger sp. (1), Laughing Gull (35 juvs.)-Newburyport Harbor vic,. Herring Gull (200), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 or 2 ad.), Great Black-backed Gull (150), Roseate Tern (6), Common Tern (160), marine mammals: Humpbacked Whale (2): Mother(Trident) w/calf,. Fin Whale (3), Minke Whale (3+), whale sp. (1), Atlantic White-sided Dolphin (400+), Harbor Porpoise (20), Harbor Seal (3), also: Masses of young Herring about 8-9 miles off Plum I. where Humpbacks were bubble feeding, Mola mola (Ocean Sunfish) (6), shark sp. (1).

9/8 - Newburyport to Isles of Shoals and beyond
Report from Mark Halloran
I led the birding portion of the MA Audubon kayak/birding trip to the Isles of Shoals and beyond today utilizing the Ninth Wave Catamaran out of Newburyport. After dropping kayakers at the Isles we proceeded out 10+ miles due East of the Isles but not all the way to Jeffrey's Ledge. We were under sail the whole time on this portion of the trip making for a vey pleasant outing in a perfect September day on the water. Bird numbers were way down from previous trips, especially Wilson's Storm Petrels. Common Loons - 4, Greater Shearwater - 1 Flying behind a fishing boat, Sooty Shearwater - 1, Sitting on the water Wilson's Storm Petrel - 25 None were seen on the way to the Isles; a few coming back Northern Gannet - 1 Immature, Double-crested Cormorant - ++, Tricolored Heron - 1, Merrimack River Green Heron - 1 Salisbury Common Eider - 250 Large compact flock east of the Isles, several around the Isles Northern Harrier - 1 Salisbury Black-bellied Plover - 12 Flying over the kayakers Spotted Sandpiper - 1 North Jetty Ruddy Turnstone - 4 North Jetty Semi-palmated Sandpiper - 3 Salisbury Red-necked Phalarope - 5 All seen at the Isles flying by Bonaparte's Gull - 162 12 immatures, one flock of 150 in a feeding frenzy Roseate Tern - 4 Common Tern - 50+ Black Guillemot - 1 Immature at Lunging Island Eastern Kingbird - 3 Appledore Island seen by the kayakers Bluefin Tuna - 1 Harbor Seals - 6 plus many seen by the kayakers Harbor Porpoises - 6 Whales - 0

9/7 - Southern Jeffries Ledge
Report from Jim Wallius
Today we fished southern Jefferies Ledge about 14 miles east of Rockport. Didn't see an awful lot of birds during fishing so I've included the approximations of what I noted from 2 miles offshore in and out. 1 lt jaeger - great looks at a breeding plumage adult, 1 jaeger species, 1 dc cormorant, 1 c goldeneye - surprised to see this one, 1 n fulmar - another surprise, 1 rt loon, 100+ ws petrels, 25+ g shearwaters, 60+ c terns, 8 n gannets - 1 adult, 20+ h gulls, 40+ gbb gulls, 2 bl kittiwakes - non-adults. 1 humpback whale, 1 fin whale, 3 blue fin tuna - jumping, 1 large shark species. Oh yes, I did catch some prized haddock. Jim Wallius

Aug26-27 - Newburyport to Provincetown
Report from Mark and Joyce Halloran Newburyport
We took the Ninth Wave Catamaran from Newburyport to Provincetown Monday and returned Tuesday. This scheduled trip provided over 16 hours of pelagic birding from a boat platform that is close to the water with unrestricted visibility in all directions. We covered parts of Stellwagen Bank and areas both East and West of the Bank. In general the Bank was quiet with a few birds and no whales. Best birding was North of Stellwagen off the coast of Gloucester and South of Stellwagen near Race Point, Provincetown. Trip totals (two days): Common Loon - 2, Cory's Shearwater - 1; in mixed flock on water, near boat, off Race Point, Greater Shearwater - 400+, Sooty Shearwater - 18, Manx Shearwater - 4, Wilson's Storm Petrel - 2000+, Northern Gannet - 7; 4 adults, Red-necked Phalarope - 14, Roseate Tern - 2, Common Tern - 50, Red- winged Blackbird - 1; Hitched a ride off Gloucester and rode to Provincetown, Minke Whale - 1, Long-finned Pilot Whale - 10; 2 babies, Ocean Sunfish (Mola-mola) - 1, Harbor Seal - 3, School of Tuna, School of Bluefish.

Aug 26 - Provincetown Whalewatch
Report from Peer Flood
I spent (1630-2030) on the Dolphin Fleet 6. We ended up roughly 6-8 miles east of Truro nearly out to the shipping lanes. As usual, the whales were spotty with a total of 2 Finbacks seen. I thought the seabirding might have warmed up a bit given what I have been seeing from land as well as what has been reported. Although I was not completely disappointed, this is hardly anything to light the hotline up with. Here is what I found: Greater Shearwater (260), Sooty Shearwater (1), Manx Shearwater (2), Wilson's Storm Petrel (2600+) over 500 between Long Point and Race Point, Parasitic Jaeger (1),

Aug 18-20, Great South Channel
Report From John HoyeWed,
On a trip to the great south channel with the CORE researchers we saw despite very foggy conditions:
1000 greater shearwaters, 5 cory's shearwaters, 20 sooty shearwaters, 4 manx shearwaters, 825 wilson's storm petrels, 4 leach's storm petrels, 1 pomarine jaeger, 20 red necked phalaropes
8/17 - Stellwagen from Gloucester
Report from Chris Gentes
Heather and I took the 8 am out of Gloucester on the Yankee Fleet. Greater Shearwater (28), Wilson's Storm-petrel (155 - of which 50 in the harbor), Leach's Storm-petrel (1), Northern Gannet (7), Red-necked Phalarope (12), Phalarope Sp. (15). Minke (3), Fin (2), Basking Shark (1)
8/12-13 Great South Channel
Report from Oakes Spalding
I took the CRESLI (Coastal Research Society of Long Island) whale watching trip on 8/12-13. The boat spent all of the time in the Great South Channel area east of Nantucket. It was two overnights on the boat; I boarded it at Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard midnight Sunday night and debarked at 4 P.M. Tuesday.The birds (see list below) were very numerous.
I counted more than four thousand pelagic birds of six species. I remember especially being encircled by an estimated 800 Greater Shearwaters sitting in the water, extending in every direction from a few feet away from the boat to the horizon.
But the whales were an even better show. The trip leader said on the PA that in twenty years of leading whale-watching trips he had never had a better day for whales. He estimated that we saw about a quarter of the entire Gulf of Maine stock of 900 Humpback Whales. Whales were all around us all day on Monday, most of the time breaching in more than one direction at once. I once had eight spouts in one binocular view. All Monday night, whales were circling the anchored boat, snorting loudly. On Tuesday, we had heavy fog lowering our visibility; I still counted 27 different Humpbacks. The piece de resistance for me was a mother and calf sitting on the surface five feet away from the boat eyeing us. Then she slapped her flipper on the water, getting some people on the boat wet.
The hottest spot for both birds and whales was at about 41 degrees, 30 minutes North, 69 degrees, 23 minutes West, or about 25 miles ENE of Sankaty Head, Nantucket.
The boat's depth-finder was spotting very broad and deep schools of small fish, often extending all the way from the surface to the bottom a couple of hundred feet below. It appears that this year much of the food supply for both whales and birds has shifted from Stellwagen Bank to this area. Alas, this trip was one-of-a-kind and no commercial whale watching trips go to this area. Since it is more than 50 miles from Provincetown, even boats from there can't make it within their four hour time schedules.Totals from entire trip below:
BIRDS Greater Shearwater 3066, Wilson's Storm-petrel 858, Sooty Shearwater 223, Cory's Shearwater 7, Leach's Storm-petrel 4, Manx Shearwater 4, Northern Gannet 1, Common Tern 39, Herring Gull 200+, Great Black-backed Gull 200+.
MAMMALS Humpback Whale 127+, Finback Whale 9, Minke Whale 4, Atlantic White-sided Dolphin 125, Common Dolphin 20, Harbor Porpoise 130, White-beaked Dolphin 25.
FISH Ocean Sunfish 1
8/12 Stellwagen from Plymouth
Report from Steve Leonard
Pelagic activity continues to be slow, but we did see: Sooty Shearwater - 1 Cory's Shearwater - 2, but may have been same bird twice Greater Shearwater - 10 large numbers of Wilson's Storm-petrels throughout the trip Humpback Whale -1 Finback Whale - 1
8/11 Stellwagen from Plymouth
Report from Russ Titus
A group including Jim Sweeney and myself went on the 11-3 Capt. John & Sons boat out of Plymouth. Storm-petrels were mostly spread out though we encountered a few groups of 5-20. Cory's Shearwater (1) Greater Shearwater (20) Wilson's Storm-Petrel (400) N. Gannet (1)
8/4 Jeffries Ledge from Neburyport
Report From Capt. Paul Hodgdon
Another whale watch boat reported two South Polar Skuas today. They were 4 miles east of us, and said the birds were flying west towards our location. We had several birders on board and alerted them, but the birds were not sighted by anyone on our boat. The other boat described the birds as chocolate brown with white stripes on the wings, but I don't believe any experienced pelagic birders on their boat confirmed the sighting - at least that is my impression. I just wanted to pass that on, and of course we'll keep our eyes open..
7/28 - Stellwagen from Gloucester
Report from Byron Stone
On Sunday, July 28, 2002 I went with friends on a whale-watch out of Gloucester. The birding was pretty good, we had three species of whale, and the knowledgeable whale biologist-interpreter was tolerant of birders and even mentioned birds a couple of times, noting accurately that the whales and pelagic birds tend to occur in the same areas. I was surprised at the large numbers of Wilson's Storm-petrels that were in very close to shore, some even occurring inside the jetty on the north side of the harbor. The list highlights for our 4-hour trip follows. Birds: Wilson's Storm-petrels - 500 (very conservative estimate) No Leach's SP's Greater Shearwaters - 25 Cory's Shearwaters - 6 Sooty Shearwater - 2 Least Tern - 1 Tern sp. (Arctic perhaps?) - 2 Good, close looks were had at all pelagic species. Whales: Humpback - 1, close to boat Minke - 6 or more Fin - 1, fairly close to boat Altogether, a nice trip.
7/28 - Stellwagen
Report From John Hoye
Excellent whale watch john's boats out of plymouth . we cruised directly across cape cod bay past p'town to off truro where everything was gathered sheets of shearwaters , many wilson';s and 6-8 minkes, 6-8 finbacks and one humpback named "freckles". the shearwaters were streched in lines about 6 deep and the lines were about 150 yards long mostly greater shearwaters some sooties and at least one Cory's shearwater. as we were leaving the area we had a parasitic jaeger harassing a tern. on the way into this area on the south end of stellwagen in a large flock of wilson's storm petrel's there was one leach's with upraised thinner longer wings and erattic flight. we had best estimates 1 CORY"S SHEARWATER 100 greater shearwater 25 sooty shearwater 1000 wilson's storm petrel 1 leach's petrel 1 parasitic jaeger 1 arctic tern adult 10 common tern 5 least tern john and audrey p.s. the naturalist mentioned birds as well as whales and was very informative and the captain got us close at times to the birds.(Note from Glenn d'Entremont) "This is very different from the previous day which was the BBC/SSBC trip out of Plymouth. We went east and north and encountered very few anything except Wilson's Storm-petrel. We had 6 Greater and 2 Sooty Shearwater and 300 Wilson's Storm-Petrel."
7/28 - Jeffrey's Ledge
Report from Mark and Joyce Halloran
Today, Sunday July 28th Joyce and I once again went along as passengers on the Ninth Wave Catamaran's, Kayak with the Whales tour to Jeffrey's Ledge. Where two weeks ago the story was definitely about the Cetaceans, today it was about the Birds. We had Wilson's Storm Petrels in large numbers from the mouth of the Merrimack River to Jeffery's Ledge. We had three species of Shearwaters with Greater Shearwaters present in the largest numbers of the season. The Shearwaters and Storm Petrels were all around the kayakers affording killer looks from up close and personal. The complete list: Greater Shearwater - 97 Many very close; some on the water Sooty Shearwater - 1 Also very close Manx Shearwater - 4 Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 600 Many rafts on the water Northern Gannet - 13 All immatures Double-crested Cormorant - 50 Great Blue Heron - 3 Snowy Egret - 3 Ruddy Turnstone - 1 Least Sandpiper - 1 Common Terns - 25 Minke Whales - 4 Basking Shark - 1 School of Flying Fish
P'Town whale-watch 7/20
Report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll
The MAS Broad Meadow Brook "Summer Birding Class" was on the Cape this weekend. On Saturday we took a whale-watch out of Provincetown aboard the Dolphin Fleet (8:30AM). The seas were pretty rough on the way out (north winds with a serious front passing over night) and there was spray over the upper deck, hard rockin' et. HOWEVER, things calmed down by the time we arrived well off Highland Light. Here were whales and a decent tubenose show. The expert on board mentioned that up until this past week, whales had been scarce out here and they had just started to show up. The whole class had great views up close of the whales and the birds. This was also one of the least crowded whale watches I have been on ever from P'Town with only c.40 folks on board, so there was lots of room to go from one side to the other. Perhaps the overcast weather scared folks away. Too bad, because it was a great trip. I hope folks keep trying to look for these pelagics, because they are out there! For several students, it was their first pelagic and they had a great time and are hooked. Greater Shearwater (45+) Sooty Shearwater (60+) Manx Shearwater (minimally 6) Wilson's Storm Petrel (4000++. At one point on the return trip we were in the midst of a huge flock of petrels definitely on the move and not feeding. We estimated 1200+ all heading NNE) Leach's Storm Petrel (1-2 seen well. Two sightings of what could have been the same bird, or not) WHALES: 3 Fin and 3 Humpback including a mother and calf.
July 14 - Stellwagen - Negative Report
Maybe the Southwest wind has blown the seabirds offshore, but there were few today on the Whalewatch from Plymouth at 9am. We had to go down the backshore of the Cape to Wellfleet to find one young Humpback whale and didn't get back to Plymouth until 2:10pm. After we passed Gurnet Point Lighthouse, we saw: Wilson's Storm-petrels - 40 Northern Gannet - 2 Great Black-backed Gulls Herring Gulls Common Terns and that was all she wrote! My guess is that this summer Stellwagen is going to be a difficult place to find whales and birds as it was 5 years or so when the whales were somewhere else.
Steve Moore Northboro, Ma
July 14 - Jeffries Ledge
Today Joyce and I went on the Ninth Wave Catamaran out of Newburyport to Jeffrey's Ledge. This was a special tour to kayak with the whales. We went as passengers.
Birds noted were: 2 Ospreys on poles in Salisbury 4 Great Blue Herons 45 Common Terns 1 Roseate Tern presumably from the small colony on Isles of Shoals 68 Wilson's Storm Petrels 2 Northern Gannets 4 Sooty Shearwaters 1 Tree Swallow But the birds were not the show today. About an hour out of Newburyport we had three 45 foot long Basking Sharks. I had seen them before, but never three at once. This enormous shark is a plankton feeder and is harmless. They were very close to the boat and you could see their enormous size. A short while later we had six Atlantic White-sided Dolphins playing bedside the boat. We sighted a total of 6 Minke Whales during the trip but, the show stealer was a 50 foot Humpback Whale we encountered just as we reached Jeffery's Ledge. The kayakers were able to stay still in the water and watch from close up as this whale slowly moved in a circle blowing, shallow diving and deep diving showing it's flukes. We were the only boat in the area and with our engines off the whale stayed close for more than two hours! What an awesome spectacle!!
Mark and Joyce Halloran Newburyport, MA
7/6/02 - Stellwagen's Bank
Report from Mike Emmons
The South Shore Bird Club took the 9 am whale watching boat out of Plymouth to Stellwagon Bank on Saturday. Highlights include:* 73 Sooty Shearwaters, 57 Greater Shearwaters, 2 Manx Shearwaters, 250 Wilson's Storm-petrels, 6 Northern Gannets, 20 Common Terns, 5 Least Terns, 14 Short-billed Dowitchers (Flybys), 3 Piping Plover (Plymouth Beach), 3 Minke Whales, 4 Finback Whales *
Sooty and Greater Shearwater numbers may be somewhat high due to duplicate counting, but there was a lot of activity despite the lack of whale activity. The boat had to go out past P'town and somewhat south for the finbacks. As reported earlier, a lot of the storm-petrels were quite close to shore. We had half a dozen Sootys just outside of Plymouth Bay
7/2/02 - Plymouth to Stellwagen
Report from David Larson
Took the 9 a.m. whale watch out of Plymouth Harbor. It was (blissfully) cool and foggy on the water. 5 Northern Gannets, 8 Sooty Shearwaters 7 Greater Shearwaters, 400 Wilson's Storm-Petrels (I counted 91 between the tip of Plymouth Beach and the Gurnet). We had a great whale day with at least 3 Minke, 3-4 Fin, and 2 Humpbacks (mother/calf).
6/30/02 Newburyport to Jeffries Ledge
1:30 pm Yankee Fleet boat
Report from from Barbara Volkle
Wilson's Storm-petrels 175, Leach's Storm-petrel 1, Greater Shearwater 1, Sooty Shearwater 4, Manx Shearwater 1, Northern Gannet 2. We had one immature Humpback that was tail splashing for a half-hour. The Manx and Leach's were close to each other as we came to Jeffrey's Ledge. Wilson's started well within Gloucester Harbor a 1/4 mile before we passed the Eastern Point jetty.
8:30 am Yankee Fleet boat
Report from Chris Gentes
This was a trip sponsored in by Bird Watcher's Supply & Gift in Newburyport, with special guest Mike Tove, author of the Guide to the Offshore Wildlife of the North Atlantic.
Unfortunately there were very foggy conditions and poor visibility. Wilson's Storm-petrels 100-200, Greater Shearwater 1. Northern Gannet 3 imm., Common Tern 3, Minke Whale -1.
6/21/02 RI Pelagic
Report from Jan St.Jean
Pelagic results from 6/21, cod fishing trip on the Frances Fleet out of Galilee, RI. It was a great day to be out on the ocean! The Captain went about 35 miles offshore to a wreck area southwest of Cox's Ledge, and then we went to the Ledge. The jaegers are very humbling. We saw three, all young birds, and had a difficult time trying to figure them out.
2 Northern Gannets 100+ Wilson's Storm Petrels 80-100 Greater Shearwaters 8-10 Cory's Shearwaters 8-10 Sooty Sheareaters 3 Manx Shearwaters 1 SOUTH POLAR SKUA 1 Parasitic Jaeger (young bird, short pointed tail streamers) 1 Jaeger sp (?Parasitic) 1 dark phase Pomarine Jaeger (probable) We had trouble with the Pomarine. The jizz struck me as Jaeger right away, and it was big and barrel chested, but when it got close, we could see that it was an all dark bird. Never having seen a dark phase Jaeger, I started thinking it might be a skua. But the white in the upperwing was no where near as bright and noticeable as the good Skua we saw earlier. So, to the best of my knowledge, I am going to say probable Pomarine.
6/17/02 Plymouth Whale Watch
Report from Robert Machover
Another whale watch out of Plymouth this morning produced glorious weather and: 14 Sooty Shearwaters 4 Greater Shearwaters 750 (conservative) Wilson's Storm-Petrels - they were everywhere, including a few birds on Duxbury/Kingston Bay, inside the barrier beaches ~30 Gannets, 3 adults - the rest immatures Plus: 5 Finback Whales together (great looks) 1 Humback Whale a few Minke Whales
6/15/02 Scotia Prince Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Report From Peggy Page, Glen Tepke and Carol Chetkovich
The best birding occurs as you leave Yarmouth heading back to Maine. For the next few hours, Greater Shearwater and Wilson's Storm-Petrel are abundant. The Greaters circle the boat constantly and afford textbook views. (We searched in vain for the entire trip for Leach's Storm-Petrel). Sooty Shearwaters are also fairly common, and we saw a single Manx Shearwater about two hours out of Yarmouth on the inbound leg of the trip. Also very common were Northern Gannets and Northern Fulmar. The Greaters showed some very interesting and varied markings in the wings which are mentioned in none of the guidebooks except Harrison's seabirding guide. Most exhibited distinct white bars or patches which were readily visible at a distance (apparently the bases of white secondaries showing through where lost or worn primaries have not grown back in). Best sighting: a Dovekie quite close to the boat as we approached the coast of NS. On the return trip, we spotted a group of Arctic Terns off the coast near Monhegan. As the boat approaches the Maine coast, especially about an hour out of Portland, large numbers of Storm-Petrels can be seen. We did not see any that we could positively ID as Leach's, so assume most if not all were Wilson's. We also saw lots of whales, especially in the two-three hours after leaving Yarmouth, as well as Atlantic WS Dolphins and seals.
6/9/2002 Stellwagen Bank - Wellfleet Bay Massachusetts Audubon Society.
Report from Lori Rogers
We saw lots of Gannets, Sooty and Greater Shearwaters. One Northern Fulmar was spotted.
6/3/2002 Stellwagen
Report from Bob Machover
Saw the following birds east of Stellwagen Bank on a whale watch trip out of Plymouth this afternoon:
Sooty Shearwater ~50, Wilson's Storm-Petrel ~12 , Northern Gannet 6 (1 ad., 5 imm.) , Phalarope (sp. - probably Red-necked) 3. Plus the Humpbacks put on a spectacular show, with somewhere between 15 and 20 (!) whales in a feeding frenzy. Also pods of Harbor Porpoises and Atlantic White-sided Dolphins.
5/24/2002 Jeffreys Ledge - Jim Wallius
Fi\ished the ususal area about 13 miles east of Rockport on southern Jefferies Ledge. This what I noted around the boat while fishing: 40 Northern Gannets 12 Wilson's Storm Petrels 2 Leach's Storm Petrels 10 Great Black-backed Gulls 3 Herring Gulls 6 Red-throated Loons 10 Double-crested Comorants 1 small blackish land bird type 1 Minke whale
5/19 Stellwagen Bank - Wilson's Storm-petrels, Fulmars
Lisa Foerster Co-Director, CORE from the Yankee Fleet Whale Watch had a small flock of phalaropes (not sure which kind) , hundreds of Wilson's storm-petrels, three Northern Fulmars loads and loads of Gannets (juvenile and adults) feeding. It was great - this was all near the Northern end of Stellwagen Bank on a regular four hour whale watch trip! I unfortunately didn't have any birders on the boat to appreciate the bird sightings with me! We also had one humpback, 8 or 9 fin whales and hundreds of Atlantic white-sided dolphins out there! A great day.
3/09/2002 Jeffreys Ledge Steve Mirick
Jane Lawrence and I were invited to go along on a Hagfish trip from Portsmouth, NH to Jeffrey's Ledge this afternoon on the UNH research vessel the "Gulf Challenger". We travelled past the Isles of Shoals to a point on the ledge just into Massachusetts waters where UNH researchers dropped traps and caught lots of slimy Hagfish to play with. The winds were light out of the south with 2' to 4' seas which subsided a bit later in the morning. Not nearly as bad as the forecast predicted. The main weather problem was fog, which was at times very thick and severely limited visibility, but it was never pea soup and the fog wasn't quite as bad on the ledge. The following are a total of all birds seen past the Isles of Shoals: Northern Gannet - 6 (all adults) NORTHERN FULMAR - 18 (including at least 1 or 2 dark morph. Excellent looks!) Great Black-backed Gull - 60 Herring Gull - 20 Black-legged Kittiwake - 2 (1 adult and 1 immature) ATLANTIC PUFFIN - 1. Ironically this was the ONLY alcid that was seen the whole day!!! We cruised by this adult winter/immature bird on the water within about 100 feet, it and it didn't seem to be able to fly. Tragically, the bird was seen at coordinates 42 degrees 50" North.....Massachusetts waters even by the way New Hampshire draws the line! :-( Razorbill - 0 (visibility was fair at the ledge and we looked hard. Just no birds!) Black Guillemot - 0 (visibility was a factor here, but still we should have seen at least one!?!?!?!?!) In addition, there was an Iceland Gull at the Portsmouth Fish Pier and an adult Peregrine Falcon sitting on the Memorial Bridge in the harbor. Here are a few decent shots of the fulmars and a rather poor shot of the Western Grebe which we saw later in the day at Plum Island from Parking Lot #1. http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~mirick/Photos/fulmar1.jpg http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~mirick/Photos/fulmar2.jpg http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~mirick/Photos/fulmar3.jpg http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~mirick/Photos/wgrebe.jpg Steve Mirick Newmarket, NH
2/24/2002 NH Offshore Steve Mirick
Jane Lawrence, Dennis Abbott and I joined a Hagfish research group aboard the UNH research vessel the Gulf Challenger for a boat trip out past the Isles of Shoals to a specific location known as "Old Scantum" where we dropped a hagfish cage and came back in. We did NOT go to Jeffrey's Ledge. The following are some of the highlights only: Brant - 19 around the Isles of Shoals and 6 inshore at the mouth of the Piscataqua River Northern Gannet - 1 adult only Purple Sandpiper - a flock of about 200 on Smuttynose Island Iceland Gull - 1 2nd winter bird at the Portsmouth Fish Pier Black-legged Kittiwake - 6 (all adults past the Isles of Shoals) Black Guillemot - 20 (Between the mainland and the shoals. A couple in full breeding plumage) Razorbill - 8 Unidentified large alcid sp. - 12 Snowy Owl - 1 on Appledore Island Steve Mirick Newmarket, NH
2/9/2002 Jeffreys Ledge - Denny Abbott
Yesterday morning Don Green, Davis Finch, Michael Patten, Brenda Smith and I accompanied the Hagfish research team from UNH, aboard the "Gulf" Challenger, to a pre-determined location at the edge of Jeffries Ledge to document winter birds. It was mostly sunny for the entire trip but the 15 mph wind out of the NW challenged the efficiency of my goose down parka. The 55 ft. boat pitched to a much lesser degree than during the previous trip a few weeks ago; the sea was at 3-4 feet but allowed a two hand binocular hold approach to birding. The following list of birds was recorded for the entire trip. Red-throated Loon, 5; Common Loon, 10; Red-necked Grebe, 5; Northern Fulmar, 6; Northern Gannet, 4; Great Cormorant, 3; American Black Duck, 1 (30 miles at sea); Common Eider, 50; Surf Scoter, 2 (on the ledge); White-winged Scoter, 1; Long-tailed Duck, 28; Bufflehead, 4; Common Goldeneye, 2; Cooper's Hawk, 1; Ring-billed Gull , a few; Herring Gull, 30; Iceland Gull, 1 on the ledge; 2 at the Portsmouth fisf pier; Great Black-backed Gull, 35; Black-legged Kittiwake, 45; Dovekie, 14; Razorbill, 43; Black Guillemot,5; Rock Dove; American Crow, 2.
Denny Abbott 58 River Rd. Stratham, NH 03885 abbott99@mediaone.net
2/9/2002 - Rhode Island
Three birders went out on the cod fishing trip today from Galilee. The boat did not go to Cox's Ledge, but went SSE of Block Island. They had 35 NORTHERN GANNETS, 7 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, 15 RAZORBILLS, 18 COMMON MURRE. The Common Murre were in every variation of plumage. (I didn't get to go this time.) We are looking at the first weekend in March to go again. Jan St.Jean DLSaint@aol.com Chepachet, RI
1/18/2002 Cox's Ledge RI
Five birders spent the day on Cox's Ledge on the Gail Frances cod fishing trip. A nice assortment of birds were around. 250+ Northern Gannet The greatest concentration was about 150 Gannets just south of the Point Judith Light, plunge diving. Captain Richie said there was a lot of mackerel in the area. 3 Long-tailed Duck Harbor of Refuge 25-30 Black-legged Kittiwake 3 Dovekie,1 Thick-billed Murre 45-50 Razorbill 4 Northern Fulmar, one was a beautiful dark phase. Jan St.Jean DLSaint@aol.com Chepachet, RI DLSaint@aol.com
1/17/2001 Jeffrey's Ledge - Denny Abbott
This morning Davis Finch and I accompanied the Hagfish research team from UNH, aboard the "Gulf" Challenger, to a pre-determined location on Jeffries Ledge to document winter birds. It was, without a doubt, the wettest pelagic trip (mostly due to spray) to Jeffries Ledge that I have ever experienced. Wind was out of the south at about 15 to 20 mph with blowing wet snow, the sea at 3-4 feet, 35 degrees F, but the birding was superb despite difficulties with the weather. The following list of birds was recorded for the entire trip. Common Loon, 19; Red-necked Grebe, 2; Northern Fulmar, 25, two were dark morph; Northern Gannet, 37, all adults except one; Great Cormorant, 6; Am. Black Duck, 4; Mallard, 75, all at the edge of the river; Common Eider, 10; Surf Scoter, 8; White-winged Scoter, 12; Long-tailed Duck, 27; Bufflehead, 12; Common Goldeneye, 1; Red-breasted Merganser, 5; Ring-billed Gull, all around the river; Herring Gull, 12, on the ledge; Iceland gull, 1, at the fish pier in Portsmouth; Great Black-backed Gull, 35, at the ledge; Black-legged Kittiwake, 110, widespread and only two juveniles; Dovekie, 5 very near the boat; A total of 312 large alcids, many at the ledge, Razorbill, 47; Thick-billed Murre, 1; unidentified large alcids due to limited visibility, 264; Black Guillemot, 1; Rock Dove; American Crow, 5, over Seavey Island. Denny Abbott 603-772-4464 abbott99@mediaone.net

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