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| Reports | Reports 2009 | Search | Comments | Site Map |
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Reports 2009 A great summer on Jeffreys Ledge
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Northern Fulmar photographed on the
May 25 Tri-state pelagic
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August 16, 2009 Jeffrey's Ledge
Again with Eastmans out of Hampton for a day on the ledge, all reports from NH waters. Two kittiwakes were perhaps the first reported this season in NH. 1 pomarine jaeger, 6 parasitic, and a (hopefully) pretty accurate point count of shearwaters comprise the other notables from the day, in addition to a continuing astounding display of humpback whales on the ledge. I got the following numbers from an extrapolation of numerous spot counts among a total of 7000 shearwaters in view at one time (the boat spent about 4 hours stationary at 45 degrees 52 minutes 28 seconds latitude/70 degrees 12 minutes 35 seconds longitude where we were surrounded by approximately 7000 shearwaters). Greater Shearwater 4690 Manx Shearwater 70 Sooty Shearwater 1960 Corys Shearwater 280 (inc. one a few hundred yards from shore) Wilsons Storm Petrel Uncounted but relatively few compared to earlier in the season - encountered perhaps 1000 throughout the day Northern Gannet 20 all inshore Green-winged Teal 4 Meadon Pond Red-necked Phalarope 11 juv Parasitic Jaeger 6 Pomarine Jaeger 1 Kittiwake 2 adults Laughing Gull 3 juv Yellow Warbler 1 over ledge
Eric Masterson www.plcnh.org
August 4 - Stellwagen Bank
The 2pm Captain John Boat whalewatch today enjoyed some good looks at whales, and although not nearly the numbers of birds that were present a month ago, good numbers for what I've gotten used to since "the crash." Cory's outnumbered Greaters for the third time this season, always a treat. Also a Manx was nice, not many of those have been around, although I've had them two trips in a row now. The highlight of the day though was surely the phalaropes, it's always a treat to see a phalarope, and to have a bunch just makes it all the better. The best part was that both species managed to turn up still inside Plymouth County waters, quite unexpectedly, I didn't even have them on my radar until the boat flushed a flock. Once on Stellwagen, right on the SW corner we hit a few more, but then beyond that there were just tubenoses. Jaegers are conspicuously absent now, none in the past 4 trips. Full lists from today below, nothing worth reporting from the brief drive-by of Plymouth Beach. En route to Stellwagen: Plymouth Co.: Cory's Shearwater 1 Wilson's Storm-Petrel 8 Northern Gannet 3 Red-necked Phalarope 10 *Rare inshore, high count inshore. Eight were part of a flock of 9 birds, including the Red Phalarope, that was seen about 4 miles off of the Gurnet. The birds were put up by the boat, flew a short distance, and then settled down on the water again about 20m away. Red Phalarope 1 *Rare inshore. Seen with the above mentioned flock of eight Red-necked Phalaropes, this bird stood out as being paler, with a gray back and larger wingstripe, as opposed to the darker backs and wings of the Red-neckeds. Herring Gull 2 Great Black-backed Gull 1 Barn Swallow 1 Stellwagen Bank -- SW Corner: Cory's Shearwater 223 *High count. Outnumbering Greaters yet again! Greater Shearwater 170 Sooty Shearwater 9 Very low number. Seems from Steve Mirick's report that they have all moved up to the north. Manx Shearwater 1 Only the 6th in 20 trips this season. shearwater sp. 100 Likely all Greaters/Cory's, but which is the problem! Wilson's Storm-Petrel 69 Red-necked Phalarope 22 A flock of 21 birds and a single, all flushed by the boat. phalarope sp. 6 Likely Red-neckeds. Laughing Gull 11 Herring Gull (American) 2 Great Black-backed Gull 3 Common Tern 8
August 3 New Hampshire Whale Watch
A spectacular show offshore, although we spent most of our time in MA again. My tubenose estimates were similar to Steve, Jane, and Len's from 8/1, although there were a lot more storm-petrels. Most activity was again in a small area on the east side of southern Jeffreys Ledge (2500+ shearwaters), with another tight concentration on New Scantum (~1000 shearwaters), but also scattered tubenoses all the way in toward the Isles of Shoals. Larger numbers below are very rough estimates! (NH total, MA total): Mallard (1,0) White-winged Scoter (5,0) - just outside Rye Harbor Common Eider (125,0) - tight raft of 120 SE of Isles of Shoals Double-crested Cormorant (50,0) Northern Gannet (25,40) Northern Fulmar (1,0) - light adult SE of Isles of Shoals Cory's Shearwater (1,20) - NH bird 3 mi. due S of Isles of Shoals Greater Shearwater (50,1000) Sooty Shearwater (15,2250) Manx Shearwater (0,3) shearwater sp. (20,1000) Wilson's Storm-Petrel (120,1000) peep sp. (25,0) Short-billed Dowitcher (30,0) Red-necked Phalarope (4,6) - groups of 2-4 Red Phalarope (0,1) - lone bird phalarope sp. (2,4) Long-tailed/Parasitic Jaeger (1,0) - light subadult SE of Isles of Shoals, several characters suggested Long-tailed but views too poor and brief to confirm jaeger sp. (1,2) Common Tern (50,40) Black Tern (1,1) - both adults still mostly in alternate plumage Laughing Gull (2,0) Herring Gull (40,30) Great Black-backed Gull (30,30) Also: 8+ Humpback Whales (3 full breaches from one!) 5+ Fin Whales 1 Minke Whale Mike Harvey Londonderry, NH mgh27@cornell.edu July 28, New Hampshire Whale Watch
whale watch: Northern Gannet - ~300 rough estimate, probably low. All juveniles. Bonapartes gull - 1 Greater Shearwater - 1,000 + Massive numbers, lost count very quickly Sooty Shearwater - 1,000+ huge numbers again. Cory's shearwater - 3. Manx shearwater - 1 ( I wonder if I was under-IDing these as greater shearwaters?) tree swallow - 2 birds WAY out , miles past isles of shoals. My thoughts are with these guys. Jaeger sp. - 1 distant sillouette. Long tail. Wilson's storm petrel - constant everywhere Shearwaters were present only outside the Isles of shoals. Cory's were only seen on deep waters west of Jeffrey's Ledge. Greater and Sooty were concentrated over the ledge. 3 Fin whales 6(?) humpback. Sean Hurley Portsmouth
July 12 _ New Hampshire Whale Watch
June 23 - Isle of Shoals Tern Restoration
We just had a red-billed tropic bird come in and disrupt the tern colony, land on East Rock and then get escorted off to the North by an angry group of terns. Last night, after dinner, we had a few sooty shearwaters and a manx shearwater. Dan Hayward Tern Project Coordinator Shoals Marine Laboratory 400 Little Harbor Rd. Portsmouth, NH 03801 603-553-3350
June 14 NECWA Seabird and Whale Tales Trip
Once again an intrepid group of seafaring naturalists set forth on the Tails of the Sea (a vessel owned and operated by Captain John Boats) out of Plymouth for an all-day investigation of Stellwagen Bank and the waters east of Provincetown and Truro off the tip of Cape Cod. Despite showery conditions during much of the morning, decent observation conditions were still possible. Leaving Plymouth harbor, participants learned something about the large Common Tern colony located on the tip of Plymouth Beach, as well as the steady increase of a fairly recently established Laughing Gull colony there. The Laughing Gulls, while nesting at only one other locality in Massachusetts, pose something of a disruption to the nesting terns in that they are inclined to steal food from the hard-working terns once they start bringing fish back to the colony to feed to their young. In addition to the terns and Laughing Gulls, 5 lingering Brant were present along the edge of the beach. This Arctic nesting goose, although common enough in winter in Plymouth Harbor, typically has headed north by the end of May.
The trip across Cape Cod Bay was relatively uneventful until we reached the southern end of Stellwagen Bank, where 75 or more fishing boats were in quest of Bluefin Tuna. These giant fish (potentially able to reach up to 1500 lbs.) are seldom as large as they were 20-30 years ago before over harvest reduced their population, yet they continue to bring a pretty penny at the dock. In a withering economy the effort to catch one is still worthwhile!
As the Tails of the Sea neared Stellwagen Bank, increasing numbers of small, black-and-white Wilson’s Storm-Petrels began to be seen skimming the water in their endless quest for plankton. Unable to dive beneath the surface, these tiny seabirds travel all the way from Antarctic nesting areas to feed on the plankton-rich surface waters of the Gulf of Maine during the austral winter. Some feel that Wilson’s Storm-Petrel could be one of the most abundant birds in the world – an irony, given that most people will likely never even see one.
By noontime the numbers of birds began to increase and whale sightings went from distant to intimate. Humpback Whales were the lead performers, and no fewer than 24 individuals were sighted and identified. Among them were four mothers with new calves, which is always an encouraging sign for this endangered species. Thanks to the trained and watchful eyes of Joanne, Jenn, Krill and their assistants, most of the Humpback Whales that were sighted were identified by their distinctive tail fluke and flipper patterns. In addition to recognizing known individuals and learning something of their genealogy, a number of unique behaviors were observed at close range, especially the whales’ unique use of bubbles to corral fish, and their spectacular breaching behavior that literally lifts their massive bodies clear of the water; no one still knows for certain why they do this.
A special whale sighting was of a mother named Vertex who was traveling with her young calf. This winter Vertex was satellite tagged to help scientists better understand the migration routes of large baleen whales. Krill was able to get photographs of the satellite implant site on the left side of the dorsal fin and these images were sent to researchers in an attempt to help them assess why the tag failed and to track the healing of the wound. As we watched this mother and calf, the calf started spinning head breaching and flipper slapping all to the delight of our passengers onboard.
Along with Humpback Whales, several nice views of giant Fin Whales were obtained, and at least one Minke Whale was briefly spotted. Besides the cetaceans, two Gray Seals were seen off the tip of the Cape, almost certainly from the huge colony located at South Monomoy NWR off Chatham.
With an interest in all things marine, our group took particular interest in the sight of two enormous Basking Sharks filtering plankton at the surface, much in the same way as the rare Atlantic Right Whale on a much grander scale. Instead of using baleen like whales, however, Basking Sharks rely on their gill rakers to strain plankton from the surface waters. Along with Whale Sharks, Basking Sharks are among the largest fish in the sea.
And speaking of plankton, a plankton tow late in the afternoon produced a jar full of gelatinous comb jellies, or Ctenophores, that keyed out to be a common species called Sea Gooseberry (Pleurobranchia pileus). The same sample yielded thousands of copepods – a tiny crustacean that is the staff of life for many of the larger organisms occurring on Stellwagen Bank, including fish, seabirds, and whales. Krill encouraged passengers to report sightings of basking sharks and ocean sunfish to NEBShark (the New England Basking Shark Project) in an effort to help scientists learn more about these amazing coastal pelagic fish. NEBShark (www.nebshark.org) is a project supported by NECWA so some of the proceeds from this all day trip will be directed towards this project.
Among the hundreds of seabirds concentrated off the inshore rips from Provincetown to Truro our sharp-eyed birders were able to pick out Sooty, Greater, and Manx shearwaters, a single Northern Fulmar, and both Pomarine and Parasitic jaegers as they harried feeding terns for their hard-gotten food. Notable by the date was a late-lingering Iceland Gull and a Black-legged Kittiwake, both species that are normally only found in these waters during the winter.
On the return voyage to Plymouth, passengers were treated to one of Krill’s famous raffles during which practically everyone is guaranteed to receive a special prize from the plethora of raffle offerings available. Along with fresh fish chowder, it doesn’t get much better! Thanks again to Krill Carson and her colleagues for organizing another wonderful marine experience for all involved.
We hope to see you in the fall on the Sunday, September 13th cruise! Go to www.necwa.org to learn more about the fall trip.
CHECKLIST OF BIRD HIGHLIGHTS (not inclusive):
Brant – a group of five lingering individuals off Plymouth Beach
Common Loon – three summering birds seen offshore
Northern Fulmar – one light morph individual
Greater Shearwater – 500
Sooty Shearwater – 75
Manx Shearwater – 2
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel – 1100+
Northern Gannet – 300 (only one fully adult individual)
Pomarine Jaeger – 1
Parasitic Jaeger – 3
Unidentified jaegers – 4
Iceland Gull – 1very late immature
Black-legged Kittiwake – 1 immature
MARINE MAMMALS:
Humpback Whale – 24+ (including 4 mothers with calves)
Identified humpbacks include: Anvil and calf, Belly, Cardhu,
Dome, Elephant, Lightshow, Milkweed, Music, Sloop, Scylla’s 2008
calf, Soft-serve, Vertex and calf, Whisk, Zeppelin and calf,
Fin Whale – 2
Minke Whale – 1
Gray Seal – 2
June 11 - NH coast with Manx Shearwaters
Observation date: - 6/11/09
Notes: - Semi-casual coverage 1/2 day coverage of coast interrupted by a
welcome call from Eric Masterson for the Royal Tern. Overcast with
light NE winds. Lots of feeding activity offshore by gannets, gulls,
and terns. Wish we had more time.
White-winged Scoter - 4
Long-tailed Duck - 1 - One male sitting on rocks in Little Harbor. Seen
from Fort Stark.
Red-breasted Merganser - 1 - Male near Rye Ledge.
Common Loon - 6
MANX SHEARWATER - 4+ - Two sets of two seen flying past Seal Rocks in
Rye. An additional sighting of a bird off Fort Stark may be an
additional bird or one of four.
shearwater sp. - 1 - Distant bird seen by Jane only. Possibly a Sooty,
but she didn't feel comfortable in calling it.
Northern Gannet - 115 - Minimal count. Remarkable count for date with
15 to 45 at every stop. Lots of diving offshore.
Great Cormorant - 1 - Immature on rocks off Seabrook Beach.
Great Egret - 3
Snowy Egret - 5
Piping Plover - 2 - Adults on Seabrook Beach.
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 2 - Lingering birds on Seabrook Beach.
Laughing Gull - 2 - Adults off Seabrook Beach.
Roseate Tern - 5 - 3 off Seabrook Beach, 2+ more off Fort Stark.
Common Tern - 30 - Count only off Seabrook Beach. Scattered groups
along coast and a few dozen in Portsmouth harbor as well.
ROYAL TERN - 1 - Nice find of breeding plumage bird by Eric Masterson
and thanks to phone call, we got nice looks as it sat on Jenness Beach.
Bird was BANDED. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera! :-(
ALCID SP. - 1 - Non-guillemot. Flying offshore and seen from Fort
Stark in New Castle. Almost certainly an Atlantic Puffin, but distance
made me cautious of ID.
Steve & Jane Mirick
Bradford, MA
June 6 Whale Watch out of Rye NH
I took the 11 AM Granite State whale watch out of Rye this morning hoping for a Leach's Storm-petrel or some other good bird, since I can't remember going out in June. Now i know why. The birds were slow, except for the 53 (+/-50--how can you count those things the way they fly around and circle back?) Gannets. Probably the most surprising bird for the date was a Red-throated Loon that flew over the boat well out to sea. Otherwise, Sooty was the lone shearwater for the trip, and there were just 4 Wilson's Storm-petrels. We did have a Bonaparte's Gull out near the ledge, spotted by one of the crew, and the tern show around the Isles is always nice. Swimming things were better, with 8 Minke Whales, 1 Fin Whale, and 2 Basking Sharks slowly swimming with mouths agape. I should note that the captain told me before we left that he had had Razorbill, phalaropes, shearwaters, and storm-petrels yesterday (if I understood him correctly on the date), so things are probably out there in small numbers. Kurk Dorsey Durham
June 6 New Hampshire Whale Watch
May 25 Tri-State Pelagic
NH Audubon sponsored an all day pelagic trip today aboard the "Granite State" out of Rye Harbor, NH. With very few whales and birds seen the previous day, there was little to go on, but a tip of whales being seen up north, sent us northward to the extreme northern portion of Jeffrey's Ledge known as "The Fingers". Then we went even further north (into the Portland shipping lanes!) when more whales were seen. The trip eventually worked southward along Jeffrey's Ledge and into New Hampshire. With the exception of concentrations of Storm-Petrels and Northern Gannets up north, birds were generally sparse. A couple of fine views of Northern Fulmar were the bird highlights of the trip, however the overall highlight of the trip was absolutely incredible views of an inquisitive Humpback Whale. Thanks to Jon Woolf for organizing this trip and to Captain Pete Reynolds for skillfully working the birds and whales we encountered. 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM Sunny 50F - 65F Light and variable winds, nearly calm at times. Shifting to NW and increasing late on ride in. Birders - 48 The following nautical chart shows the path we took including the many twists and turns. The black horizontal lines mark the state lines between NH and ME and NH and MA as defined by the NH Rare Bird Committee: smirick\mapPelagic52309.jpg Species List total and broken down by state (ME/NH) -------------------------------------------------------- White-winged Scoter - Flock of 6 migrating Long-tailed Duck - 1 female near Seavey Island. Red-throated Loon - One flyby just outside of Rye Harbor. Common Loon - 12 total including a few migrants. NORTHERN FULMAR - 4 (3/1) Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 483 (467/16). Large numbers of Wilson's Storm-Petrels for Jeffrey's Ledge. Particularly for the early date. Large rafts of birds up toward northern Jeffrey's near "The Fingers". Far fewer further south in NH. Northern Gannet - 65 (52/13). Most appeared to be 1st summer plumaged birds. A couple of older adult/subadult birds. Double-crested Cormorant - 29 migrating in two flocks. Both in NH. RED KNOT - 1 on Seavey Island Ruddy Turnstone - 1 on Seavey Island. Shorebird sp. - Flock of 12 flybys. Bonaparte's Gull - 12 all out on ledge in Maine. All immature birds. Common Tern - Loads of terns just past islands and all around White and Seavey Islands. Last summer 2,400 pairs nested on the islands. Roseate Tern - At least one seen among the Common Terns near Seavey Island. Black Guillemot - Only 1 seen near White Island. Chimney Swift - 1 offshore migrants. Barn Swallow - 4 offshore migrants. Marine Mammals ------------------ Fin Whale - 4+ including spectacular close views of one that surfaced right near the boat. Minke Whale - 8+ HUMPBACK WHALE - 6. Group of 4 in Maine included individual known as "Patchwork" who gave incredible views as it loafed on the surface for about 15 minutes within 20 feet of the boat! With the glassy seas and nice lighting, the entire whale could be clearly seen through the water as if in an aquarium! At times, the whale went vertical (below water) and looked up at us in the boat and we got great looks at it's eye! Later in the day we saw brief and very distant breaching Humpbacks, but they stopped and kept moving as we approached. One was identified as "Gondolier". Harbor Porpoise - About 14 total individuals. Harbor Seal - Several at Duck Island. Gray Seal - At least 6 at Duck Island and one out at Jeffrey's.
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Above two photographs by Jon Woolf of Humpback Whale close to the boat. Notice the length of the pectoral fin trademark of the Humpback Whale.
Insects ------- Butterfly sp.- 2. One appeared to be a Painted/American Lady. Steve Mirick Bradford, MA
May 2 Manx Shearwaters on Revere Beach
Today, Sat. 5-2 at about noon on the way between Mt. Auburn and Plum Island we saw two Manx Shearwaters off of Revere Beach at about noon. They were probably best viewed from about the middle Pavalion. At first they were on the water quite distant, a scope view, but then flew around and were pretty obvious. There were also at least two Red-necked Loons present, several common loons, and a variety of sea ducks. Chris, Judy and Sabrina Hepburn Newton April 27 Manx Shearwater Revere Beach
Matt Garvey, Marshall Iliff and I when to Revere last Monday evening to look for Manx Shearwaters and were not disappointed. In fact, we were able to see 11 Manx Shearwaters wheeling around inside the main breakwater at Revere. Good birding, Jeremiah Trimble Cambridge, MA
April 24-30 2009 George's Bank, Hudson Canyon and more
While out on the Endurance out of New Bedford doing cooperative fisheries research last week, I saw many good birds and some whales. Dates are a little fuzzy but all sightings were 4/24-4/30. Highlights: 2 Atlantic Puffins on George's Bank 1 Snowy Egret (!) on George's Bank near Hague Line - 4/26(?) Weather conditions were foggy with little rain. SNEG hung out on rockhopper net for the better part of the night, then evidently continued migrating, presumably N. many Red-necked and Red Phalaropes down around Hudson Canyon - in one area, there were ~100 Red Phalaropes in a loose raft. 1 dead Humpback Whale - around Hudson Canyon area, many gulls and Leach Storm-petrel's feeding around whale. many Northern Gannets of all ages Pod of ~50 Pilot Whales that followed the boat for the better part of 24 hrs. on George's Bank. many Wilson's Storm-petrels 2 Parasitic Jaegers near Hudson Canyon 1 White-throated Sparrow on George's Bank - hung out on boat for several days and then disappeared Other scientists on the boat saw 2 Right Whales SE of Great South Channel. Apologies for lack of better information... Tyler Maikath Tern Colony Manager - Ram Island Mashpee, MA
April 10 Manx Shearwaters back at Revere Beach
I did some morning birding north of Boston and was pleased to intentionally look for and find 5 MANX SHEARWATERS off Revere Beach. Seen from the pink apartments, the shearwaters were sitting in a loose raft about 1 mile offshore and required a scope to be seen well. To my knowledge this is the earliest record for Massachusetts, with last year's sightings at Revere starting 13 April setting the previous early date. Prior to that single birds on 23 April at Martha's Vineyard (1999) and Wood's Hole (2006) were the earliest. Interestingly, I saw one last Saturday (4 Apr) at Pt. Judith, RI, which missed the 1 Apr record arrival date for Rhode Island. It seems apparent that Manx are making inroads as breeders in New England, with recent suggestions of breeding from at least Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine, so presumably these early arrivals are connected to this recent breeding activity. Marshall J. Iliff West Roxbury, MA miliff AT aol.com
March Jeffries Ledge
Late report on last week's pelagic to Jeffries Ledge. 20 participants boarded the UNH Gulf Challenger for a six hour jaunt to the Ledge, about 20 miles off the coast of NH. We steamed out via Malaga Gut, across Old Scantum and hence to Pigeon Hill on the Ledge (transition from 260 ft to less than 200 ft depth). The birding was somewhat disappointing where alcids were concerned, but this was not too surprising given the relatively late date. Most birds were in NH waters as defined by the NH Rare Birds committee. Details as follows: Brant 5 Northern Fulmar 12 including one blue phase seen by a few observers Northern Gannet 2 Kittiwake 1 Black Guillemot - 10 Razorbill 40 (very skittish) Thick-billed Murre at least 2, both allowing very close approach Common Murre one seen by a few lucky observers at 42 degrees 51.908 mins latitude, 70 degrees 14.628 mins longitude - sorry Len Mass waters per NHRBC If anyone wants more latlong details, email me offlist. I will be doing this trip again next Dec. I wont be scheduling a particular day but will wait for a weather window. If you want to be on a 48 hour alert for the trip, let me know off-list.
February 6 Jeffrey's Ledge - 2/6/09 (Alcid sweep, Dovekie and Fulmar show)
Yesterday, Jane and I and Ben
Griffith were fortunate to be able to "tag
along" on a boat trip aboard the UNH research vessel "Gulf
Challenger".
The boat traveled due east from New Castle, NH and headed toward
Jeffrey's Ledge and beyond to a deep water area known as
Wilkinson's
Basin about 40-45 miles offshore. The boast collected and tested
sea
water samples before returning via a more southerly route. The
course
of the boat took it through ME, NH, and MA waters and stopped at
a few
locations for periods of 1/2 hour or longer to collect water
samples.
It did not change course for birds (although we stopped briefly
for the
Right Whales!).
The trip was the best winter pelagic trip I've ever been on with
my best
Dovekie and Fulmar show and with near continuous action except
for a
late afternoon lull. In addition, the seas in the morning were
ideal,
and except for afternoon chop and spray, the rest of the day was
as good
as your going to get for a winter boat trip.
7:45 AM - 5:00 PM
Weather - Overcast in morning and tail wind creating spectacular
viewing
conditions on ride out. Deteriorating with clearing in
afternoon.
Winds - 5 - 15 knots out of West
Seas - 1 to 2 feet for most of day with 3 foot chop in afternoon
creating difficulty due to spray especially with boat at full
steam.
Route - As follows:
http://home.comcast.net/~smirick//UNHpelagic020609.jpg
or if you prefer Google Earth with enhanced bathymetric images:
http://home.comcast.net/~smirick//UNHpelagic020609.kmz
Below are all birds seen beyond Isles of Shoals only (except for
a
couple of Guillemots).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NORTHERN FULMAR - 187. Lots of action in deep water beyond
Jeffrey's
Ledge. Essentially no birds inside of Jeffrey's. One large
concentration of 120 fulmar and 50+ GBBG's sitting on water in
small
area at basin in NH waters and marked on map above.
Black-legged Kittiwake - 15. 1 1st winter. The rest were adults.
Herring Gull - 69. 50 of these around fishing boat inside
Jeffrey's Ledge.
Iceland Gull - 1 1st winter in deep water at Wilkinson's Basin
with
GBBG's. (Nominate Iceland could NOT be ruled out. Bird had white
primaries and bi-colored bill)
Great Black-backed Gull - 177. 120 of these out in deep water
stop at
Wilkinson's basin. Essentially all GBBG's out here and almost
all adults.
DOVEKIE - 350+. Great show with nearly continuous action at
Jeffrey's
Ledge and beyond, with several individuals inshore from Jeffreys.
Mostly small numbers, but a few groups of 10 or more and one
large
concentration of 125+ on Jeffrey's Ledge in MA east of "New
Scantum" and
marked on map above. Birds were like bee's flying off the water
at the
approaching boat! Dovekie was the "default" alcid for the day!
Thick-billed Murre - 1 in Maine waters.
COMMON MURRE - 1 in Mass waters.
Razorbill - 13. Incredibly FEW Razorbills out there. Strange day
when
Dovekies outnumber Razorbills!
Black Guillemot - 17. All in Maine on the way out. Most near the
Isles
of Shoals. One seemingly far out in "Jeffrey's Basin" area and
marked
on map.
ATLANTIC PUFFIN - 4. Including very close adult that stayed in
water as
the boast passed it.
Alcid sp. - 31. Most were small alcid sp. or just too far out to
tell.
Very few large alcids for day.
Marine Mammals
------------------
NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE - 2. Relatively close views of two
whales
which appeared to be surface feeding together and barnacle
covered heads
seen as well as tail fluke. Ben G. actually saw partial breach!
Location marked on map.
Large whale sp. - 1 distant whale seen by Jane. Blows and tail
fluke
seen. (?Right?)
Gray Seal - 1 male stuck it's head up fairly far offshore.
Harbor Seal - 3.
Species total by State
----------------------
Northern Fulmar - (ME-5, NH-140, MA-42)
Black-legged Kittiwake - (ME-6, NH-5, MA-4)
Herring Gull - (ME-67, NH-1, MA-1)
Iceland Gull - (MA-1)
Great Black-backed Gull - (ME-7, NH-50, MA-120)
Dovekie - (ME-78, NH-78, MA-194)
Thick-billed Murre - (ME-1)
Common Murre - (MA-1)
Razorbill - (ME-2, NH-8, MA-3)
Black Guillemot - (ME-13)
Atlantic Puffin - (ME-3, MA-1)
Alcid sp. - (ME-14, NH-17)
Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA
February 1, Sea watch Coast of New Hampshire
DOVEKIE - 1 flyby, not all that far off Bicentennial Park in
Hampton.
Flying south, it landed directly out from us, but then took off
again,
and kept flying south toward Great Boar's Head and heading
further
offshore. Unfortunately, only seen well by Len and I, but Jane
got on
it also as it was flying out.
Razorbill - 4 off Little Boar's Head in Hampton picked out by
Len.
Waaaayyyyyy out. Only visible because of outstanding visibility.
Black Guillemot - 8 total. 4 off Plaice Cove. 2 off Little
Boar's Head
and 2 off Pulpit Rocks.
SNOWY OWL - 1 dark bird continues in Rye marsh opposite Rye
Harbor.
Sitting on highest mud hummock in eastern side of marsh. Visible
looking
north from back of Ray's Seafood parking lot. Beautiful in late
afternoon lighting.
Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA
January 20, 2009
Ivory Gull at Eastern Point Gloucester.
Ivory Gull photographed by Leonard Medlock at Eastern Point, Gloucester, MA. Nice shot Leonard. Thanks for sharing.