New England Seabirds

Our last Seabirds and Whales trip (of the year) aboard the Prince of
Whales sailed from Newburyport from 10 a.m. to almost 4 p.m. We had a
blast. The seas were no more than 3 feet with only a little chop at the
beginning of the day and flattened out later. Very nice sunny day.

In Newburyport Harbor we were treated to hundreds of Bonaparte's Gulls,
a few dozen terns including at least 2 Forster's, and 20 Ruddy
Turnstones on the jetty. Once off shore, the birds thinned out
considerably. Basically, we had a slow trickle of birds all day. The
star of the show was an Atlantic Puffin right next to the boat.

Birds counted offshore:

Atlantic Puffin 1
Northern Gannets 6
Great Shearwater 13
Manx Shearwater 1
Wilson's Storm-petrel 4
Laughing Gull 9
Bonaparte's Gull 2
Common Tern 6
Red-necked Phalarope 15
Red Phalarope 2 (another 20 reported by a passenger)
Great Black-backed and Herring gulls lots

Non-avian species:

Mola mola (ocean sunfish) 1
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin 30
Minke Whale 2
Atlantic Right Whale 9
Fin Whale 3
Sei Whale 2

Thanks to all of you who participated in this program this summer. See
you next year.
Dave

--
David M. Larson, Ph.D.
Education Coordinator
Joppa Flats Education Center
Mass Audubon
Newburyport, MA
978-462-9998

Zack Klyver just emailed the following to be shared with Maine Birds.

On this mornings whale watch tour [from Bar Harbor] Laura Kennedy, (Seabird
Biologist and grad student who is conducting seabird surveys from the boat)
spotted a dark shearwater among a small group of Great sitting on the ocean.
She asked me what I thought. When we got closer to it we both realized that it
was not a sooty but rather much larger, heavier, and with a nearly white or off
yellow bill that had all parts (nares, etc,) clearly outlined in black. I
thought the bird was 1/2 or 2x bigger than the Great sitting nearby. A cursory
look through books and the internet seems to suggest a Parkinson's(Procellaria
parkinsoni) as it had no white chin and no pink bill. Our whale researcher
(Jess McCordic) who was on the bridge with camera in hand captured great photos
for us, but alas the camera is still on the boat.

Location: Jeffreys Ledge--NH
Observation date: 8/21/10
Notes: Morning Whale Watch on Granite State out of Rye Harbor with
Jane Mirick and Len Medlock. Winds light to calm and seas 2 feet or
less. Mostly sunny with some thin overcast made for great conditions.
Route took us east through Isles of Shoals and straddling the NH/ME
state line and traveling east to inner side of Jeffrey's Ledge. Numbers
counted starting outside Rye harbor. Great shots (of course) by Len
Medlock:

http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/8212010

Common Eider X Around Isles of Shoals.
Common Loon 2 Near Isles of Shoals.
Cory's Shearwater 6
Greater Shearwater 65
Sooty Shearwater 1
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 226 158 counted in 3 large rafts on
water. ZERO inside Isles of Shoals.
Northern Gannet 30 Includes 2 adults SITTING ON SQUARE ROCK.
Otherwise, ZERO inside Isles of Shoals.
Double-crested Cormorant 69 Migrating south in 3 flocks. One
flock out on Jeffrey's Ledge.
peep sp. 6
Red-necked Phalarope 9 Appeared to be all juveniles in two small
groups.
Bonaparte's Gull 3 Inside Isles of Shoals.
Laughing Gull 2 Adults near Isles of Shoals.
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Common Tern 14 Remarkably only 6 counted over White Island as
birds appear to have cleared out. 8 out toward ledge.
Black Guillemot 4 All near Isles of Shoals. Includes one adult
with juvenile.
Tree Swallow 250 Estimated over Star Island. More over
Appledore not included in total.

Fin Whale - 2
SEI WHALE - 2
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin - 104+ (group of 4 and group of 100+)
Harbor Seal - 3
Gray Seal - 1
BLUE SHARK - 25+ (!!!!) Amazing numbers. All well offshore. Possibly
associating with area of squid in area of whales.
Shark sp. - 1 likely Basking Shark spotted by Jane.
Monarch - 2
Moth sp. - 2

Steve & Jane Mirick
Bradford, MA

common terns - 253 pair
arctic tern - 674 pair
laughing gull - 958 pair
razorbill - 323
Atlantic puffin - no number reported - last census showed 312 pair
Manx shearwater - up to 16 adults observed, 4 active burrows, one large chick observed via burrow scope,

planning another trip to check burrows again before fledging

August  21, 2010  Newburyport to Jeffreys Ledge NH

Today's Seabirds and Whales trip aboard the Prince of Whales had better birds than whales.

It was fairly high tide when we left Newburyport Harbor and the Salisbury jetty held about 
10 Roseate Terns and 30 Ruddy Turnstones.
 
We ran east out onto Jeffreys Ledge, then slightly south, and back to Newburyport. Offshore sightings included:
26 Northern Gannets
94 Wilson's Storm-Petrels
2 Cory's Shearwaters
32 Great Shearwaters
2 Atlantic Puffins!!
4 Red-necked Phalaropes
6 Black Terns
1 Laughing Gull
1 warbler (possible Cape May - waiting to see the photos)
 
1 Mola mola 
2-3 Blue Sharks
5 Atlantic White-sided Dolphins
 
Great day to be out on the water!
Our last Seabirds and Whales trip will be on Tuesday, September 7 (the day after Labor Day).
 
Cheers
Dave

Headed out in the fog this morning on the whale watch and saw about 10 birds
(not species) for first two hours - then, it all changed:

85 Great Shearwater
8 Cory's Shearwater
2 Manx Shearwater
225 Wilson's Storm-Petrel
50+ Great Black Backed Gull
135+ Herring Gull
and
20 Pilot whale
1 Fin whale
20 White-sided dophin
5 Blue Shark
Big Tuna

Jerry Kelly
Portsmouth

This morning Mike Harvey, Ben Griffith, and I headed out with Granite State
Whale Watch. Jon Woolf was also on board - so we had a bit of a birder
party. We had a fairly nice day off shore (probably the best I've had this
year). We spent (almost!) our entire trip in New Hampshire. Numbers from
the trip are below.

We also spent some time checking high-tide spots and had good numbers of
shorebirds scattered around (Check out what Plaice Cove looked like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4889098077/). Since Steve touched on
where there were good numbers already, I'll just add that we had a
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER at Rye Ledge and a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL on Rye
Ledge (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4889094249/).

I've posted some photos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/

Here's the totals for offshore

Cory's Shearwater 3 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4889093033/
Greater Shearwater 32
Sooty Shearwater 2
Manx Shearwater 3 FINALLY! My first IN New Hampshire this year!
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 400 One large group of approx 150.
Northern Gannet 26
Double-crested Cormorant 2 ON Jeffreys Ledge. More inshore
Bonaparte's Gull 1 *Unusual. Solitary juvenile swimming out on the
ledge caused quite a stir for a moment, until we turned around and realized
that it wasn't a Sabine's!
Black Guillemot 1 Inside Isles of Shoals, 2+ more in Maine
Tree Swallow 16 Most near Isles of Shoals

Marine Sightings:
Blue Shark: 4 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4889669300/
Fin Whale: several (4+) http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4889074775/
NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE: 2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4889666222/<http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4889666222/in/photostream/>

Lauren Kras
Newmarket, NH

Location: - Jeffrey's Ledge - NH
Observation date: - 8/8/10
Notes: - Morning whale watch aboard Granite State out of Rye harbor with
Jane Mirick and Len Medlock. Course took us southeast toward spot east
of Gloucester.
http://home.comcast.net/~smirick//WhaleWatch080810.jpg
Light to moderate SSW winds and sea's mostly 3 feet in swells, but some
high chop made it rough around the dolphins. Photos by Len Medlock,
hand holding the 500mm F4!

Totals with birds estimated to be in NH waters in ()
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Loon - 2 (2) - One immature, one adult in breeding plumage.
http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/image/127277606/original

Greater Shearwater - 35 (16) - Includes at least one DEAD bird (possibly
2 or 3 according to others). Also one bird injured with bad wing. Why?
Sooty Shearwater - 1 (1)
Manx Shearwater - 1 seen by Captain Pete only in MA waters.
Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 79 (34)
Northern Gannet - 33 (33)
http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/image/127277494/original

Double-crested Cormorant
Semipalmated Plover - 4 - Migrating offshore.
Red-necked Phalarope - 1 in MA waters picked out by Jane while
contemplating her stomach's contents.
Bonaparte's Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Common Tern - Not many terns, but a few juveniles.
Barn Swallow - 1 - One about a mile offshore.

NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE - 2
http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/image/127277398/original
http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/image/127277443/original

Atlantic White-sided Dolphin - 20
Harbor Seal - 1

Monarch - 1 offshore. No insect activity offshore. SE winds yesterday
likely impacted bugs offshore.
Wandering Glider - 1 in harbor.

Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA

August 9 Joppa Flats Seabirds and Whale Trip

Our Seabirds and Whales trip, co-sponsored by Newburyport Whale Watch
and Joppa Flats Education Center, was well attended and we had
reasonable numbers of seabirds and two species of whales.

In Newburyport Harbor, highlights included 100 Bonaparte's Gulls, at
least 8 Roseate Terns, a Forster's Tern, and at least 30 Ruddy
Turnstones and 200 Sanderlings on the Salisbury jetty. We headed a long
distance southeast to the southeast corner of Jeffreys Ledge looking for
whales and hoping for concentrations of seabirds. The seabirds mostly
came in dribs and drabs although we did end up with a decent selection.
The mammalian highlight of the day was an Atlantic Right Whale near our
southern-most point.

Birds of note: (outside of the mouth of the Merrimack)
Northern Gannet 45
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 93
Greater Shearwater 18
Cory's Shearwater 2
Manx Shearwater 1
Black Tern 1
Laughing Gull 2
Red-necked Phalarope 2

Mammals:
Atlantic Right Whale 1
Minke Whale 2

The next Seabirds and Whales trip out of Newburyport is on Saturday,
August 21, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. I hope you can make it.

Dave

--
David M. Larson, Ph.D.
Education Coordinator
Joppa Flats Education Center
Mass Audubon
Newburyport, MA
978-462-9998

This morning B. Griffith, T. Brooks, L. Medlock, J. Lambert and I all ended
up taking the morning Whale Watch with Granite State Whale Watch. Nothing
"rare" but a great day nonetheless. Photos can be seen at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/

<http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/>Of note onshore is an ADULT LITTLE GULL
found by Jason Lambert off Angel Pull off this evening. He documented it
with photos and will post them to his site later. If its around tomorrow
morning, I will be sure to post it to the list.

Highlights from the whale watch - numbers listed as NH/MA

MALLARD 6/0 5 Males, 1 female. Flying well outside the isles of
shoals
Common Loon 1/0
Cory's Shearwater 0/1
Great Shearwater 21/9 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4850789199/
Sooty Shearwater 1/0
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 360/130 -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4850787133
Northern Gannet 23/6
RUDDY TURNSTONE 0/6 MIGRATING well off shore - made us think Phalaropes
at first!
Least Sandpiper 2/0
Laughing Gull 1 Uncommon this summer
TREE SWALLOW 4/5 MIGRATING on the LEDGE!!!

Other Wildlife:
North Atlantic Right Whale - 6
Basking Shark - 1
Blue Shark - 2
SHARK SP. - 1 which FULLY breeched! (possible Mako, Great White, or ???)

Lauren Kras
Newmarket, NH

I headed over to the coast this morning to try for shorebirds, and
promptly discovered I'd gotten the tides wrong. A mid-morning high
tide meant no shorebirds til afternoon, so I went out with Granite
State Whale Watch for the morning, and looked for shorebirds later.

The whale watch was slow for animals of all sorts. A couple of
Harbor Seals, including one a couple of miles out beyond the Isles of
Shoals -- odd place to find a seal. A Blue Shark showed up at one
point, a first for me. Whale-wise it was a strange trip: we got
three different pods of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins, and only one
large whale, a Fin Whale.

Birds were a little better, but not much. All the usual stuff near
the Isles of Shoals -- Herring and GBB Gulls, Common Terns, Common
Eiders, Double-crested Cormorants. 2 Black Guillemots. Several
Northern Gannets, all immatures. Wilson's Storm-petrels were .. not
plentiful, but there were at least a few in view for much of the
trip. Shearwaters were present but not in large numbers, certainly
nothing like last year. Around 30 or so Greater Shearwaters, about 8
Sooty Shearwaters, and 1 very good look at a cruising Cory's
Shearwater. Pam Hunt, who was also aboard, reported 1 Manx
Shearwater. As far as I was concerned, high point of the trip was a
couple of PHALAROPES swimming in a patch of seaweed. I couldn't tell
the species, just that they were definitely phalaropes. The position
was N42 53.117 W70 18.149, which I think puts them in NH waters.

After returning to harbor, I headed south along 1A with thoughts of
trying for shorebirds. Most of the usual stops were full of
beachgoers, but I did manage a stop at Henry's Pool, which was
hosting a handful of peeps, 3 or 4 dowitchers, a couple of
Semipalmated Plovers, and 6 Snowy Egrets. After that I headed down
to Hampton Harbor and scanned the north-side mudflats. These were
mildly productive: a dozen or so Yellowlegs, mostly Greaters, a
couple of Willets, a couple of peeps, and the best bird of the day, a
WHIMBREL which Len Medlock found and pointed out to me.

All in all, not a bad day.

-- Jon Woolf
Manchester, NH

I took the Granite State Whale watch afternoon trip today. Much quieter than this time last year, but rough seas made for difficult viewing, depressing numbers.

Wilsons Storm Petrel - 25
Greater Shearwater - 85
Sooty Shearwater - 18
Manx Shearwater - 1
Corys Shearwater - 3
Northern Gannet - 8
Dowitcher sp. (presumed short-billed) - 1
Least Sandpiper - 5

Fin Whale - 3 inc. mother and calf
Minke Whale - 1
Basking Shark - 1 (breached!)

There was a terrific shearwater show on the trip out to Jeffries ledge
Tuesday afternoon. On the way out there were groups Cory's Shearweaters
numbering well over a hundred, starting ab out a half mile out of the
harbor, which I did not see again on the way back. At the ledge there were
hundreds of Greater Shearwaters, with Sooties, Cory's and a few Manx.
Plenty of whales as well, including Fin, Humpback whales and White-sided
Doplphins.

Cory's Shearwaters -- 140
Sooty Shearwaters 75
Greater Shearwaters 200+
Manx Shearwaters 2
Wilson's Storm Petrels 45

These were the birds I counted; clusters of birds on the water and in the
air stretched as far as I could see in every direction!

John Carroll
Newburyport

Location: Stellwagen Bank
Observation date: 7/6/10
Notes: I took a New England Aquarium Whale Watch boat out of Boston on the
9:30a.m. run. My list includes all the birds seen not only at the NW corner of
Stellwagen, but also the ones seen on the 27 mile ride out there. Lots of
pelagics on this trip. The number, I'm sure is way more. Nice to see lots of
Atlantic White-sided Dolphins. some leapt out of the water completely. There
were also several Humpback Whales giving killer looks, as well a a Fin Whale. I
believe the crew mentioned Minke Whale also, although I believe I was distracted
at the time, so I never saw it or them. There was a Monarch Butterfly out on the
water too. The two Manx Shearwaters were the closest of all the shearwaters to
shore.

Number of species: 12

Cory's Shearwater 1
Greater Shearwater 200
Sooty Shearwater 30
Manx Shearwater 2
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 200
Northern Gannet 2
Double-crested Cormorant X
Laughing Gull 1
Herring Gull (American) X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Common Tern 3
Tree Swallow 1

I escaped the heat on Monday with a whale watch aboard the Granite State out
of Rye and I wish I could do the same today! Apologize for the delay in
posting.

There were not huge numbers of pelagic birds but plenty of Wilson's
Storm-Petrels, Greater Shearwaters, Sooty and 1 Manx (not in NH waters). No
Cory's that I or the naturalists could find on this trip. I only counted in
what I estimated to be NH waters:
WISP - 45
GRSH - 25
SOSH - 2
but I did not have a GPS and soon lost track of where we were with the
spectacular whale watching. Highlights were wonderful looks at a Fin whale; a
Humpback mother and calf that came right up to the boat - mom was feeding and
we watched her come up with open mouth while baby was curious about the boat
and came right along side; and further south the captain cut the engine so we
could sit in a school of about 80 White-sided Dolphins with "Pinball" the
Humpback in their midst and slightly annoyed by the dolphins. Dolphins were
all around the boat, there was lots of bird activity, and 3 other Humpbacks
were in view. As we pulled away the dolphins rode our wake and were jumping
out of the water! My life Basking Shark on the trip back was the icing on the
cake.

As usual, the Granite State captain and crew did a great job.
Becky

Rebecca Suomala

mrsuomala@net1plus.com

Jane and I took the afternoon whale watch out of Rye, NH today aboard
the "Granite State". Although not a huge number of birds, there was a
remarkable diversity of birds and marine mammals, particularly given the
location in "inshore" waters. We ended up about 9 miles ENE from Plum
Island and 8 miles north of Cape Ann.

Cory's Shearwater - 9. Looks like another remarkable Cory's year for
northern New England!
Greater Shearwater - 40
Sooty Shearwater - 13
Manx Shearwater - 5
Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 27
Northern Gannet - 5
Least Tern - 1
Common Tern - A few here and there including a group of 10 working the
water over the dolphins.

Fin Whale - 11
Humpback Whale - 1 (2 year old. Unnamed)
Minke Whale - 2
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin - 40

Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA

I boarded the Granite State for a trip to Jeffrey's Ledge this morning. Calm seas and light breeze made for a comfortable voyage.
Many thanks again to Capt. Pete and crew for another spectacular job of navigation and sightings. (NH/MA numbers)

Cory's Shearwater 1/3 NH bird roughly in same location as puffin on return trip, just outside the isle of shoals--
though too distant for a photo. This bird cruising MA waters was more
friendly: http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/image/126194516
Greater Shearwater 7/14
Sooty Shearwater 2/2
Manx Shearwater 0/1
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 27/(didn't count MA birds)
Northern Gannet 1 immature bird/0
Roseate Tern 1/0
Common Tern 18/(didn't count MA birds)
ATLANTIC PUFFIN-1 (I found this guy zooming past us in poor light, seen just outside the Isle of Shoals;
indeed, Seabrook plant was well insight way to the left. Still, to be safe I inquired the ship's location and was given 4253'6,
which according to NHRBC--4252b3 and 4259b0--places it in NH. Bird seemed to have a clear face and well defined bill;
photo at http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/image/126194515/original)

Mammals:
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin-20+ strong pod with babies!
Humpback Whale: Diablo and calf; Hornbill (http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/image/126194517); Anvil's calf of 2009; and one possible two-year whale
NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE: mom with calf (http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/image/126194518 and http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/image/126194519)
Fin Whale-1
Minke-3

Fish:
Bluefin Tuna--a couple of schools.

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/nh)

Len Medlock
Exeter, NH

In the first of our Seabirds and Whales trip out of Newburyport on the
Prince of Whales (Newburyport Whale Watch), we had a very nice outing
today (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.). It was nice and cool out there! We headed out
to Southern Jeffries Ledge and then back north slightly before
returning. The bulk of the shearwaters we saw were in the vicinity of
schools of tuna that were working baitfish near the surface. Birds
recorded on the trip (outside of the mouth of the Merrimack):

Wilson's Storm-Petrels 510
Northern Gannets 10
Greater Shearwater 433
Sooty Shearwater 125
Cory's Shearwater 7
Manx Shearwater 2
Roseate Terns 3
Plus Common Terns and Great Black-backed and Herring gulls.

Marine Mammals:

Humpbacks 2 (Pixar and an unknown 1-2 year-old whale)
Finbacks 3 (#0508)
Atlantic White-sided Dolphins 30

It was great to see all four of the expected/hoped for shearwaters!

The next of our joint Joppa Flats/Newburyport Whale Watch trips will be
on Sunday, July 25, at 8:30 a.m. Please join us!
Dave

--
David M. Larson, Ph.D.
Education Coordinator
Joppa Flats Education Center
Mass Audubon
Newburyport, MA
978-462-9998
Bird-a-thon may be over, but you can still contribute! Please consider a
donation to Joppa Flats via my FirstGiving page at
http://www.firstgiving.com/davidlarson

June 16 - Whale Watch Granite State MA and NH

Today Len Medlock and I joined birthday boys Jason Lambert (6/14) and Ben
Griffith (6/17) on a trip to Jeffery's Ledge aboard everybody's favorite
whale watch; Granite State Whale Watch. We spent a lot of time
in Massachusetts waters but still had a number of birds (particularly
Wilson's Storm-petrels) in New Hampshire.

Photos can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/

Highlights: (NH/MA numbers)

Common Loon 2/1
Northern Fulmar 1 light morph in no man's land... this bird will
disappear from knowledge henceforth
Greater Shearwater 5/9
Sooty Shearwater 5/10
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 275/20 - including a raft of approx 250 birds in
New Hampshire (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4707908388/)
Northern Gannet 4/4
Roseate Tern 1+/0
Common Tern 100++/15

Marine Sightings:
Fin Whale - 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4707909670/)
Minke Whale - 3
Humpback Whale - 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/4707273147/)

For those interested in keeping up to date on what has been seen on
Jefferey's lately you'll be excited to know that Granite State Whale Watch
now has a Facebook page where they post daily updates on marine mammals and
birds that they spot (just search for them).

Lauren Kras
Newmarket, NH

June 15 NH Whale Watch Granite State - Reported Leatherback Turtle

Staying inside on a day this nice seemed almost criminal, so I headed
outside for some birding and the afternoon whale-watch with Granite
State Whale Watch.

Stops along the northern part of the coast, Odiorne Point and some of
the pull-offs just south, found little of interest besides several
Common Eider hens with clutches of ducklings. Oh, and some Willets
were calling from the marsh just south of Rye Harbor.

The whale watch was more interesting:

* Large numbers of gulls, including several rafts of 50+ birds
each. Outside the Isles, almost all were Great Black-backed.
* 30 or so Wilson's Storm-petrels
* Only one gannet, seen at a distance but appeared to be mostly
brown, so very young
* Half a dozen or so Sooty Shearwaters
* At least 3 Greater Shearwaters
* A cluster of 4 CORY'S SHEARWATERS in the water. At first I thought
these were Sootys, but later a close look at a photo showed clearly
that they were Cory's.

Whale-wise, we got half a dozen or so Fin whales, a Minke, and a
Humpback that didn't seem to be in the catalogs they carry on
board. It may be a new whale for them.

I heard from the crew that last Saturday, they got a shearwater
sweep: Greater, Sooty, Cory's, and Manx. Also, Friday they added a
vertebrate species that no whale-watch boat has ever reported from NH
waters before: a Leatherback Turtle.

-- Jon Woolf
Manchester, NH

Trip Report by David Clapp
The day started a bit gloomy and it wasn't until we returned to the harbor eight hours later that we saw the sun. It was foggy offshore all day. It wasn’t cold but it was cool and the rain shower about thirty minutes away from the pier was a bit of an eye opener. The Captain John boat with a group of hardy whale and bird watchers aboard headed east toward Stellwagen Bank.

The sands of Duxbury Beach were not visible through the fog but Long Beach (Plymouth Beach) was seen pretty well as we left the harbor. There are few mammal predators on the beach this year so the tern colony that has been on the sandy stretch was solid and even larger than last year. It appears that there are 5000 pairs of Common Terns and a few pairs of Arctic and Roseate terns. The Least Terns are there as well but their breeding numbers are a bit fluid. There have been as many as 100 pairs of Least Tern but there have also been years with none. We saw a single Black Skimmer as we returned to the harbor at about 4:00pm.

There are about 20 pairs of Piping Plover on the beach and a scattering of other nesting birds. Beach management has been improved and tightened in the past decade and it seems that nesting success has improved for all species. The limiting (or removing) of dogs, 4x4 vehicles, and casual use of the nesting areas has provided safe harbor for the birds.

We passed through the bay and on toward Provincetown. Though we had drizzle and fog the first Wilson’s Storm-Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters appeared in mid-bay. By the time we reached the SE corner of the bank we had a nice gathering of whales and sea birds.

There ten whales that Joanne Jarzobski and Krill Carson recognized by name and three of these had calves. Joanne has written an overview of the whale sightings from today's trip. So for more detailed information, see her report below. Helping with the humpback identifications were Kelly and Orla from the Whale Center of New England. In the mists out along the horizon there were spouts and blows all over the place. There could have been another 30 whales around us; there certainly were another fifteen. There were Humpbacks feeding all around the boat for almost an hour. there were a few Minke Whales that cut through the area as well.

The calves were a bit frisky and there was quite a bit of spy-hopping, tail lobbing, and breaching. The mothers were feeding continually and Sand Launce were evident in the water. The youngsters tagged along with the adults but were not competent feeders yet. It was a busy time for all of us; whales and whale-watchers.

There were quite a few Atlantic White-sided Dolphins as well. They are very difficult to count but there were times when 10-20 were in sight at once. If there were lots of smallish groups there could have been as many as 50. If there was jus one or two groups that kept appearing and reappearing then the number could be half that.

With Blair Nikula, Peter Flood, Jim Sweeney, Nancy Swirka, and David Clapp along there were birders all over the deck. Though it was only mid-June and the water is still quite cool many sea bird species had been reported. There was even a report of a Cory’s Shearwater earlier this week. Our visibility was limited but we did pretty well. It is always fun to listen to the birders as they compare notes and try to come up with reasonable sightings estimates. First you deal with the number; were there really 150 storm-petrels? After the number is derived the other questions pop up; Do you really think there were more Greater Shearwaters than Sootys?

After all was said and done we were sure that whatever number we cited it would relate only to what we saw within the small ring of visibility that we had and have little semblance to the number we could have seen on a clear or the number of bird that are out there. There are surely more birds and whales out there and the numbers would have been much higher if we had had better visibility.

We ventured out across the southern edge of Stellwagen Bank, passing through the SW corner on our way to the SE corner. Both of these areas are historically good areas to find ways. It can vary from year to year or even month to month which is more popular to the whales, sometimes neither being productive enough areas for large congregations of whales; or perhaps another area being so productive they don’t move inshore to Stellwagen Bank.

On the SE edge of Stellwagen Bank we found 12+ feeding humpback whales! It was the first surface feeding seen out there in nearly a month, so an exciting display of behaviors to observe. Whales were kick feeding (smacking their tails against the surface of the water to help stun the prey) then blowing bubbles in clouds or nets to help trap the schools of sand eels (aka sand lance). Kick feeding is a unique behavior to Gulf of Maine humpback whales, as they do not demonstrate this behavior in other areas of the world. Humpback whales can be quite individually specific to a certain style of feeding and typically kick a specified number of times or always blow bubble clouds or bubble nets. All around the boat and in every direction we had feeding.

We began our trip with a pair, which included Scratch and Freefall. Scratch is a mature female first seen in 1979. She's had at least 7 calves since her first sighting in 1979, one of which (Stout) spent two years with her before being fully weaned. Most humpback whales leave their mother after 9-12 months, but Stout stayed with Scratch during its yearling year.

Scratch and Freefall had formed an association (traveling together). Associations among humpbacks may last a few hours, just minutes, or sometimes even days. While all baleen whale are considered solitary animals, humpbacks are very social and associations form, especially while feeding.

In the same area, we came across a mother and calf pair, Reaper and calf, which was one of the first sightings of this pair for the year, making it the 18th cow/calf documented to date. Reaper is well known for her dramatic kickfeeding, lifting her tail and kicking 2-3 times before circling down and blowing bubbles. She was coming up with her mouth wide open and dragged (swam with her chin/head out of the water) after each surface. This is a behavior that is also very individually specific--some whales drag, some do not--Reaper is a dragger. Reaper had very fresh, raw scuffing on her right jaw, indicative of bottom feeding recently. Like most humans, she is right handed, and feeds with her right side down. Only a small number of Gulf of Maine (GoM) humpbacks feed with their left side down when bottom feeding.

Reaper was born in 1987 to Andromeda and therefore is 23 years old this year. Her name was chosen for a mark on her left fluke that resembles the scythe of the grim reaper. This calf is her fourth known calf, as she also had calves in 1998 (her first), 2003, & 2007.

Reaper’s calf stayed very near to mom while she fed, as the calf is likely not eating fish yet and still surviving completely on nursing a high fat milk from Reaper. In the next few months, the calves will start to learn to catch fish and by late fall should be fully weaned.

We quickly recognized a few more feeding whales, including Milkweed and Wyoming. Wyoming is a mature male first seen in 1988. His exact age is not known, as he wasn’t a calf when first sighted. Milkweed is a mature 10 year old female, her mother is a whale named Zeppelin and her grandmother is Milkyway, both of which are seen regularly on Stellwagen Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. Humpback whales have very strong site fidelity and return to the waters their mothers brought them to as calves, as seen for 3 generations of this family. Milkweed has yet to produce a calf of her own that has been documented, but she hopefully will very soon.

As we watched these whales feed, more moved into the area. Bait could be seen breaking the surface of the water, looking and sounding like rain on the water’s surface. A mature male whale named Putter came into the area. Putter was born in 1993 to a whale named Mars. He was not seen again until he was sighted in 1998 pale and gray from a life threatening entanglement in fishing gear. Three attempts were made to disentangle him by a team from Provincetown, with the help of whale watching boats standing by. Some of the gear was successfully removed and the remainder of gillnet came off over the next few weeks. His grey, sloughing skin returned to a shiny black. Putter has been seen every year since his disentanglement. Today, he did not disappoint displaying very dramatic feeding, coming to the surface with his mouth wide open, giving us a chance to see his baleen plates. At one close passing off our bow, we could see some of the sand eels escaping out the sides of his mouth.

Two more mothers and calves were in the area feeding, including Cajun + calf and Whisk + calf. We also had Pele and Jabiru come through feeding. Dramatic green patches of bubbles could be seen right before whales surfaced through the center. For nearly 2 hours, we watched the feeding whales.

In addition to the humpbacks, we had a few sightings of minke whales (the smallest of the baleen whales we see here) and a pod of 30-50 Atlantic White Sided dolphins.

The dolphins were in association with one of the cow/calf pairs and seemed to be closely associated with the calf. One of the dolphins had a tag on it, and was likely a rescue from a stranding along Cape Cod this past winter/spring. We passed this information on to the stranding folks at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) who is responsible for rescuing stranded marine mammals along Cape Cod. Cape Cod has the second highest level of marine mammal strandings anywhere in the world, only surpassed by New Zealand. Frequently, marine mammals get stranded along our shores and teams of responders and volunteers work to get them back on the water safely.

Once the tide changed, the behavior also changed, which typically happens. Feeding almost always stops when the tide goes slack, which is also true for fishing. Thankfully for us, when the feeding stopped, the whales started doing aerials-- jumping out of the water! We had four different whales breaching (including one of the calves), but the most active was a whale named Pele. He appeared to be trying to form an association with one of the cow/calf pairs and was putting on a display of aerials, breaching and flipper slapping. We often see aerials when an association is joining or breaking apart, perhaps the whales are communicating something with such behaviors.

Late report from Fippennies Ledge, a few miles west of Cashes. I went out June 5th and 6th with Yankee Capts. No skuas or anything out of the ordinary, but fun nonetheless. Water is warmer by 10 degrees than it should be for time of year - perhaps negatively influencing the likelihood of finding skua.

Photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/20225164@N05/sets/72157624167928791/

NH Audubon sponsored an all day pelagic trip yesterday aboard the
"Granite State" out of Rye Harbor, NH. The boat made a clockwise loop
covering much of Jeffrey's Ledge. Starting at the Isles of Shoals, the
boat worked north toward "the fingers" area of the ledge in ME waters
and then worked southward over the ledge, through NH and into MA waters
off of Cape Ann before returning to Rye harbor. Here is a nautical
chart of the course taken:

http://home.comcast.net/~smirick//tristatepelagic053110.jpg

With the exception of a large (for the date) concentration of
Storm-Petrels along Jeffrey's Ledge in NH waters, and a few Northern
Gannets here and there, birds and sea mammals were generally sparse.
Thanks to Jon Woolf for organizing this trip and to Captain Pete
Reynolds for skillfully working the birds and whales we encountered.

Some photos of the trip have been posted by Len Medlock and Lauren Kras at:

http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/nhpelagic10

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkras/sets/72157624176692948/

8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Sunny, but smoky/hazy.
Visibility - Lowered to roughly 2 miles due to smoky haze caused by
wildfires in Quebec.
50F - 60F
Light northerly winds, decreasing and then shifting to the southeast and
increasing by the end of the trip.
Seas - 1 to 2 feet with some chop.
Birders - 45

Common Eider - Many birds around the Isles of Shoals
Common Loon - Group of 9 (2 adults, 7 imm) rafting on ocean inside of
Isles of Shoals, plus one migrating offshore on Jeffrey's Ledge.
Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 500. Approximately 472 in rafts of 50 to 100
birds in NH waters, 20 in ME waters, and 8 in MA waters.
NORTHERN FULMAR - 2. Both on Jeffrey's Ledge in NH waters.
SOOTY SHEARWATER - 3. Two in NH waters, and one in MA waters.
Northern Gannet - 67. The large number of inshore gannets from
yesterday had cleared out. Most birds in in-shore waters.
Double-crested Cormorant - Nesting birds on Lunging Island, plus 3
migrating birds out on Ledge.
Snowy Egret - Two birds flying out to islands from inshore waters.
Spotted Sandpiper - One on Lunging Island.
Greater Yellowlegs - One bird in Rye harbor.
Ruddy Turnstone - Three birds on Seavey Island.
Purple Sandpiper - Two birds on Lunging Island.
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE - 5. All on ledge in ME waters. Includes nice
views of 3 females in breeding plumage.
Laughing Gull - Three adults in Maine waters.
Herring Gull - Not counted. Generally scarce in offshore waters.
Great Black-backed Gull - Not counted. Generally scarce in offshore waters.
Roseate Tern - At least one picked out near Seavey Island.
Common Tern - Hordes around Seavey Island nesting colony, plus sporadic
birds on ledge.
Black Guillemot - 24. Includes four birds near Lunging and Seavey
Islands (NH) and 20+ in the "gut" between Appledore and Smuttynose
Islands (ME).
RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD - 7 migrants. One of the highlights of the
trip. Four birds in the vicinity of the Isles of Shoals, plus three
more MIGRATING NORTH OVER JEFFREY'S LEDGE 30 MILES OFFSHORE!
Tree Swallow - 1 migrating over ledge.
Barn Swallow - A few (likely local nesters) on Lunging Island.
Red-winged Blackbird - At least one (likely local nesters) on Lunging
Island.
Common Grackle - At least one (likely local nesters) on Lunging Island.

Marine things
--------------------
Minke Whale - 2
Humpback Whale - 3. Not surprisingly for the date, whales have been
rather inconsistent thus far in offshore New England waters on Jeffrey's
and Stellwagon according to the crew. These three were some of the only
whales sighted along Jeffrey's by any boats this day. Identified by
crew members as "Sabat", "Pinball", and "Chromosome". Whales were
bubble feeding, but well below the surface.

Bluefin Tuna - A couple seen by participants
Mylar balloons - At least two (one retrieved by crew). :-(

Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA

I ventured offshore with Eastmans today to enjoy the weather and to get out on the ledge in the seldom visited month of April. I didnt expect much and was not disappointed (actually I was, if you get my drift). A single razorbill, single bonepartes gull, and single kittiwake, the latter two first year birds, was the sum total. We actually didn't get to the ledge proper but stopped 20 miles offshore. Abbreviated list as follows:

Double crested Cormorant - 20 migrants
Northern Gannet - 20 adults
Great Egret - 1 migrating north about a half mile out from the harbor.
Bonepartes Gull - 1 1st year
Kittiwake - 1 1st year
Razorbill - 1
Fish Crow - 1 Hampton
Tree Swallow - 1 20 miles out
Red-winged Blackbird - 1 20 miles out

February 13, 2010 Jeffries Ledge New Hampshire
The weather cooperated yesterday to enable the UNH Gulf Challenger to set sail for Jeffries Ledge on the second dedicated winter pelagic of the 2009/2010 season. The brief one day lull between weather systems provided ideal conditions for picking up alcids, especially toward noon when the seas were reduced to 1-2 feet. Thanks to all the participants for helping to spot the birds, which did not disappoint. We focused on both New Scantum and Old Scantum, with the majority of the birds being found over the latter. All the birds were between 42 52 3 and 42 59 (NH waters per NH Rare Bird records committee).

Jeffries Ledge Pelagic, February 13th, 2010
8am-1pm

Northern Fulmar - 0
Northern Gannet - 10
Kittiwake - 7 (2 1st year)
Dovekie - 8
Common Murre - 12 (3 breeding plumage)
Thick-billed Murre - 0 (same as on three previous trips this winter)
Razorbill - 22
Black Guillemot - 4
Atlantic Puffin - 3 (1 1st year)
Large Alcid sp. - 2

Harbor Seal - 3
Harbor Porpoise - 2

Atlantic Puffin photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20225164@N05/4357051947/

Len Medlock Photos
http://www.pbase.com/lmedlock/jeffreys

Common Murre photographed by Leonard Medlock

The day started a bit gloomy and it wasn't until we returned to the harbor eight hours later that we saw the sun. It was foggy offshore all day. It wasn’t cold but it was cool and the rain shower about thirty minutes away from the pier was a bit of an eye opener. The Captain John boat with a group of hardy whale and bird watchers aboard headed east toward Stellwagen Bank.

There are about 20 pairs of Piping Plover on the beach and a scattering of other nesting birds. Beach management has been improved and tightened in the past decade and it seems that nesting success has improved for all species. The limiting (or removing) of dogs, 4x4 vehicles, and casual use of the nesting areas has provided safe harbor for the birds.

There ten whales that Joanne Jarzobski and Krill Carson recognized by name and three of these had calves. Joanne has written an overview of the whale sightings from today's trip. So for more detailed information, see her report below. Helping with the humpback identifications were Kelly and Orla from the Whale Center of New England. In the mists out along the horizon there were spouts and blows all over the place. There could have been another 30 whales around us; there certainly were another fifteen. There were Humpbacks feeding all around the boat for almost an hour. there were a few Minke Whales that cut through the area as well.

In addition to the humpbacks, we had a few sightings of minke whales (the smallest of the baleen whales we see here) and a pod of 30-50 Atlantic White Sided dolphins.