Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 02:42:13 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Phil Davis Subject: Pelagic Opportunity this Weekend Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Hope this isn't a breech of MD_Osprey netiquette ... however, I just checked and the forecast for Hatteras for Saturday includes a high of 63 degrees! This is almost unheard of for a winter pelagic. Gonna do it ... and try for my Great Skua! Note that this weekend's departure is from Wanchese, NC which is right ne= xt to Nags Head ... you don't have to drive the extra hour down to Hatteras. Thought you all might be interested. Phil >Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 17:14:19 -0500 >From: Brian >Organization: Brian Patteson, Inc. >Subject: URGENT- Participants NEEDED For Feb. 5(6) Oregon Inlet, Feb. >19(20) Hatteras Trips > >Dear Seabirders, > >Please pass this along to anyone you think might be interested in these >trips. We are in dire need of participants for this weekend's pelagic >trip from Oregon Inlet, NC (departing Wanchese) aboard the Miss >Hattteras and also for the Hatteras trip on Feb. 19(20). IF WE DON'T GET >SIX MORE PEOPLE FOR THIS WEEKEND'S TRIP BY WEDNESDAY, WE'LL HAVE TO >CANCEL THE TRIP. > >For reasons unknown to me, it seems that most folks would rather ride an >extra 4-6 hours on a boat (Va. Beach) than drive a bit farther (2-3 >hours each way) to go on a bigger, nicer boat and see the same birds >closer to shore in less time and more comfort. Thus, stangely, we seldom >have much trouble filling a Virginia Beach pelagic trip in February, but >it seems we almost always stuggle to get even enough folks to run our >Outer Banks trips at that time. > >RIGHT NOW there is a band of cold water extending south all the way to >Cape Hatteras. The continental shelf is much narrower off the Outer >Banks than it is off the Virginia Capes. In the past, we have seen birds >like Razorbill, Manx Shearwater, and Great Skua within sight of the >beach from Hatteras and Oregon Inlet. On most Va. Beach trips, we steam >for hours before we see many seabirds at all. When the water temperature >off the Outer Banks is cold like it is now, there is the potential to >see even larger numbers of seabirds here than off Virginia because they >tend to bunch up at the end of the line (Cape Hatteras- where cold water >meets the Gulf Stream). If this sounds far fetched, consider that WE >HAVE SEEN MORE Great Skuas and Razorbills in a day off HATTERAS than we >have on trips from Maryland or Virginia. > >On January 29, 2000, we ran a bitterly cold and somewhat rough trip from >Virginia Beach. We saw Northern Fulmar(2), Manx Shearwater(1), Red >Phalarope (20), Black-legged Kittiwake (276), Razorbill (23) and Dovekie >(8) in addition to lots of gulls (including one Glaucous) and 55 or so >gannets, which put on a spectacular show behind the boat diving for >chum. We didn't see any Great Skuas, but the numbers of large gulls were >kind of low, and I did see a skua there three weeks earlier. If we had >better weather that day, I feel that the alcid numbers would have been >much higher. We were severely hampered in spotting by sea conditions and >passenger participation. > >THIS WEEKEND SHOULD SEE A RETURN TO MORE NORMAL AIR TEMPERATURES. If >you've been wanting to take a pelagic trip this winter, but have been >deterred thus far by the cold, here's a chance. For those who can't go >on Feb. 5(6) or 19(20), there is also the possibility that a SECOND BOAT >may go out on Virginia Beach on Feb. 12 (13) if there is enough >interest. LET US KNOW ASAP if you are interested in ANY OF THESE TRIPS. >Details about these and other upcoming trips can be found on our >website- http://www.patteson.com/. If you have any questions or would >like to sign up for a trip, you can e-mail me or call me on the >telephone(252-986-1363). > >Brian Patteson >Hatteras, NC >Brian@Patteson.com ========================================================= Phil Davis Davidsonville, Maryland USA mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com ========================================================= ========================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ========================================================================= ===========================================================================