Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 21:26:57 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Paul Subject: Re: Pelagic Opportunity this Weekend MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Phil, Just wondering, did you go, and more importantly, did you see the Yellow-nosed Albatross? Hope you had the luck (though it sounds like the water was really rough - guess you have to pay a price for such good birds). Later, Paul P. cheep@erols.com Phil Davis wrote: > > 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 6= 3 > 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 = next > to Nags Head ... you don't have to drive the extra hour down to Hattera= s. > > 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 thes= e > >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 G= ET > >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 seld= om > >have much trouble filling a Virginia Beach pelagic trip in February, b= ut > >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 bir= ds > >like Razorbill, Manx Shearwater, and Great Skua within sight of the > >beach from Hatteras and Oregon Inlet. On most Va. Beach trips, we stea= m > >for hours before we see many seabirds at all. When the water temperatu= re > >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 the= y > >tend to bunch up at the end of the line (Cape Hatteras- where cold wat= er > >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 w= e > >have on trips from Maryland or Virginia. > > > >On January 29, 2000, we ran a bitterly cold and somewhat rough trip fr= om > >Virginia Beach. We saw Northern Fulmar(2), Manx Shearwater(1), Red > >Phalarope (20), Black-legged Kittiwake (276), Razorbill (23) and Dovek= ie > >(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 we= re > >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 a= nd > >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 BO= AT > >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 > ========================= ================================================ ========================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ========================================================================= ===========================================================================