Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2002 19:23:54 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: Pelagic trip results in MD, 11/16 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Folks, It came down to the wire whether or not we would sail yesterday, but the seas and the forcast ultimately cooperated, and produced the first descent pelagic results for Maryland birders in two years. The key species picked up in Maryland were: GREATER SHEARWATER, POMARINE JAEGER, PARASITIC JAEGER, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, and THAYER'S GULL. Also, two surprise species at about 35 miles from shore were GREAT BLUE HERON and DARK-EYED JUNCO. Sailing from Lewes, DE on the roomy and comfortable Thelma Dale IV, we picked up a couple pelagic species in Delaware (Greater Shearwater, Black-legged Kittiwake) and a first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull that followed our chum into Maryland waters. We then hit a lengthy lull in Maryland, until we came across a group of active fishing trawlers, which were like feeding stations for the gulls. Hundreds of gulls produced the hoped for activity that attracted the jaegers. The breakdown of the birds seen in Maryland waters is as follows: Red-throated Loon--1 Greater Shearwater--about 75 N. Gannet--scores, in all stages of development (1st yr, 2nd yr, 3rd yr, adult) Great Blue Heron--1 Pomarine Jaeger--3 (adult and imms) Parasitic Jaeger--2 (imms) Ring-billed Gull--1 (unusual away from the coast) Herring Gull--hundreds Thayer's Gull--1 first year (photographed; stayed behind the boat for great looks) Lesser Black-backed Gull--2 (1 1st year and 1 adult; the imm followed the boat for hours) Great Black-backed Gull--hundreds Black-legged Kittiwake--about 5, adults and imms Dark-eyed Junco--1 The above numbers are off the top of my head. Official results will be posted at www.paulagics.com. Kudos to the trip organizers, Mary Gustafson and Paul Guris, and to the additional four trip leaders (including Paul O'Brien). The next trip scheduled by Paulagics out of Lewes will be in mid-March, when the water will be cold, and Maryland birders will hopefully get their best shot in years at some of the winter pelagic species. I'll be thinking alcids, Fulmar, Skua, and (do I dare say) Albatross! Stan Arnold Glen Burnie blackrail@earthlink.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================