Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 18:21:41 -0700 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Paul A. Guris" Subject: Results of Aug. 16 Lewes, DE Pelagic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit On Saturday, August 16, we headed out to sea to search for pelagic species with 50 participants and 7 leaders. The winds were light, the seas were calm, and the skies were pleasantly cloudy rather than blindingly clear. Unfortunately, the birds were not at all abundant. We finished our day with just two pelagic species; Cory's Shearwater and Wilson's Storm-Petrel (39 or the former and 170 of the latter). Other interesting sights were several Fin Whales, some small groups of Bottlenose Dolphin, several Ocean Sunfish, and a Blue Marlin swimming at the surface. The offshore conditions seem to be as strange as the weather this year. The fishermen say that the tuna, along with the baitfish and other low parts of the food chain, have not congregated anyplace. The water is fairly warm (about 78 degrees offshore) but it's not particularly blue. These conditions seem to be present from at least Hudson Canyon down to well south of our area. Of course that's part of what keeps pelagic birding interesting. You just never know what it's going to be like out there. Our next trip out of Lewes, DE is scheduled for Saturday, December 6. Several of our trips this year have sold out weeks in advance so if you are interested, don't wait until the last minute to make a reservation. Also, since a winter trip is obviously going to be colder than our August trip, the maximum number of participants we will take will be reduced to ensure adequate cabin space for people and gear. Hope to see you aboard! -Paul Paul A. Guris See Life Paulagics P.O. Box 161 Green Lane, PA 18054 www.paulagics.com 215-234-6805 info@paulagics.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================