Re: Virginia Beach Pelagic - Feb 6
arnold stanley (sarnol1@gl.umbc.edu)
Thu, 11 Feb 1999 12:44:13 -0500 (EST)
Steve and others interested in the albatross sighting,
There is a record of the Black-browed Albatross off of North Carolina in
1972. This was accepted by the NC records committee, though I think there
were no photos. Interestingly, I just received my latest copy of
"Winging-It" in the mail yesterday, and on the front page is the second
part of an article about pelagic birding by Brian Patteson. The article
mentions this NC record.
Peter Harrison's book on seabirds does not show the NC occurance on the
range map for this species, but the map does show that this bird has
occurred several times in the eastern Atlantic, off the coasts of Iceland,
the British Isles, and Scandinavia.
I was one of the fortunate birders on board the trip that saw the
albatross. The seas were rough, and we had a lot of sick folks, but I
doubt anyone would want their money back. We watched the bird for a good
20 minutes, and several folks got still photos, and another person said he
got five to six minutes of video footage. The bird was very cooperative,
both flying and sitting on the water. At one point the approach was
within 30 feet--too close for binoculars. I can't wait to see the photos.
On Wed, 10 Feb 1999, Steve Pretl wrote:
> I just heard that the Black-browed Albatross was the first documented North
> American sighting ever. Exciting!! Anybody have more details on this bird,
> previous (undocumented) reports, etc?
>
> Steve Pretl
>
> At 03:30 PM 2/7/99 EST, you wrote:
> >Hi all,
> >I just got back from the pelagic trip in VA waters and thought you would be
> >interested in the results. We saw kittiwake, fulmar, puffin, Great Skua, 5
> >Manx Shearwater, and a Black-browed Albatross with breath-taking close-up
> >photos.
> > Bill Dobbins
> >
>
Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie, MD