[MDOsprey] Pelagic Birds

PObrien776@aol.com
Wed, 2 Jun 1999 12:08:34 EDT


Ospreyers,

I thought those who are signed up for Armas Hill's trips out of Lewes, DE 
later this month might be interested in what we saw off of Hatteras this past 
weekend on Brian Patteson's three trips.  There was also a fourth trip on 
Friday out of Oregon Inlet, but I didn't make that one.  They saw a 
White-tailed Tropicbird and a Fea's Petrel, but not much else.  The tally for 
Hatteras is as follows:

Species                                        May 29    May 30   May 31

Fea's Petrel                                     -             -             
1or2
Herald (Trinidade) Petrel                1*           -             2**
Black-capped Petrel                        289        267         255
Cory's Shearwater                           37          104         181
Greater Shearwater                         -             -             7
Sooty Shearwater                            1             13          18
Manx Shearwater                             -              -            1
Audubon's Shearwater                     39            45          32
Wilson's Storm-Petrel                    199          145        196
Leach's Storm-Petrel                      14            -            41
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel             6              5            2
Red-necked Phalarope                     2              -            -
South Polar Skua                             -              -            1
Pomarine Jaeger                              -              -            6
Parasitic Jaeger                              -              -            2
Long-tailed Jaeger                          -               -           1
Arctic Tern                                     1               1           -
Bridled Tern                                    -               3           1

*Intermediate to Dark Morph
**Light and Dark Morphs

Other Beasties

Offshore Bottlenosed Dolphins        69             -            X
Spotted Dolphin                               -               -            X
Pilot Whale                                     24             -            -
Portuguese Man-O-War                   2               -            1
Mola mola                                       -               -            1
Blue Marlin hooked but lost            1               -            -
White Marlin cought and released   -               -            1

The warm water birds (Fea's, Herald, Black-capped Petrels, Band-rumped 
Storm-Petrel, Bridled tern) will not very likely be found on the Lewes trips 
but the Skua and Jaegers are migrants that could very well still be passing 
through, and we have had Arctic Terns in Maryland in the last week or two.  
The other Shearwaters and Storm-Petrels are good possibilities, particularly 
if we encounter a warm water eddy.

If the above list is making you salivate, tune in to www.patteson.com.  Note 
that there is no "r" in Patteson.  We wouldn't want you to become frustrated 
trying to find his web page.  There are additional trips next weekend, but 
they might be sold out, and others in July, August and September, the latter 
out of Virginia Beach where they have had Fea's, Herald, Tropicbird and 
White-faced Storm-Petrel in September.  Back in February Brian had a 
Yellow-nosed Albatross!  Go for it.

I have no financial interest in Brian Patteson, Inc., I just love the birds 
he shows you.  We had killer looks at the Fea's and Herald Petrels and the 
Skua.  The birds fed all night with the full moon and were loafing on the 
water all morning.  Since the seas were flat calm, we could see groups of 
birds on the water and just ease up to them.  When they flew, it wasn't far, 
so you could repeat the process for anyone who missed the first look. 

Paul O'Brien
Rockville, MD
pobrien776@aol.com