Hi all,
I have been off the list for a while, but wanted to share with you
all my most recent state bird -- #355. Finally, I got a chance to bird the most
underbirded section of the state -- I had never been within 50 miles of this
location before.
After a long tour in Alaska, I returned to Southern California on 26
Jun only to depart for Maryland on 28 Jun. I met up with my family in
Annapolis, and on 30 Jun we headed north to New York City, where we boarded the Queen
Mary II, the most recent and arguably most luxurious of the cruise liners
operated by Cunard. My Dad's 60th birthday was to occur on 23 July, and he had
invited me and a small party of family and friends on this cruise.
We departed New York harbor on the evening of 1 July. The next
morning we were cruising the Cotinental Shelf off Virginia, where there were a
number of Cory's, Greater, and a few Audubon's Shearwaters, along with Wilson's
Storm-Petrels, Risso's Dolphins, Bottlenosed Dolphins, and a pod of Common
Dolphins. Later in the day we made it to the waters off Cape Hatteras where I had my
first rarity -- a subadult MASKED BOOBY in the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras.
A Sperm Whale and some Pilot Whales were mammalian highlights. Band-rumped
Storm-Petrels and Black-capped Petrels were present too.
I went to sleep with anxious anticipation about the following day,
since I knew we would be cruising north over 100 miles off the coast in the very
deep waters off Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New York. We would be close
to the Gulf Stream (at least in VA) and the potential for really rare birds
was excellent. Only a couple birders had ever been to the waters far off
Maryland, and despite minimal effort -- one of Maryland's 3 previous Black-capped
Petrel records was 180 nmi off Ocean City. Last December (an unlikely month)
Bruce Mactavish had a Black-capped far off Virginia while on a research cruise.
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel is another species that may be regular far off
Maryland, in waters that pelagic trips never make it too. Off North Carolina it (and
the Black-cappeds) is a deep water specialist. I set my alarm for 0630 and
went too sleep.
When I awoke it was long past my alarm and I dashed outside at 0930.
As it turns out I had missed 3 hours' worth of birding in Virginia waters, but
made it just in time to take advantage of Maryland. At 0930 we were at 37 deg
49.1'N, still in VA waters. I began birding, with Virginia totals of: 7
Wilson's Storm-Petrel, 5 Cory's Shearwater, 3 Audubon's Shearwater, 1 Greater
Shearwater, 2 Oceandroma sp. (1 possible Leach's, 1 possible Band-rumped), and 1
dolphin sp. My first indication that I had crossed to Maryland came when I got a
BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL (state bird!) and subsequently ran inside to check
on my position.
Maryland totals during 90 minutes of observation were: 11 Cory's and
2 Greater Shearwaters, 1 Band-rumped, 12 Leach's, and 34 Wilson's
Storm-Petrels (as well as 26 storm-petrel sp.), and 12 Risso's Dolphins. The Band-rumped
would be a 2nd state record (if accepted), and the Leach's were only my 3rd
sighting (one on an August pelagic trip and 2-4 in Hurricane Bertha, Jul 1996). I
was impressed at how birdy these waters were, certainly more interesting than
much of the inshore pelagic waters I had birded in the state. Interestingly
the Band-rumped was in the southernmost portion of the transect in the state,
and thus was most likely to have been in warmer waters (possibly a Gulf Stream
eddy). Unfortunately, I had no way to learn the water temperature (it may be
able to be estimated from NOAA maps given my position). Just 30 minutes after
the Band-rumped Storm-Petrel was identified, I started seeing Leach's
Storm-Petrels, which predominated for the next hour of observation. Leach's favor
cooler waters than Band-rumped, so perhaps I had left a pocket of warmer water at
this point.
In any event, I was pleased to have a brief glimpse of the far
offshore seabirds of Maryland. One day, hopefully, a deep water pelagic trip will be
run to these waters to try to ascertain the true status of Band-rumped
Storm-Petrel, Black-capped Petrel, and other rarities. My guess is that these two
species are regular and would be findable on most deep water trips in mid- to
late summer, while species like Fea's and Herald Petrels are also annual
visitors in small numbers, possibly with both tropicbirds and other species as well.
This is "terra" incognita still for Maryland birders.
Best,
Marshall
PS - I am not regularly monitoring MDOsprey these days, so please copy and
responses to my personal email address
*****************************
Marshall J. Iliff
miliff AT aol.com
Costa Mesa, CA
******************************
SIGHTINGS FROM QUEEN MARY II 3 JULY 2004
EDT = Eastern Daylight Time; GMT = Greenwich Mean Time
09:20 EDT 37 49.1'N, 70 45.9'W
09:37 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 1 VA
09:42 EDT Cory's Shearwater 1 VA
09:45 EDT Audubon's Shearwater 3 VA
09:50 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 6 VA
09:50 EDT Greater Shearwater 1 VA
09:50 EDT Cory's Shearwater 4 VA
09:50 EDT dolphin sp. 1 VA
09:50 EDT Leach's Storm-Petrel 1 poss VA
09:50 EDT Band-rmpd Storm-Petrel 1 poss VA
10:00 EDT 37 57.639'N, 70 40.68'W MD
10:15 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 1 MD
10:22 EDT dolphin sp., prob Com. 100 MD
10:22 EDT Cory's Shearwater 6 MD
10:27 EDT Band-rmpd Storm-Petrel 1 MD 38 02.5'N, 70 39.97'W
10:37 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 2 MD
10:40 EDT Cory's Shearwater 1 MD
10:43 EDT Risso's Dolphin 10 MD
10:50 EDT Leach's Storm-Petrel 2 MD
10:50 EDT Cory's Shearwater 1 MD
10:50 EDT Risso's Dolphin 2 MD
10:54 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 32 MD
10:54 EDT Cory's Shearwater 1 MD
10:57 EDT Greater Shearwater 2 MD
10:57 EDT Cory's Shearwater 1 MD
10:57 EDT storm-petrel sp. 20 MD
11:03 EDT Leach's Storm-Petrel 4 MD
11:03 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 4 MD
11:03 EDT storm-petrel sp. 6 MD
11:50 EDT Leach's Storm-Petrel 6 MD
11:50 EDT Cory's Shearwater 1 MD
11:50 EDT 38 12.29'N, 70 41.98'W MD
12:02 EDT 38 26.4'N, 70 45.5'W MD
13:15 EDT 38 45.1'N, 50 50.46'W DE
15:35 EDT Greater Shearwater 1 ??
15:48 EDT 39 19.49'N, 70 59.69'W
18:02 EDT Greater Shearwater 7 ?NJ
18:15 EDT Melon-headed Whale 15 ?NJ
18:35 EDT Melon-headed Whale 2 ?NJ
18:35 EDT Greater Shearwater 1 ?NJ
18:35 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 1 ?NJ
18:35 EDT Portugese Man'O War 1 ?NJ
18:40 EDT Common Dolphin 150 ?NJ
18:40 EDT Greater Shearwater 8 ?NJ
18:40 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 2 ?NJ
18:45 EDT Greater Shearwater 3 ?NJ
18:45 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 13 ?NJ
18:53 EDT 40 06.65'N, 71 11.16'W ?NJ
19:15 EDT Greater Shearwater 10 ?NJ
19:25 EDT Greater Shearwater 5 ?NJ
19:25 EDT Mola mola 1 ?NJ
19:27 EDT Greater Shearwater 2 ?NJ
19:32 EDT Greater Shearwater 4 ?NJ
19:32 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 21 ?NJ
19:40 EDT Audubon's Shearwater 1 ?NJ
19:48 EDT Greater Shearwater 2 ?NJ
19:48 EDT Greater Shearwater 1 ?NJ
19:48 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 1 ?NJ
19:55 EDT Greater Shearwater 2 ?NJ
19:55 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 10 ?NJ
20:00 EDT Wilson's Storm-Petrel 8 ?NJ
20:05 EDT |