See Life Paulagics tried an inshore pelagic trip on Sunday, Feb. 27. We ran out
from Lewes, DE to the icebreakers and breakwater, turned south and headed down
the coast to Ocean City, went into the O.C. inlet, back out 7-8 miles to
Fenwick Shoals, and then back to Lewes at about 3-4 miles from shore. The day
was chilly but nice, and the seas were a very manageable 2'-4' most of the day,
though it flattened out more later in the afternoon.
Birding was generally good, with a very nice scoter show along the beach.
Interestingly, we only had 2 White-winged Scoters near the beach. When we left
Ocean City inlet and headed farther out, it seemed that the only scoters we
found were White-winged Scoters. Perhaps they prefer to feed deeper?
Another highlight was getting excellent looks at several Razorbills sitting on
the water. Most were actively feeding and resurfaced fairly close to where
they dove, allowing us the position the boat for very nice views.
Here are our final totals, including the breakdown between DE and MD:
SPECIES TOTAL DE MD
Common Loon 60 29 31
Red-throated Loon 17 2 15
Horned Grebe 1 1 -
Northern Gannet 7 5 2
Great Cormorant 14 14 -
Brant 3 - 3
American Black Duck 2 - 2
Bufflehead 1 - 1
Harlequin Duck 1 1 -
Long-tailed Duck 73 53 20
Black Scoter 403 383 20
Surf Scoter 2386 2031 355
White-winged Scoter 166 154 22
dark-winged scoter sp. 1225 1040 185
Common Eider 1 - 1
Red-breasted Merganser 18 6 12
Bonaparte's Gull 7 1 6
Ring-billed Gull X X X
Herring Gull X X X
Greater Black-backed Gull X X X
Razorbill 17 17 -
large Alcid spp 5 5 -
Our next trip is scheduled for the April 16. Last year's April trip had
Razorbill, Common Murre, Northern Fulmar, Sooty Shearwater, a probable Manx
Shearwater, and Red Phalarope.
Hope to see you aboard.
-PAG
Paul A. Guris
See Life Paulagics
P.O. Box 161
Green Lane, PA 18054
www.paulagics.com
215-234-6805
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