Greetings all,

The changes in forecasted storm track, the fact that it has increased speed with only a little more than 24 hours after making landfall for its expectation to reach MD, and the possibility of the storm actually reaching minimum hurricane strength before coming aground near Wilmington, NC have indeed increased the likelihood that this storm may bring some storm driven birds to the area. I think terns are the obviously the most likely birds to be driven this way, but I would certainly think that Magnificent Frigatebird could be dragged along by this storm. A storm-petrel or two could also be dropped, but I think the terns and even frigatebird are more likely than these. Pterodroma petrels I think are much more unlikely due to the storm's course over the Florida mainland and the inshore waters of the Atlantic. I feel you need a storm approaching from the southeast that crosses the gulf stream to increase the likelihood of those popping up (or dropping out). 
 
One negative of the timing is that it will be over Virginia during most of the daylight hours on Friday while it erodes to sub-tropical status and this will allow many of the birds to drop out in the areas to the south of Maryland. Virginia's luck but not ours. I would still expect that if the storm picks up a good number of birds off the ocean that a few would still make it as far as MD and PA. Please, go out and prove me wrong.

Good luck!

Ed Boyd
Westminster, MD