We were supposed to sail on Saturday, but the winds were horrendous  
offshore.  We did some juggling with the captain and the participatns,  
and and we managed to get a big enough group to go out on Sunday  
instead.  The winds were light all day, seas were calm, and skies were  
overcast, giving us excellent conditions for spotting alcids.  We  
didn't have any trouble with precipitation until the afternoon on our  
way home.  Seas were under 2' on the last few hours coming home,  
making it feel like a lake.


In the morning, after we left the inlet, we started with our usual  
cast of characters near shore.  There were numbers of RED-THROATED  
LOONS and lots of scoters though it was too dark to ID most of them.   
As we headed farther offshore, we started picking up RAZORBILLS, and  
got nice looks at several sitting birds.  Farther out, we saw a few  
COMMON MURRES, and managed to see birds in breeding plumage, winter  
plumage, and one in molt.


By the time we were near the DE/MD pelagic boundary, we had found 4  
COMMON MURRES, DOVEKIES started showing up in small numbers, some  
NORTHERN FULMARS flew by to check out our chum slick, and people had  
gotten great looks at LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.  A small group of  
KITTIWAKES flew in quickly, but buzzed off before most people could  
get on them.  A cooperative ATLANTIC PUFFIN was a treat as our last  
good bird in the offshore DE waters.  The DOVEKIE numbers began to  
build, and we had seen over 300 by the time we reach MD.

Several MD state listers are doing a big year, making them more rabid  
about which birds are seen in which state than usual (if that's  
possible!).  They were placated almost immediately after we crossed  
the state line with DOVEKIES, NORTHERN FULMARS, 2 KITTIWAKES, and a  
PUFFIN all in a span of less than 10 minutes.

I had been watching the water conditions for a month, and things  
looked like they were set up nicely for a good day.  One of the big  
target birds of this trip is the DOVEKIE, and just two weeks prior we  
had seen 9,000 out of New York.  I was hoping for big numbers on this  
trip too, and the little cuties didn't disappoint.  By the time the  
countin' was done, we had racked up a total of 4,223 DOVEKIES.  The  
amount of food in the water was amazing (plankton and small  
invertebrates), and could be seen solidly on the fish finder from near  
the surface down to 30'.

The day was rounded out with several more PUFFINS, a nice COMMON  
DOLPHIN show, and a few brief looks at a HARBOR PORPOISE.  The trip  
back in had the Marylanders chomping for a COMMON MURRE they could  
call their own.  The rain started to pick back up, but the captain  
kept the boat south of the line we stayed outside as we approached the  
same distance from shore where we had seen the COMMON MURRES on the  
way out.  Magically, a nice breeding plumaged COMMON MURRE appeared  
near the boat and just sat there very cooperatively.  After circling  
it a bit to get good photographs, we retired to the cabin for a very  
comfortable ride in.


Here is our final tally, broken down by state.  These are slightly  
different than the ones announced on the boat as we picked up a few  
more birds late in the trip:

     SPECIES                    DE     MD     TOTAL
     -------------------------  -----  -----  -----
     Surf Scoter                  200      0    200
     White-winged Scoter            4      2      6
     Black Scoter                  20      0     20
     scoter sp.                 2,000      0  2,000
     Long-tailed Duck               1      0      1
     Red-throated Loon             52      0     52
     Common Loon                   21      0     21
     Horned Grebe                   2      0      2
     Northern Fulmar                9     22     31
     Northern Gannet               29     79    108
     Bonaparte's Gull               4      0      4
     Herring Gull                   X      X      X
     Lesser Black-backed Gull       2      1      3
     Great Black-backed Gull        X      X      X
     Black-legged Kittiwake         5      2      7
     Dovekie                      338  3,885  4,223
     Common Murre                   4      1      5
     murre sp.                      2      0      2
     Razorbill                     26     24     50
     large alcid sp.               25     10     35

     Common Dolphin  - 60
     Harbor Porpoise -  1



Our next trip is March 18 out of Cape May, NJ.  It will be going to  
some of the same waters we just visited.

Our next trip out of Lewes is April 7.  This is an under-explored time  
of year, but we have a good shot at finding alcids (many in breeding  
plumage), Sooty and possibly Manx Shearwater, Red Phalarope, Norther  
Fulmar, and big numbers of Gannets.  Our hope is to find something  
rarer following all the Gannets and migrating fish like a Great Skua  
or an albatross.


-PAG

Paul A. Guris
See Life Paulagics
P.O. Box 161
Green Lane, PA  18054
www.paulagics.com
215-234-6805