See Life Paulagics ran a 22-hour pelagic trip out of Lewes, DE to the
deep waters beyond the Baltimore and Wilmington Canyons. Highlights
included not one, but two WHITE-FACED STORM-PETRELS, 4 LEACH'S
STORM-PETRELS, 13 BRIDLED TERNS, and all of the regularly occurring
shearwaters, including CORY'S, GREATER, and AUDUBON's.
One WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL was squarely in Maryland waters in well
over 500 fathoms of water. The other appeared as we sailed down the
Maryland/Delaware state line, conveniently flying into Maryland water
briefly. That bird was in only 39 fathoms of water, inshore of the
Wilmington Canyon. LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS gave great views and
everybody was able to see them well. Our total of 13 BRIDLED TERNS
ties the all-time highest count for Maryland.
A nice finish, though not on the list since we were in the canal
heading towards the dock, were great looks at several CLAPPER RAILS, a
number of GREEN HERONS, and an interesting flight of CASPIAN TERNS
overhead.
The final counts are below. Note that because we traveled down the
state line, the second WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL was seen in both states.
SPECIES MD DE TOTAL
=========================== ===== ===== =====
Cory's Shearwater 56 33 89
Greater Shearwater 21 - 21
Audubon's Shearwater 19 1 20
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 486 57 543
White-faced Storm-Petrel 2 1 2 (one in both DE & MD)
Red-necked Phalarope 8 - 8
Laughing Gull - 1 1
Royal Tern - 2 2
Bridled Tern 13 - 13
Black Tern - 2
Pilot Whale sp. 20 - 20
Bottlenose Dolphin 125 - 125
Common Dolphin 20 - 20
Our next trip from this port is on December 13. 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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