Birdingonthe.Net

Recent Postings from
The Pelagics List

Updated on Wednesday, November 14 at 09:49 AM ET
The most recently received Mail is at the top.

Dear all,

I just want to tell you that several corrections and updates have been done 
recently on the website "Seawatching in Senegal". Within a few weeks the trip 
report will be launched, which include all the seabirds, off course, and all 
landbirds observed in the area as well as from the trips to Technopole and the 
Mangrove delta of Somone (two guided tours with Moussa, a Dakar-based birder). 
Several photo galleries will soon be launched as well. If interested in 
seawatch and Senegal issues feel fre to visit the website:

http://senegal.seawatching.net

All the best!

/Niklas
*********************************************************
Niklas Holmstr�m
Riktargatan 65 D
S-644 33 Torsh�lla, Sweden
Mobile: 
Website: http://www.seawatching.net
*********************************************************

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Michael Brothers 
To: FLORIDABIRDS-L AT LISTS.UFL.EDU
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 2:53:59 PM
Subject: Re: [FLBIRDS] Pelagic Trip out of Ponce Inlet Summary


What a trip we had on the pelagic trip out of Ponce Inlet on Sunday,
 11/11!

With 56 intrepid souls aboard we headed out to the Gulf Stream on a
 beautiful day.  With excellent leaders including Bob Wallace, Andy
 Bankert, Wes Biggs, John Hintermister, Andy Kratter, David Simpson, Dave
 Goodwin, and Murray Gardler we encountered many excellent birds.

A quick unofficial list:

Cory's Shearwater   75
Audubon's Shearwater  6
Manx Shearwater   4
Red Phalarope  1
Pomarine Jaeger  25
Parasitic Jaeger  3
Long-tailed Jaeger 1 and possibly a second bird

Red-billed Tropicbird -- It was thought this bird a juvenile White-tailed 
Tropicbird 

 at the time. But after reviewing some excellent photographs by Bob Wallace, 
the 

 bird was confirmed as a juvenile Red-billed.

Bridled Tern  40+
Northern Gannet  30 
Common Tern 200+
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Laughing Gull 2, even out at 45 miles
Herring Gull 2
Palm Warbler  1 ---   that kept landing on the boat.

It was an extraordinary day! Thanks to all of the leaders and to all of
 those who joined the trip.

Thanks,

Michael

Michael Brothers
Marine Science Center
Ponce Inlet, FL







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Article of interest - Jennifer Rycenga, Half Moon Bay, California, USA

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7069755.st
m

Bird night attacks may be unique
Steven McKenzie   BBC Scotland News, Highlands and Islands reporter
Last Updated: Monday, 5 November 2007, 00:42 GMT


Incidents of a seabird preying on colonies of another species at night
may be unique to a remote islands archipelago.
Ecologist Will Miles said initial research of great skua preying on
Leach's petrel on St Kilda found the behaviour was unlikely to be
common.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has been recording "alarming"
falls in the smaller petrels on the islands.

Mr Miles and fellow researchers used night vision gear to observe the
skua.

NTS said the Leach's petrel colony on St Kilda, which it owns, is the
largest in Europe and numbers about 40,000 pairs.

Researchers from Glasgow University have been investigating suggestions
that great skua, or bonxie, may be eating up to 14,000 petrels every
year.

The research on Hirta, St Kilda, will run until 2009.

Results of this year's work are still being analysed, however, Mr Miles
revealed some intriguing insights into the bonxies' behaviour.

He said: "The skuas are highly active on the petrel colonies at night
and catch petrels in a variety of ways - both on the ground and in the
air.

"Nocturnal foraging by great skuas is thought to be quite a rare
situation.

"At least, it has not been widely reported from the most intensively
studied skua colonies on Shetland or from elsewhere across the species'
breeding range.

"The situation on Kilda seems rather unique in this respect."

Why the bonxie prey on petrels may be down to a combination of factors.


Great skua feed on fish, carrion and other birds. The RSPB give them
green status, meaning there is no identified threat to its population
The starling-sized Leach's petrel lives on crustaceans, molluscs and
small fish
Leach's petrel have amber status - meaning that they have suffered a
historical decline but have recovered

They include limited other food sources, competition between the skuas
and when the birds nest close to petrel colonies.

Mr Miles said: "Skuas are highly opportunistic predators and some
individuals seem to develop a taste for certain prey types.

"One possibility may be that on Kilda the petrels are a relatively
abundant prey type, a few individual skuas have exploited this
situation opportunistically and their behaviour has been copied by
others looking for an easy meal."

After assessing the safety of vantage points, the researchers spent
nights close to high cliffs, steep slopes and scree boulder fields.

Mr Miles said: "Once on-site, we then stayed put in one watching
position for the hours of darkness and just observed the bird activity."

The vigils were often to the backdrop of the sound of puffins, manx
shearwaters and European storm petrels.

'Elegant seabirds'

Mr Miles said: "The call of the shearwaters is particularly evocative
and bizarre - sometimes likened to a chicken with asthma. It is rather
a wheezy, wailing sort of call."

Mr Miles admitted it could be hard to be an impartial observer.

He said: "Yes, Leach's petrels seem tiny and elegant seabirds when
compared with bonxies, so of course it can be difficult to watch a
petrel get eaten without feeling some kind of regret.

"Predation is a normal occurrence in nature though, even if rarely
observed."

Data gathered by researchers will be used to help guide conservation
efforts for both species.

**********************************************************************

A flock of birders left Simon's Town at 07:00 on 23 October 2007 in a breezy 
SWwind 

and very little sea.A fewWCP's were seen just inside the Point. As expected, 
thewind 

was strong outside the Point and the sea was in our face as we headed in a SW 
direction.Some Parasitic J's were seen on the way out annoying some Common 
Terns 

as well as a few WCP's, Great SW's and some Shy's in the distance.At about 8 
miles off 

the Point, we were privileged and excited to be treated to a pod of 4 Killer 
Whales 

performing, some jumping, showing a large %age of their bodies. These 
disappeared as 

quickly as they had arrived, not really surprising, given that the weather 
conditions were 

not very conducive to spotting whales at a distance. The skipper "found" a 
trawler at 

about 18 miles, and we spent the rest of the trip in the cloud of birds in its 
wake, getting 

the usual close up views of the available stuff.

The trip back was lovely and smooth and dry, in a following wind and sea, 
stopping only 

to get a good look at a wallowing Sunfish about 10 miles from the Point.

Of interest, the firstEuropean SP, large numbers of GP's, ratio of Shy's to 
Black B's 

about 10 :1, some Sandwich Terns inside the Bayand ofcourse the Killers.

Birds seen, with numbers where known, excluding all the usual stuff on the 
inside: 


Shy Albatross 
Black browed Albatross
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross3
Southern Giant Petrel5
Northern Giant Petrel30
White chinned Petrel
Sooty Shearwater 4
Greatwinged Petrel 4
Great Shearwater
Pintado Petrel
Wilson's Storm Petrel
European Storm Petrel 1
Sub Antarctic Skua 3
Parasitic Jaeger 
Sabines Gull
Arctic Tern 2
Common Tern

Mammals

Cape Fur Seal
KillerWhale

Many thanks to Harry and his crew for a great trip and to Alvin for sharing his 
seabird 

and boating expertise with the passengers and for the trip report. Please 
contact Trevor 

or myself to make reservations for our upcoming trips, or refer to our webpage 
for 

detailed pelagic information.

Kind regards
John.
---------------------------------------------------------
John Graham and Trevor Hardaker
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------

A flock of birders left Simon's Town at 07:00 on 23 October 2007 in a breezy 
SWwind 

and very little sea.A fewWCP's were seen just inside the Point. As expected, 
thewind 

was strong outside the Point and the sea was in our face as we headed in a SW 
direction.Some Parasitic J's were seen on the way out annoying some Common 
Terns 

as well as a few WCP's, Great SW's and some Shy's in the distance.At about 8 
miles off 

the Point, we were privileged and excited to be treated to a pod of 4 Killer 
Whales 

performing, some jumping, showing a large %age of their bodies. These 
disappeared as 

quickly as they had arrived, not really surprising, given that the weather 
conditions were 

not very conducive to spotting whales at a distance. The skipper "found" a 
trawler at 

about 18 miles, and we spent the rest of the trip in the cloud of birds in its 
wake, getting 

the usual close up views of the available stuff.

The trip back was lovely and smooth and dry, in a following wind and sea, 
stopping only 

to get a good look at a wallowing Sunfish about 10 miles from the Point.

Of interest, the firstEuropean SP, large numbers of GP's, ratio of Shy's to 
Black B's 

about 10 :1, some Sandwich Terns inside the Bayand ofcourse the Killers.

Birds seen, with numbers where known, excluding all the usual stuff on the 
inside: 


Shy Albatross 
Black browed Albatross
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross3
Southern Giant Petrel5
Northern Giant Petrel30
White chinned Petrel
Sooty Shearwater 4
Greatwinged Petrel 4
Great Shearwater
Pintado Petrel
Wilson's Storm Petrel
European Storm Petrel 1
Sub Antarctic Skua 3
Parasitic Jaeger 
Sabines Gull
Arctic Tern 2
Common Tern

Mammals

Cape Fur Seal
KillerWhale

Many thanks to Harry and his crew for a great trip and to Alvin for sharing his 
seabird 

and boating expertise with the passengers and for the trip report. Please 
contact Trevor 

or myself to make reservations for our upcoming trips, or refer to our webpage 
for 

detailed pelagic information.

Kind regards
John.
---------------------------------------------------------
John Graham and Trevor Hardaker
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------


To unsubscribe from the sabirdnet please go to the web page and choose edit 
options at the bottom of the page. 

_______________________________________
Sabirdnet mailing list
Sabirdnet AT lists.ukzn.ac.za
http://lists.ukzn.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/sabirdnet

A trip from Newport, Oregon to Perpetua Bank on 22 September 2007 
provided the typical birds for fall, including 50 BLACK-FOOTED 
ALBATROSSES, 8 FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS, 15 RED PHALAROPE, and several 
close PARASITIC JAEGERS.

The highlight of the day was 3 SPERM WHALES!

Please view our photos and full trip report at:
http://thebirdguide.com/pelagics/archive/.htm

We need more participants for the 20 October 2007 trip. To sign up for 
this trip and find out all the details, please visit our web site:
http://thebirdguide.com/pelagics/

Greg Gillson
The Bird Guide, Inc.

Dear all,

I have reading the discussions and viewing the photos with great interest. I am 

not much for measurments and close up photos of a bird in unatural light, 
though there is no other way in this case. My spontaneous reaction of the 
Florida bird is that it looking much as a Cape Verde Shearwater, but as said, I 

always had have problem with close-ups, when used to see the Calonectris 
species in field, from land and during pelagics. Besides many seawatching trips 

to the Macaronesian Islands (many to the Madeira archipelago, Canaries and 
Salvage Islands) I have visited Senegal (e.g. Dakar) two times and going there 
next Friday for a three-week seawatching trip. On the two previous trips 
(October 2003 and 2005) to Dakar I had have the opportunity see all three 
Calonectris "species" (Cory's, Scopoli's and Cape Verde Shearwater). In field 
my experience have been that the Cape Verde Shearwater are in a divison of its 
own compared to both Cory's and Scopoli's. Cape Verde beeing much more slender 
buildt, smaller (but with same proportions), longer tail, slender greyish bill 
and more grey-brown plumage o head and upperside, in comparition to Cory's and 
Scopoli's (just see the photos on Brian Pattesons's website). I have seen 
thousands of thousands of Cory's in the Atlantic sea and Scopoli's in the 
Mediterranean sea (and a few in the Atlantic) and they are in my opinion a true 

challange to distinguish in field. I think all Scopoli's accepted along the 
European seaboard are documented by photos, showing the underwing pattern of 
the primaries.

When seeing a few Cory's among a gang of Cape Verde Shearwaters at sea 
following a trawler, the Cory's always look broad-winged, bulkier and somewhat 
clumsy compared to the more slim built Cape Verde Shearwaters. Sounds easy, 
does it not? However, seeing and trying to ID the Calonectris shearwaters 
moving over the sea within moderate distance from land along the north-west 
shoreline of Dakar, is far from easy. The Cape Verde Shearwater have the same 
flight style as the other two Calonectris.

I am not an expert of these Shearwaters, but I have seen a lot of them and I 
just want to share some thoughts and experiences.

On the web addresses as follows you find further flight photos of Cape Verde 
Shearwater:

http://senegal.seawatching.net/gallery/2005a/index.html

http://senegal.seawatching.net/seabirds.html

http://senegal.seawatching.net/totals.html

Just some reflections. From next Friday we will count the southbound passage of 

seabirds from Calao and N'Gor on the north-eastern tip of the Cap Vert 
Peninsula in Senegal, I will try to update the Senegal website every two days 
with highlights and summary of day-by-day counts (or pelagics results).

All the best

/Niklas Holmstr�m
Sweden


> All - 
> 
> Michael Brothers just forwarded photographs of the now specimen of the 
probable 

> Cape Verde Shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii) from Ponce Inlet, Volusia 
County, 

> Florida, some which were taken in comparison to a fairly ratty specimen of
> Cory's Shearwater. One picture shows the much thinner beak in comparison to 
the 

> Cory's, and another shows the much smaller body size.  The size difference is
> deceiving because of the posture and stretching of the Cory's specimen, but
> there does seem to be a noticeable difference. Of note is Cape Verde 2 photo 
#40 

> that shows the wing chord measurement. It was 31.6 cm. That is within the 
range 

> listed in Onley and Scofield for Cape Verde ( cm), as opposed to 
Cory's 

> Diomedia +  and Borealis .  However, they also note that
> females are smaller than these measurements. I do not know if the specimen 
bird 

> is male or female. The bird shows substantial feather wear and molt. There 
was 

> a strong subtropical weather system in the Gulf Stream off Volusia County 
last 

> week, with 20-30 knot winds, that moved across Florida and into the Gulf of
> Mexico, that may also have had an effect in forcing this bird into shore.
> 
> http://www.pbase.com/chnuts/cape_verde_shearwater
> 
> All responses received to date support this bird being an edwardsii. If this 
is 

> true, then this is the first specimen for the United States, with the only 
other 

> confirmed record from Brian Patteson photographed off NC on 8/15/2004:
> 
> http://www.patteson.com/CVShearwater.htm
> 
> Based on the possible confusion with Cory's, who knows how many Cape Verdes 
are 

> really out there, but just not recognized?
> 
> Good pelagic birding,
> 
> Bob Wallace
> New Smyrna Beach FL
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
> Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: /1034 - Release Date: 
> 17:00
> 


*********************************************************
Niklas Holmstr�m
Riktargatan 65 D
S-644 33 Torsh�lla, Sweden
Mobile: 
Website: http://www.seawatching.net
*********************************************************

thanks!

----- Original Message ----
From: J. BRIAN PATTESON 
To: pelagics AT yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 11:14:17 AM
Subject: Re: [pelagics] additional photos of probable Florida Cape Verde 
Shearwater 










  


    
            Bob,



Palmer's Handbook of N.A. Birds lists a range of 312- 337mm for the wing

of Female diomedea (not flattened) per R. C. Murphy in an American

Museum publication from 1929.  I would also look to Cramp and Simmons

for measurement info, but I can't seem to find my copy right now.   316

is right in there.



Brian Patteson

Hatteras, NC



----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Robert Wallace" 

To: "2PelagicsSE" ; "2pelagics"

; "2ID Frontiers"

; "2Birdbrains"



Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 7:20 PM

Subject: [pelagics] additional photos of probable Florida Cape Verde

Shearwater



> All -

>

> Michael Brothers just forwarded photographs of the now specimen of the

probable Cape Verde Shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii) from Ponce Inlet,

Volusia County, Florida, some which were taken in comparison to a fairly

ratty specimen of Cory's Shearwater.  One picture shows the much thinner

beak in comparison to the Cory's, and another shows the much smaller

body size.  The size difference is deceiving because of the posture and

stretching

> of the Cory's specimen, but there does seem to be a noticeable

> difference. Of note is Cape Verde 2 photo #40 that shows the wing

chord

> measurement. It was 31.6 cm.  That is within the range listed in Onley

> and Scofield for Cape Verde ( cm), as opposed to Cory's

> Diomedia +  and Borealis .  However, they also note

> that females are smaller than these measurements.  I do not know if

the specimen bird is male or female.  The bird shows substantial feather

wear and molt.  There was a strong subtropical weather system in the

Gulf Stream off Volusia County last week, with 20-30 knot winds, that

moved across Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, that may also have had

an effect in forcing this bird into shore.

>

> http://www.pbase. com/chnuts/ cape_verde_ shearwater

>

> All responses received to date support this bird being an edwardsii.

If this is true, then this is the first specimen for the United States,

with the only other confirmed record from Brian Patteson photographed

off NC on 8/15/2004:

>

> http://www.patteson .com/CVShearwate r.htm

>

> Based on the possible confusion with Cory's, who knows how many Cape

Verdes are really out there, but just not recognized?

>

> Good pelagic birding,

>

> Bob Wallace

> New Smyrna Beach FL

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

>

>





    
  

    
    




















[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Bob,

Palmer's Handbook of N.A. Birds lists a range of 312- 337mm for the wing
of Female diomedea (not flattened) per R. C. Murphy in an American
Museum publication from 1929.  I would also look to Cramp and Simmons
for measurement info, but I can't seem to find my copy right now.   316
is right in there.

Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Wallace" 
To: "2PelagicsSE" ; "2pelagics"
; "2ID Frontiers"
; "2Birdbrains"

Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 7:20 PM
Subject: [pelagics] additional photos of probable Florida Cape Verde
Shearwater


> All -
>
> Michael Brothers just forwarded photographs of the now specimen of the
probable Cape Verde Shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii) from Ponce Inlet,
Volusia County, Florida, some which were taken in comparison to a fairly
ratty specimen of Cory's Shearwater.  One picture shows the much thinner
beak in comparison to the Cory's, and another shows the much smaller
body size.  The size difference is deceiving because of the posture and
stretching
> of the Cory's specimen, but there does seem to be a noticeable
> difference. Of note is Cape Verde 2 photo #40 that shows the wing
chord
> measurement. It was 31.6 cm.  That is within the range listed in Onley
> and Scofield for Cape Verde ( cm), as opposed to Cory's
> Diomedia +  and Borealis .  However, they also note
> that females are smaller than these measurements.  I do not know if
the specimen bird is male or female.  The bird shows substantial feather
wear and molt.  There was a strong subtropical weather system in the
Gulf Stream off Volusia County last week, with 20-30 knot winds, that
moved across Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, that may also have had
an effect in forcing this bird into shore.
>
> http://www.pbase.com/chnuts/cape_verde_shearwater
>
> All responses received to date support this bird being an edwardsii.
If this is true, then this is the first specimen for the United States,
with the only other confirmed record from Brian Patteson photographed
off NC on 8/15/2004:
>
> http://www.patteson.com/CVShearwater.htm
>
> Based on the possible confusion with Cory's, who knows how many Cape
Verdes are really out there, but just not recognized?
>
> Good pelagic birding,
>
> Bob Wallace
> New Smyrna Beach FL
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

Andy,

The primaries of the FL bird in question are extensively white below in
the spead wing photo.  If the primaries of edwardsii are always
extensively dark (as in borealis), how can this bird be edwardsii?

Although the bill is small, I don't if it's out of range for a female C.
d. diomedea (my use of the trinomial denotes a subspecies).  IF the
ratty specimen is C. d. borealis, then I know the bill is not too small.
In fact I am looking at some bill tracings I did at the Harvard museum
(where they had several edwardsii) and the bill C. d. diomedea is quite
a bit smaller (thinner and shorter) than borealis.  In fact C. d.
diomedea (depending on the sex) can look about intermediate between C.
d. borealis and C. edwardsii.

Look at http://www.pbase.com/chnuts/image/

These are the same two birds I presume, and the recently deceased bird
in question does not look so unlike a small Cory's ("Scopoli's)
Shearwater.  Shown here the bills of the two birds don't look as
different as they do in close comparison.  I think this picture is more
like how a couple of birds might compare under actual field conditions.

So if Bob can give us some clarification as to what the subspecies the
specimen we will have a better understanding of what we have before us.

Brian

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andy Paterson" 
To: 
Cc: "PELAGICS SE" 
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 7:04 AM
Subject: Re: [pelagics] additional photos of probable Florida Cape Verde
Shearwater


> Hi Brian et al.,
>
> The underwing of edwardsii is generally more like that of C.d.
borealis (the
> Atlantic race). There's now way that I could see this bird being seen
as
> 'Scopoli's' (of which I don't like particularly as a separate sp.) and
of
> which I must see at least ia thousand each summer. All these have a
big
> chunk of bill, not a nice slender one like the bird in the photos.
>
> Surely the bill colour could be accounted for by proximity to the
breeding
> season when bill colour intensifies in most spp., plus I don't think
that
> much is known about individual variation.
>
> Regards,
>
> Andy Paterson
> Iberian Seabird Group (GIAM)
> Torremolinos, Spain
>
>
>
> On 27/09/2007, J. BRIAN PATTESON  wrote:
> >
> >   Bob,
> >
> > Doesn't the underwing look more like C. d. diomedea than C.
edwardsii?
> > There is more white in the under-primaries than I would expect to
see in
> > the latter. Couldn't it be a female Scopoli's? The bill is yellower
> > than I would expect in edwardsii. The frayed primary tips should
also
> > be considered in the measurements.
> >
> > Brian Patteson
> > Hatteas, NC
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Robert Wallace" >
> > To: "2PelagicsSE"
>;
> > "2pelagics"
> > >; "2ID
Frontiers"
> > >;
> > "2Birdbrains"
> > >
> > Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 7:20 PM
> > Subject: [pelagics] additional photos of probable Florida Cape Verde
> > Shearwater
> >
> > > All -
> > >
> > > Michael Brothers just forwarded photographs of the now specimen of
the
> > probable Cape Verde Shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii) from Ponce
Inlet,
> > Volusia County, Florida, some which were taken in comparison to a
fairly
> > ratty specimen of Cory's Shearwater. One picture shows the much
thinner
> > beak in comparison to the Cory's, and another shows the much smaller
> > body size. The size difference is deceiving because of the posture
and
> > stretching
> > > of the Cory's specimen, but there does seem to be a noticeable
> > > difference. Of note is Cape Verde 2 photo #40 that shows the wing
> > chord
> > > measurement. It was 31.6 cm. That is within the range listed in
Onley
> > > and Scofield for Cape Verde ( cm), as opposed to Cory's
> > > Diomedia +  and Borealis . However, they also
note
> > > that females are smaller than these measurements. I do not know if
> > the specimen bird is male or female. The bird shows substantial
feather
> > wear and molt. There was a strong subtropical weather system in the
> > Gulf Stream off Volusia County last week, with 20-30 knot winds,
that
> > moved across Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, that may also have
had
> > an effect in forcing this bird into shore.
> > >
> > > http://www.pbase.com/chnuts/cape_verde_shearwater
> > >
> > > All responses received to date support this bird being an
edwardsii.
> > If this is true, then this is the first specimen for the United
States,
> > with the only other confirmed record from Brian Patteson
photographed
> > off NC on 8/15/2004:
> > >
> > > http://www.patteson.com/CVShearwater.htm
> > >
> > > Based on the possible confusion with Cory's, who knows how many
Cape
> > Verdes are really out there, but just not recognized?
> > >
> > > Good pelagic birding,
> > >
> > > Bob Wallace
> > > New Smyrna Beach FL
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

Hi Brian et al.,

The underwing of edwardsii is generally more like that of C.d. borealis (the
Atlantic race). There's now way that I could see this bird being seen as
'Scopoli's' (of which I don't like particularly as a separate sp.) and of
which I must see at least ia thousand each summer. All these have a big
chunk of bill, not a nice slender one like the bird in the photos.

Surely the bill colour could be accounted for by proximity to the breeding
season when bill colour intensifies in most spp., plus I don't think that
much is known about individual variation.

Regards,

Andy Paterson
Iberian Seabird Group (GIAM)
Torremolinos, Spain



On 27/09/2007, J. BRIAN PATTESON  wrote:
>
>   Bob,
>
> Doesn't the underwing look more like C. d. diomedea than C. edwardsii?
> There is more white in the under-primaries than I would expect to see in
> the latter. Couldn't it be a female Scopoli's? The bill is yellower
> than I would expect in edwardsii. The frayed primary tips should also
> be considered in the measurements.
>
> Brian Patteson
> Hatteas, NC
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Robert Wallace" >
> To: "2PelagicsSE" 
>; 

> "2pelagics"
> >; "2ID Frontiers"
> >;
> "2Birdbrains"
> >
> Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 7:20 PM
> Subject: [pelagics] additional photos of probable Florida Cape Verde
> Shearwater
>
> > All -
> >
> > Michael Brothers just forwarded photographs of the now specimen of the
> probable Cape Verde Shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii) from Ponce Inlet,
> Volusia County, Florida, some which were taken in comparison to a fairly
> ratty specimen of Cory's Shearwater. One picture shows the much thinner
> beak in comparison to the Cory's, and another shows the much smaller
> body size. The size difference is deceiving because of the posture and
> stretching
> > of the Cory's specimen, but there does seem to be a noticeable
> > difference. Of note is Cape Verde 2 photo #40 that shows the wing
> chord
> > measurement. It was 31.6 cm. That is within the range listed in Onley
> > and Scofield for Cape Verde ( cm), as opposed to Cory's
> > Diomedia +  and Borealis . However, they also note
> > that females are smaller than these measurements. I do not know if
> the specimen bird is male or female. The bird shows substantial feather
> wear and molt. There was a strong subtropical weather system in the
> Gulf Stream off Volusia County last week, with 20-30 knot winds, that
> moved across Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, that may also have had
> an effect in forcing this bird into shore.
> >
> > http://www.pbase.com/chnuts/cape_verde_shearwater
> >
> > All responses received to date support this bird being an edwardsii.
> If this is true, then this is the first specimen for the United States,
> with the only other confirmed record from Brian Patteson photographed
> off NC on 8/15/2004:
> >
> > http://www.patteson.com/CVShearwater.htm
> >
> > Based on the possible confusion with Cory's, who knows how many Cape
> Verdes are really out there, but just not recognized?
> >
> > Good pelagic birding,
> >
> > Bob Wallace
> > New Smyrna Beach FL
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
>  
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Bob,

Doesn't the underwing look more like C. d. diomedea than C. edwardsii?
There is more white in the under-primaries than I would expect to see in
the latter.  Couldn't it be a female Scopoli's?  The bill is yellower
than I would expect in edwardsii.  The frayed primary tips should also
be considered in the measurements.

Brian Patteson
Hatteas, NC


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Wallace" 
To: "2PelagicsSE" ; "2pelagics"
; "2ID Frontiers"
; "2Birdbrains"

Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 7:20 PM
Subject: [pelagics] additional photos of probable Florida Cape Verde
Shearwater


> All -
>
> Michael Brothers just forwarded photographs of the now specimen of the
probable Cape Verde Shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii) from Ponce Inlet,
Volusia County, Florida, some which were taken in comparison to a fairly
ratty specimen of Cory's Shearwater.  One picture shows the much thinner
beak in comparison to the Cory's, and another shows the much smaller
body size.  The size difference is deceiving because of the posture and
stretching
> of the Cory's specimen, but there does seem to be a noticeable
> difference. Of note is Cape Verde 2 photo #40 that shows the wing
chord
> measurement. It was 31.6 cm.  That is within the range listed in Onley
> and Scofield for Cape Verde ( cm), as opposed to Cory's
> Diomedia +  and Borealis .  However, they also note
> that females are smaller than these measurements.  I do not know if
the specimen bird is male or female.  The bird shows substantial feather
wear and molt.  There was a strong subtropical weather system in the
Gulf Stream off Volusia County last week, with 20-30 knot winds, that
moved across Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, that may also have had
an effect in forcing this bird into shore.
>
> http://www.pbase.com/chnuts/cape_verde_shearwater
>
> All responses received to date support this bird being an edwardsii.
If this is true, then this is the first specimen for the United States,
with the only other confirmed record from Brian Patteson photographed
off NC on 8/15/2004:
>
> http://www.patteson.com/CVShearwater.htm
>
> Based on the possible confusion with Cory's, who knows how many Cape
Verdes are really out there, but just not recognized?
>
> Good pelagic birding,
>
> Bob Wallace
> New Smyrna Beach FL
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

All - 

Michael Brothers just forwarded photographs of the now specimen of the probable 
Cape Verde Shearwater (Calonectris edwardsii) from Ponce Inlet, Volusia County, 
Florida, some which were taken in comparison to a fairly ratty specimen of 
Cory's Shearwater. One picture shows the much thinner beak in comparison to the 
Cory's, and another shows the much smaller body size. The size difference is 
deceiving because of the posture and stretching 

of the Cory's specimen, but there does seem to be a noticeable
difference. Of note is Cape Verde 2 photo #40 that shows the wing chord
measurement. It was 31.6 cm.  That is within the range listed in Onley
and Scofield for Cape Verde ( cm), as opposed to Cory's
Diomedia +  and Borealis .  However, they also note
that females are smaller than these measurements. I do not know if the specimen 
bird is male or female. The bird shows substantial feather wear and molt. There 
was a strong subtropical weather system in the Gulf Stream off Volusia County 
last week, with 20-30 knot winds, that moved across Florida and into the Gulf 
of Mexico, that may also have had an effect in forcing this bird into shore. 


http://www.pbase.com/chnuts/cape_verde_shearwater

All responses received to date support this bird being an edwardsii. If this is 
true, then this is the first specimen for the United States, with the only 
other confirmed record from Brian Patteson photographed off NC on 8/15/2004: 


http://www.patteson.com/CVShearwater.htm

Based on the possible confusion with Cory's, who knows how many Cape Verdes are 
really out there, but just not recognized? 


Good pelagic birding,

Bob Wallace
New Smyrna Beach FL







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi, Robert:

There's no doubt about it as far as I can see, apart from the much smaller
size of the bird, especially bill size and colouration (which is very
different to Cory's of either race), also white half moons (can be seen as
full eye ring in Dick Newell's super shots).

Regards,

Andy Paterson
Iberian Seabird Group (GIAM)
Torremolinos, Spain

On 26/09/2007, Robert Wallace  wrote:
>
>   Greetings - yesterday, Mike Brothers, the Director of the Ponce Marine
> Institute in Ponce Inlet (Volusia County - central east coast) FL, received
> into the Rehab Center a Cory's type shearwater whose features match Cape
> Verde Shearwater. It was noticeably smaller than Cory's that have been
> brought in, and is only 15" in body length, the bill is an olive gray, with
> yellowish along the lower portion of the upper beak (not the much brighter
> yellow coloration of Corys), and a prominent eye-ring.
>
> If the bird does not survive in Rehab (doubtful) it will be sent to the
> Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. If it is a Cape Verde, it
> will be the first record for Florida, and one of the few confirmed records
> for the eastern United States. As a side note, there are frequently large
> numbers of Cory's off of Florida's east coast from June-November, most
> regularly near the Gulf Stream, but also sometimes within sight of land.
>
> Photos taken by Mike Brothers of this bird can be found at the following
> link:
>
> http://www.pbase.com/chnuts/cape_verde_shearwater
>
> Excellent photos from Dick Newell can be seen for comparison at:
>
> http://www.magikbirds.com/image.asp?title_id=411&show_thumbnails=False
>
> Comments would be appreciated.
>
> Best,
>
> R. D. Wallace
> New Smyrna Beach FL
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>  
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Greetings - yesterday, Mike Brothers, the Director of the Ponce Marine 
Institute in Ponce Inlet (Volusia County - central east coast) FL, received 
into the Rehab Center a Cory's type shearwater whose features match Cape Verde 
Shearwater. It was noticeably smaller than Cory's that have been brought in, 
and is only 15" in body length, the bill is an olive gray, with yellowish along 
the lower portion of the upper beak (not the much brighter yellow coloration of 
Corys), and a prominent eye-ring. 


If the bird does not survive in Rehab (doubtful) it will be sent to the Florida 
Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. If it is a Cape Verde, it will be the 
first record for Florida, and one of the few confirmed records for the eastern 
United States. As a side note, there are frequently large numbers of Cory's off 
of Florida's east coast from June-November, most regularly near the Gulf 
Stream, but also sometimes within sight of land. 


Photos taken by Mike Brothers of this bird can be found at the following link:

http://www.pbase.com/chnuts/cape_verde_shearwater

Excellent photos from Dick Newell can be seen for comparison at:

http://www.magikbirds.com/image.asp?title_id=411&show_thumbnails=False

Comments would be appreciated.

Best,

R. D.  Wallace
New Smyrna Beach FL



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Seabirders,

Last week I said "I see no reason why some of the birds we have seen in
late August or early September such as Bermuda Petrel or Red-billed
Tropicbird might not possibly occur at this time as well."  Yes, I've
been known to say such things to make trips sound enticing, and
this time I was right (half right anyway.)

We did see a Bermuda Petrel (Cahow) on the Sept. 22 trip, and we saw it
well, with enough time for Kate Sutherland to get a couple of decent
photos.  This makes 20 or so trips where we've seen this extremely rare
bird off Cape Hatteras since 1993.  Over a dozen of these birds have
been photographed, and while we had a rash of late May sightings in the
last few years, this species has been found here in all months from May
through September, and no doubt occurs at other times as well.
Interestingly, our last three photographed Cahows have been in July
(2005), August (2006) and now September!

Although it nests less than 600 miles from Hatteras, the Bermuda Petrel
is a very rare bird.  It was actually thought to be extinct for about
300 years, and its nesting sites were not found until the 1950's.  From
a low of 17 nesting pairs found during the rediscovery expedition,
numbers have very slowly increased to about four times that number
today.  Dr. David Wingate, a native Bermudian, has dedicated his life to
saving the species, since he first encountered it on the 1952 expedition
with the late Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy, one of the most accomplished
seabird ornithologists of all time.  Without Wingate's efforts, the
species might not have survived, as it has been nesting in marginal
habitat since it was nearly exterminated so many years ago.  Wingate
began a program of habitat improvement by creating man-made nesting
cavities, which are now in widespread use.  He also devised a way to
help the Cahow from losing its nest sites to the slightly larger and
more aggressive White-tailed Tropicbird, which also nests there.  Since
Wingate's retirement a few years ago, a program has begun in earnest to
repopulate one of the larger outlying islands in Bermuda with Cahows
(his long term plan.)  If this experiment works, it will make for a new
colony on a more suitable nesting island (which has been restored with
native vegetation) with lots of room for new nests.

You can read more about the Cahow in a recent article in the latest
issue of Audubon magazine (Sept./Oct. 2007.)  Wingate, Ned Brinkley,
Todd Hass, and I wrote about the Cahow in Birding several years ago
(30:1; Feb. 1998.)  At the time, there were very few records, so our
field experience was nowhere near today's level, but there was virtually
nothing written about how to distinguish them at sea from the darker
examples of Black-capped Petrel prior to that article.

Anyhow, more Cahows in Bermuda should translate to more Cahows off
Hatteras, and so far this seems to be the case, though it remains to be
seen where Cahows prefer to forage.  It would not surprise me if they
spend considerable time farther north, as the Gulf Stream south of the
Canadian Maritime Provinces is a straight shot north and it is a
comparable distance to what Black-capped Petrels travel to feed off
Hatteras from their nesting range in Hispaniola.  Bermuda Petrel has
been found as far east as the Azores, and the wanderings of related
species such as Fea's Petrel would suggest they might roam widely in the
North Atlantic.  The Black-capped Petrel has always been closely
associated with the Gulf Stream, but the Cahow is a different species
(despite ill-founded suggestions otherwise, which have found their way
into print repeatedly) so it might well have different habits and a
different range.  Nevertheless, the Gulf Stream off Hatteras is the
closest easily accessible place to look for them in the western North
Atlantic, so I would expect a better chance of seeing them here, where
we have more time during our trips to survey deep water, than I would
expect from trips elsewhere off the East Coast.

I would like to pass on one more interesting fact about Bermuda Petrels.
After courtship and mating in mid November, they disappear at sea during
the so-called honeymoon period, and come back to lay in December.  I
wonder if this post-breeding exodus might not be a good time to look for
Cahows here off Hatteras.  We have scheduled a couple of trips this year
on December 1 and 2, so we hope to test this hypothesis this fall.  Of
course they might ply these waters in October and November as well, and
it's not too far for a foraging trip for such a swift bird even during
the nesting season.

Our next trip from Hatteras is on Saturday, October 13, with a weather
date the following day.  In November we are scheduled to run to trips on
our boat from Wanchese (south of Manteo) for the Wings Over Water
festival on Friday, November 9 and Saturday, November 10.  The December
trips are planned for Hatteras.  Black-capped Petrels have been observed
regularly here during all of these months in past years.

In sharp contrast to the previous weekend (when we saw about 150),
Black-capped Petrels were in low numbers here on Sept. 22.  But the
Bermuda Petrel and a close Fea's Petrel (before we unpacked the camera
of course) definitely picked up any Black-capped slack.  Thankfully, we
did have good looks at a couple of the Black-caps.  There was a better
showing of Cory's and Audubon's Shearwaters on this trip than we had a
week before, and the birds seemed widely scattered, mostly from 20 to 30
miles offshore.  For what it's worth, we also observed a shearwater just
outside the inlet during the afternoon, which looked like a Calonectris
type but oddly small, however we never saw it well enough to study the
head and bill.

For more information about our trips, please visit our website at
http://www.seabirding.com/, and if you have questions give me a call at
 during the evenings.  Lately I am usually around between
7 and 9 PM, and I'm not as busy as during the Summer.  I would love to
run some more trips and I would like to remind everyone that we are
available for charter- $1295/first 8 people.  Look at how much the West
Coast trips of similar duration to ours cost per head and you'll see how
reasonable that is.  I would like to thank Kate Sutherland for
encouraging me to run a trip this weekend and for helping to lead it.
Her photo of the Cahow is posted on the Seabirding homepage.  The
tallies from the Sept. 22 trip follow below.

Fea's Petrel - 1
Bermuda Petrel - 1
Black-capped Petrel - 4
Cory's Shearwater - 59
Calonectris sp. - 1
Audubon's Shearwater - 38-39
Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 29
Sooty Tern - 5
Bridled Tern - 3
Pomarine Jaeger - 7
Parasitic Jaeger - 1
jaeger sp. - 1

Merlin - 1-2
Bottlenose Dolphin - 3 offshore (a few in the channel in the a.m. as
well...)
Spotted Dolphin - 7-8

Thanks,

Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
brian AT patteson.com
http://www.seabirding.com/

I know that many seem to be focused on shorebirds and passerines here
lately ('tis the season), but I would like to mention that the current
forecast for this week seems like a good set-up for Saturday's planned
pelagic trip from Hatteras.  Today we have moderate northeasterly winds
giving way to light easterly winds for the next three or four days.  As
I've mentioned before this is prime time for jaegers (including juvenile
Long-tailed) and also Sabine's Gull.  Despite having only ever run about
eight birding trips (for lack of birders not birds!) to the Gulf Stream
off Cape Hatteras between the dates of Sept. 16 and 29, the list of
species we have seen during this window is impressive and includes the
following: Trindade Petrel (again widely consider to be specifically
distinct from its Pacific look-alikes), Fea's Petrel, Black-capped
Petrel (all trips to date- ATD), Cory's Shearwater (ATD), Greater
Shearwater (most trips), Manx Shearwater, Audubon's Shearwater
(ATD),Wilson's Storm-Petrel (most), Leach's Storm-Petrel, White-tailed
Tropicbird, Masked Booby, Brown Booby, Red-necked Phalarope (most),
Sabine's Gull, Sooty Tern, Bridled Tern (ATD), South Polar Skua,
Pomarine Jaeger (most), Parasitic Jaeger, and Long-tailed Jaeger.  Of
course, eight trips isn't much of a sample, and I see no reason why some
of the birds we have seen in late August or early September such as
Bermuda Petrel or Red-billed Tropicbird might not possibly occur at this
time as well.  And we could always hope for something off the wall, such
as another shearwater species from the eastern Atlantic....

Of course there is a chance to see some other air breathing vertebrates
out there such as Loggerhead or Leatherback Turtles, Bottlenose and
Spotted Dolphins, Pilot Whales, beaked whales of various species, and
perhaps a Sperm Whale.  We might also skip some baits and get a chance
to see (and eat) some pelagic fish such as Dolphin (AKA mahi-mahi),
Wahoo, Yellowfin Tuna, Sailfish, or a Blue or White Marlin.  Actually we
don't plan to eat any billfish,but they do sometimes get on the line.

The photo opportunities on these trips are another reason to go.  We
often get very close to these birds and other critters, so you can come
home with some neat pictures to remember the trip with and share with
your friends and family.  Now that film has given way to digital media,
you can blaze way without fear of going broke or running out of film!  I
don't expect a big crowd this weekend, so this could be a perfect
opportunity to take photos- sort like one of our dedicated photo trips,
but at a lower price.

Our photography trips (this year and some of our regular birding trips
too) have resulted in some great photos being taken, many of which are
some of the best to date of a number of species.  Although I don't take
as many photos as I used to (because someone has to run the boat), Steve
Howell, Chris Sloan, and others have been getting some great shots with
equipment that is now in widespead use among birders. We have already
posted many of Steve's photos from this year on our website-
http://www.seabirding.com/.  You can also see some of Chris' images
online at http://csloan.smugmug.com/.  Two of the participants on our
June Photo Trips have also posted many of their shots on the web.  You
can see pictures taken by Harold Stiver at http://www.ontfin.com/ and
pictures by Lana Hays at http://www.lanahays.com/.  I did post one of my
few recent photos on our homepage- Black Terns sharing a perch with a
Bridled Tern.  I do my best to get the boat in position for nice
pictures whenever reasonably possible.  As I've said before there is no
comparison between the trips we run now on our boat now and the ones we
use to run on other boats.

OK, enough said.  I hope that some of you will take advantage of the
lower motel rates, less traffic, uncrowded boat, and (hopefully) good
weather this weekend to see what birds are flying (or sitting) around in
the Gulf Stream just 25 to 30 miles offshore here.  And it is a long
list of birds we could possibly see.  Please reply to this e-mail or
give me a call at  or  if you would like to
join us.  For more information, please visit our website as mentioned
above.

Thanks,

Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
brian AT patteson.com
http://www.seabirding.com/

Seabirders,

We managed to slip in a pelagic trip from Hatteras on Saturday, Sept. 15
just as the cold front was arriving, and it was a great day to be out.
There was still a bit of swell from the south, so we left a little later
than usual, but we had a decent ride out to the Gulf Stream where a
moderate amount of current made for better conditions.

Along the Gulf Stream edge we were greeted by Sooty and Bridled Terns,
including the dark colored juvenile Sooties, which were still calling,
begging for food from their parents.  Although we did catch a few
dolphin (mahi mahi) and a sailfish here, there was little else to
recommend staying at edge, so we continued steadily on a our way hoping
to make up for the late start.  In about 1000 feet of water, we began to
see Black-capped Petrels, one of which was avidly pursued by a Parasitic
Jaeger.  About the same time, the wind began to freshen from the north
and we soon saw Black-caps popping up all over the horizon ahead of us,
as far as we could see with our binos.

These seemed like ideal conditions for the menhaden oil to work its
magic, so we applied a copious amount of this sweet smelling stuff (at
least to me and apparently to a tubenose) to the ocean's surface.  We
soon had a steady procession of Black-capped Petrels passing close by,
and someWilson's Storm-Petrels also found the scent in short order.
There were a few rain squalls around us, and this seemed to concentrate
the birds, which apparently avoid getting wet if at all possible.  In
between these squalls, the sunlight on the birds was stunning, and this
made for a particularly memorable encounter.  Though I've seen
Black-capped Petrels on hundreds of offshore trips, this day reminded me
what an awesome experience it was to be out there in the heart of their
range and to observe their aerial majesty.  It also made me think that
anyone who has the means to get out and see the Black-capped Petrel and
has not yet done it should definitely do it.  They are truly amazing
birds when seen in their element.

We followed the Black-caps out toward the horizon, and after a while
they seemed to settle down.  At one point we startled a flock of nearly
30 birds from the water.  Just because there is a breeze doesn't mean
these birds will stay in the air indefinitely.  Anyhow, the sea was
getting a bit choppier, but it was still a decent ride even though the
wind was now blowing against the current.  We saw a couple of more
jaegers: a Long-tailed and a Pomarine, which were interacting with the
Black-caps, meaning they were also pursued by the latter, which actually
happens quite a bit.

I was hoping maybe we would find a tropicbird out in the deep, but we
had no such luck.  We did, however, have a rare encounter with another
denizen of the Gulf Stream.  We hooked a small Blue Marlin.  When I say
small, I mean as far as Blue Marlin go; this one was about one hundred
pounds.  We actually reeled the fish to the boat in just a few minutes,
and after my mate grabbed the leader the fish took off jumping.  Not
wanting to fight it any longer than necessary, we put some pressure on
it and soon had the leader again, this time releasing it.  What I didn't
know at the time, and what I found to be amazing was that this fish was
possibly not much more than a year old!

As we worked back inshore from maybe 2500 feet of water, we found the
Black-capped Petrels to be fairly active again, and we had a quick look
at a Sabine's Gull, as it flew by at an incredibly high rate of speed.
We picked up our speed around the edge of the continental shelf and we
had a somewhat bumpy ride home as the north wind started coming on in
earnest.  But great thing about Hatteras is that it is only about 25
miles in from the break, and you are heading toward a lee shore on a
north wind, so it does get better as you go!

We finished the day with a good variety of bird species, some fresh fish
for dinner, and having seen two spectacular billfish that many people
never get to see in life- a sailfish and a blue marlin.  We also had a
nice encounter with some bow-riding Bottlenose Dolphin- the big offshore
type, though one was a just a tiny calf.  All in all a great day- cool
temperatures, lots of action for most of the day, and some nice waves-
just rough enough to be fun and to put the birds into high gear.

We are hoping to run a trip here on September 22 or 23, but we don't yet
have enough people to do it.  This is a great time to go.  The terns
(Bridled and Sooty) should still be around, and it's a good time to see
jaegers, especially if the wind persists from the north and east this
week.  Black-capped Petrels might not be as numerous, but they should be
around.  Sabine's Gull is rare here, but we have seen up to three in a
day off Cape Hatteras in mid to late September.  We have also seen
tropicbirds at this time, as well as Masked Booby, and Fea's and
Trindade Petrels.  Bermuda Petrel could occur as well.  Motel rates are
lower, and it's also a good time to camp out.  The cost of the trip is
$135/person.  If we get ten people signed up, we will run it.

To make a reservation, send an e-mail to brian AT patteson.com or call
.  More information about our trips is online at
http://www.seabirding.com/.  We also have trips planned for October,
November, and December, and we have some weekends available for private
charters for birding, fishing, photography, or a combination of these
activities.  All of our Hatteras trips are run on our own 61' USCG
inspected vessel, "Stormy Petrel II."  She is an ideal boat for these
trips and has a full walk-around layout with lots of space forward and
high rails all around.  By running these trips ourselves, we are able
limit the number of passengers and provide an experience of higher
quality than was sometimes previously possible on chartered trips.  If
you have not been out with us in the last two years, please come out and
see what I mean.

The bird list f/ Sept. 15:

Black-capped Petrel:- 146
Pterodroma sp.- 2
Cory's Shearwater- 8
Audubon's Shearwater- 5
Wilson's Storm-Petrel- 29
Red-necked Phalarope- 1
phalarope sp.- 1
Sabine's Gull- 1
Sooty Tern- 7
Bridled Tern- 5
Pomarine Jaeger- 1
Parasitic Jaeger- 1
Long-tailed Jaeger- 1
jaeger sp- 1

The shearwaters were scarce on this trip, but that could change over the
next few days.  I also saw larger numbers of terns on Sept. 12 when I
spent most of the day fishing along the current edge.

I would like to thank Jerry, Doug, and Becky from the NC Museum of
Natural Sciences for gathering the core group for the Sept. 15 trip, and
my crew, Dave Shoch and Brian King, for helping w/ the birds and fishes.
Kate Sutherland couldn't make it out on this one, but she has been a key
to our success on trips of the year, and it has been an excellent year.
We've had some great trips and it's nice to finally have enough time to
hammer out a little report about one.  We put the hours in during the
Spring and Summer.

Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
brian AT patteson.com
http://www.seabirding.com

The September multi-day pelagic trip in southern California waters on 
the 95-foot live-aboard "Searcher" was last week, and, as always, it 
was an incredible trip.  You never know what you will see on The 
Searcher because it ranges out to the seldom explored areas at the 
continental shelf, beyond the reach of day trips.  In fall of 2003 a 
Bulwar's Petrel was seen. Last fall we found Dark-rumped (Hawaiian) 
Petrel.  This fall it was Cook's Petrel.  

The Searcher departed San Diego on Labor Day, September 3, 2007 and 
arrived back at the dock on the morning of Friday, September 7.  The 
leaders this year were Mr. Seabirding himself, Todd McGrath, 
accompanied by accomplished seabird experts and guides: Walter 
Wehtje, Paul Guris and Jon Feenstra.

A partial list of sightings:

2 Cook's Petrels
3 Red-billed Tropicbirds
4 Black-footed Albatross
3 Xantus Murrelet
8 Arctic Tern
7 Buller's Shearwater
3 South Polar Skua
36 Pomarine Jaeger
7 Parasitic Jaeger
5 Long-tailed Jaeger
2 Least Storm Petrels
578 Leach's Storm-petrels
397 Black Storm-petrels
5 Sabine's Gull

The complete sighting list for last week's trip � and all Searcher 
trips since the first ones in 2003 � are posted at 
http://www.bajawhale.com/birdingtrips.asp

The Searcher's owners, Celia Condit and Art Taylor, now host a Blog 
that reports notable pelagic sightings off Baja and Southern 
California.  You can view it at 
http://www.bajawhale.com/birdblog_new.asp.  

There will be two 5-day pelagic trips on the Searcher in 2008:  June 
2-6 and September 1-5.  For more information visit 
http://www.bajawhale.com/birdingtrips.asp  Every trip since 2003 has 
been sold out well in advance because there is space for only 29 
participants.

I've found that there is no better way to really learn pelagic birds 
than being out there for five days surrounded by top pelagic leaders 
and passionate fellow birders.  What I love about The Searcher is the 
complete disconnect from the hustle and bustle of the world. No cell 
phones. No computers. No traffic. No meetings. Nothing but cool 
pelagic birds, non-stop birding and people who love birds and birding.

Terry Hunefeld
San Diego
Life is short.  Bird often.

There are still several places available on the SOSSA Long Range 
Pelagic departing from Ulladulla, NSW on October 20th 2007.  Return 
on October 22nd.  Cost including full board is AUD 550.00.

For details of last trip look at 
http://www.sossa-international.org/Pages/Pelagic%20Reports/Mar2007.htm
If interested contact   sossa AT tpg.com.au
-- 
Dr P.J. Milburn
Technical Specialist
ANU ACRF Biomolecular Resource Facility
John Curtin School of Medical Research
Australian National University
GPO Box 334
Canberra ACT 0200
'Phone 
FAX      

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

There are still several places available on the SOSSA Long Range 
Pelagic departing from Ulladulla, NSW on October 20th 2007.  Return 
on October 22nd.  Cost including full board is AUD 550.00.

For details of last trip look at 
http://www.sossa-international.org/Pages/Pelagic%20Reports/Mar2007.htm
If interested contact   sossa AT tpg.com.au
-- 
Dr P.J. Milburn
Technical Specialist
ANU ACRF Biomolecular Resource Facility
John Curtin School of Medical Research
Australian National University
GPO Box 334
Canberra ACT 0200
'Phone 
FAX      
===============================
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Hi everybody
 
Chinese Crested Tern
 
I thought the group would like to see some photos I received today from a good 
friend, Chung-Han Wu, in Taiwan. Taken at the Matsu Islands, between Taiwan and 
mainland China, the only known breeding site for Chinese Crested Tern, a 
critically endangered species. I understand that six pairs were present this 
year. 

 
The species was considered extinct by some authors in the 90�s and then 
rediscovered in 2000 when four pairs were found breeding on the islands. 
Without doubt, one of the rarest birds in the world, the total population may 
be less than 100 birds. 

 
Here�s the link:
 
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/tonypym/SeabirdNews.html
 
(The webpage is temporary)
 
Best regards
Tony
 
_________________________________________________________________
The next generation of MSN Hotmail has arrived - Windows Live Hotmail
http://www.newhotmail.co.uk

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 
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Pelagics - please excuse my personal reply to Debi - did not intend it to go to 
the whole list! I am sure the full trip report for the Searcher trip will be 
posted shortly - there were many good birds - hundreds of shearwaters and 
storm-petrels, phenomenal views of 8 species of cetaceans, great birders on 
board and a great job by the leaders and Searcher crew. The weather was 
excellent for 2 days, but seas were 8-10' for the other 2 days. 

RD Wallace
Alachua FL

----- Original Message ----
From: Debra Shearwater 
To: Calbirds 
Sent: Saturday, September 8, 2007 3:33:50 AM
Subject: [pelagics] SEP 7, 2007 BODEGA BAY PELAGIC TRIP

Hello, Seabirders,

By any stretch of the imagination, today's Shearwater Journey's  
pelagic trip from Bodega Bay was spectacular, exceeding all  
expectations with excellent sea conditions, tens of thousands of  
migrating seabirds, including 12 species of tubenoses, and a  
magnificent whale show! HIghlights included: a light morph WEDGE- 
TAILED SHEARWATER, a LAYSAN ALBATROSS, thousands of storm-petrels,  
including; 4000 ASHY STORM-PETRELS, the first BLACK STORM-PETRELS of  
the season (6), FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS (4), and amazingly, at  
least 20 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS. Other highlights included 2 or 3  
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, nearly 2000 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, 700  
SOOTY SHEARWATERS, and 40 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS. The alcid show was no  
less spectacular, with 3 adult TUFTED PUFFINS (1 in Sonoma County and  
2 in Marin County). CASSIN'S AUKLETS were found in good numbers�30  
with many sitting on the water, offering great views of an alcid that  
has been scarce the past two years. The jaeger show was fantastic,  
with multiple SOUTH POLAR SKUAS overhead. In fact, POMARINE,  
PARASITIC, and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS, and SOUTH POLAR SKUAS were in  
view all at the same time! Over 3500 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES were  
tallied, and the first of the season RED PHALAROPES were found.  
HUMPBACK WHALES were in view throughout the day, sometimes being  
detected by the smelly blows, or constant breachings, or pectoral  
flipper slappings. DALL'S PORPOISES joined our wake for a ride.  
NORTHERN FUR SEALS were extremely abundant. The crowning jewel of the  
cetacean display was a BLUE WHALE spotted by Jennifer Green off the  
bow of our boat! It even raised its tail flukes as it sounded! It was  
a show of marine life o that few birders ever experience!

We enjoyed uniformly high overcast skies throughout the day� perfect  
conditions, with relatively low swells, and no whitecaps at all. By  
9:30 am, I had already exclaimed that the day was a success, as we  
had tallied so many birds, including a beautiful tufted puffin. About  
10:00 am, Steve Howell spotted the wedge-tailed shearwater off the  
stern of the boat. Both Steve and Brian Sullivan managed to snap a  
"record" image of the bird as is was flying away. It did not stay  
long, and many of the birders on board missed this mega-rarity. Few  
were disappointed, though. We soon encountered thousands of storm- 
petrels, rafted up on the water, as they do. We could even smell  
their musky odor. After sifting through these flocks, we easily  
picked out many Wilson's, and a few blacks and fork-tails. While we  
were in the process of studying the storm-petrel flocks, a single  
Laysan Albatross made repeated passes. Finally, after everyone on  
board had satisfactory views, we moved on to other birds. Soon, we  
found the first of many Cassin's Auklets, the Blue Whales, and  
several Blue Sharks. All three of these animals feed on krill. So, we  
must be having a krill bloom near the Cordell Bank! There has been  
precious little krill along the nearshores of central California for  
the past two fall seasons. We can only hope that this krill bloom  
continues.

We thank all of the particpants and the leaders: Steve Howell, Brian  
Sullivan, Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, Luke Cole, John Luther, & Debra  
Shearwater. The complete species list follows. We still have spaces  
open on the following trips from Bodega Bay: SEP 14 & 30; OCT 19. The  
September 14th trip can be combined with a trip from Fort Bragg on  
SEP 16th, with coastal land birding on September 15th along Highway  
1. Trips from Monterey with spaces available are: SEP 22, 23, 24; OCT  
5, 7, 12, 13, & 20. Spaces are still available on our Albacore trips  
from Monterey on SEP 29 & OCT 6. For reservations, please contact  
Debra Shearwater (below).


SEPTEMBER 7, 2007 BODEGA BAY PELAGIC TRIP:

PACIFIC LOON-1
WESTERN GREBE-1
LAYSAN ALBATROSS-1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS-70
NORTHERN FULMAR-85
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER-1980
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 2 or 3
*WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER-1 light morph
BULLER'S SHEARWATER-40
SOOTY SHEARWATER-700
WILSON'S STORM-PETREL-20+
FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL-4
ASHY STORM-PETREL-4000
BLACK STORM-PETREL-6
BROWN PELICAN-2
BRANDT'S CORMORANT-1000+
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE-3500
RED PHALAROPE-500
SOUTH POLAR SKUA-6
POMARINE JAEGER-22
PARASITIC JAEGER-8
LONG-TAILED JAEGER-16
JAEGER sp.-4
BONAPARTE'S GULL-1 juv.
HEERMANN'S GULL-40
MEW GULL-1 in harbor
CALIFORNIA GULL-120
WESTERN GULL-300
SABINE'S GULL-160
COMMON/ARCTIC TERN-2
ARCTIC TERN-1
COMMON MURRE-500
PIGEON GUILLEMOT-10
CASSIN'S AUKLET-80
RHINOCEROS AUKLET-62
TUFTED PUFFIN-3
CALIFORNIA SEA LION-150
STELLER'S SEA LION-1
NORTHERN FUR SEAL-33
*BLUE WHALE-1
HUMPBACK WHALE-27
DALL'S PORPOISE-33
OCEAN SUNFISH-1
BLUE SHARK-7
MOON JELLIES-++
WESTERN SANDPIPER-1
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER-8
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER-1
SANDERLING-8

What a day!
Shearwaters forever,

Debra Shearwater
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA /
www.shearwaterjourneys.com
debi AT shearwaterjourneys.com



 
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Awesome trip, Debi!
Congrats!
We had one Cooks, 2 Red-billed Tbirds but no Craveris out of San Diego on the 
Searcher - weather was tough. 

My next CA trip will be Bodega and Ft Bragg!
Best,
RD

----- Original Message ----
From: Debra Shearwater 
To: Calbirds 
Sent: Saturday, September 8, 2007 3:33:50 AM
Subject: [pelagics] SEP 7, 2007 BODEGA BAY PELAGIC TRIP

Hello, Seabirders,

By any stretch of the imagination, today's Shearwater Journey's  
pelagic trip from Bodega Bay was spectacular, exceeding all  
expectations with excellent sea conditions, tens of thousands of  
migrating seabirds, including 12 species of tubenoses, and a  
magnificent whale show! HIghlights included: a light morph WEDGE- 
TAILED SHEARWATER, a LAYSAN ALBATROSS, thousands of storm-petrels,  
including; 4000 ASHY STORM-PETRELS, the first BLACK STORM-PETRELS of  
the season (6), FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS (4), and amazingly, at  
least 20 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS. Other highlights included 2 or 3  
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, nearly 2000 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, 700  
SOOTY SHEARWATERS, and 40 BULLER'S SHEARWATERS. The alcid show was no  
less spectacular, with 3 adult TUFTED PUFFINS (1 in Sonoma County and  
2 in Marin County). CASSIN'S AUKLETS were found in good numbers�30  
with many sitting on the water, offering great views of an alcid that  
has been scarce the past two years. The jaeger show was fantastic,  
with multiple SOUTH POLAR SKUAS overhead. In fact, POMARINE,  
PARASITIC, and LONG-TAILED JAEGERS, and SOUTH POLAR SKUAS were in  
view all at the same time! Over 3500 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES were  
tallied, and the first of the season RED PHALAROPES were found.  
HUMPBACK WHALES were in view throughout the day, sometimes being  
detected by the smelly blows, or constant breachings, or pectoral  
flipper slappings. DALL'S PORPOISES joined our wake for a ride.  
NORTHERN FUR SEALS were extremely abundant. The crowning jewel of the  
cetacean display was a BLUE WHALE spotted by Jennifer Green off the  
bow of our boat! It even raised its tail flukes as it sounded! It was  
a show of marine life o that few birders ever experience!

We enjoyed uniformly high overcast skies throughout the day� perfect  
conditions, with relatively low swells, and no whitecaps at all. By  
9:30 am, I had already exclaimed that the day was a success, as we  
had tallied so many birds, including a beautiful tufted puffin. About  
10:00 am, Steve Howell spotted the wedge-tailed shearwater off the  
stern of the boat. Both Steve and Brian Sullivan managed to snap a  
"record" image of the bird as is was flying away. It did not stay  
long, and many of the birders on board missed this mega-rarity. Few  
were disappointed, though. We soon encountered thousands of storm- 
petrels, rafted up on the water, as they do. We could even smell  
their musky odor. After sifting through these flocks, we easily  
picked out many Wilson's, and a few blacks and fork-tails. While we  
were in the process of studying the storm-petrel flocks, a single  
Laysan Albatross made repeated passes. Finally, after everyone on  
board had satisfactory views, we moved on to other birds. Soon, we  
found the first of many Cassin's Auklets, the Blue Whales, and  
several Blue Sharks. All three of these animals feed on krill. So, we  
must be having a krill bloom near the Cordell Bank! There has been  
precious little krill along the nearshores of central California for  
the past two fall seasons. We can only hope that this krill bloom  
continues.

We thank all of the particpants and the leaders: Steve Howell, Brian  
Sullivan, Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, Luke Cole, John Luther, & Debra  
Shearwater. The complete species list follows. We still have spaces  
open on the following trips from Bodega Bay: SEP 14 & 30; OCT 19. The  
September 14th trip can be combined with a trip from Fort Bragg on  
SEP 16th, with coastal land birding on September 15th along Highway  
1. Trips from Monterey with spaces available are: SEP 22, 23, 24; OCT  
5, 7, 12, 13, & 20. Spaces are still available on our Albacore trips  
from Monterey on SEP 29 & OCT 6. For reservations, please contact  
Debra Shearwater (below).


SEPTEMBER 7, 2007 BODEGA BAY PELAGIC TRIP:

PACIFIC LOON-1
WESTERN GREBE-1
LAYSAN ALBATROSS-1
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS-70
NORTHERN FULMAR-85
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER-1980
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 2 or 3
*WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER-1 light morph
BULLER'S SHEARWATER-40
SOOTY SHEARWATER-700
WILSON'S STORM-PETREL-20+
FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL-4
ASHY STORM-PETREL-4000
BLACK STORM-PETREL-6
BROWN PELICAN-2
BRANDT'S CORMORANT-1000+
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE-3500
RED PHALAROPE-500
SOUTH POLAR SKUA-6
POMARINE JAEGER-22
PARASITIC JAEGER-8
LONG-TAILED JAEGER-16
JAEGER sp.-4
BONAPARTE'S GULL-1 juv.
HEERMANN'S GULL-40
MEW GULL-1 in harbor
CALIFORNIA GULL-120
WESTERN GULL-300
SABINE'S GULL-160
COMMON/ARCTIC TERN-2
ARCTIC TERN-1
COMMON MURRE-500
PIGEON GUILLEMOT-10
CASSIN'S AUKLET-80
RHINOCEROS AUKLET-62
TUFTED PUFFIN-3
CALIFORNIA SEA LION-150
STELLER'S SEA LION-1
NORTHERN FUR SEAL-33
*BLUE WHALE-1
HUMPBACK WHALE-27
DALL'S PORPOISE-33
OCEAN SUNFISH-1
BLUE SHARK-7
MOON JELLIES-++
WESTERN SANDPIPER-1
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER-8
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER-1
SANDERLING-8

What a day!
Shearwaters forever,

Debra Shearwater
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA /
www.shearwaterjourneys.com
debi AT shearwaterjourneys.com



 
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Another ZfB pelagic trip departed from Simonstown on Sunday, having been 
delayed from Saturday by a particularly fierce first day of spring but 
typically winter 

storm. Surprisingly (although predicted by Buoyweather) the weather had 
moderated significantly overnight and we were faced with a light SW wind and a 
residual slightly bumpy swell. Guides on board were Trevor Hardaker and John 
Graham, with additional expert "Eyes" provided by Barrie Rose, Alvin Cope and 
Barry Watkins. 

As a result of the turmoil in the weather the previous day our outward trip was 

regularly punctuated with good pelagic species, the highlight being an 
accommodating SOFT PLUMAGED PETREL which approached the boat from 
many hundreds of metres off. (Unfortunately I missed the closer parts of its 
visit 

because my contact lens blew out, but luckily I caught it otherwise the trip 
would 

have been all downhill for me).

The skipper found an assemblage of trawlers around the shelf break and we 
birded some time in that area, finding a single NORTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS, 
a friendly GREAT WINGED PETREL and a few early GREAT SHEARWATERS in 
addition to good representation of the commoner pelagic species. A couple of 
terns overhead got lost behind the wheelhouse roof before being ID'ed, but 
looked 

like early Common Terns, and we had to be content with a single flyby Southern 
Giant Petrel to add to the Northern Giant Petrels that were seen with more 
ease. 


Our trip home found us additional Soft plumaged Petrels, but was particularly 
of 

note for a large FALCON that flew directly overhead flying due south at 15 nM 
offshore. It was picked up as a result of its shadow crossing the deck and so 
only 

tail views were obtained, and although the gizz, proportions and wingbeat were 
reminiscent of Peregrine the brown upperparts and quite light brown back were 
of 

concern.

The full list for the day was as follows, with numbers being approximations 
only: 


Northern Royal Albatross - 1
Shy Albatross - c150
Black browed Albatross - c75
Atlantic Yellow nosed Albatross - 2
Indian Yellow nosed Albatross - 4
Yellow nosed Albatross(imm) - 2
Northern Giant Petrel - 4
Southern Giant Petrel - 1
Giant Petrel (sp) - 4
Pintado Petrel - c300
Soft plumaged Petrel - 5
Great winged Petrel - 1
White chinned Petrel - c750
Sooty Shearwater - c100
Great Shearwater - 3
Wilson's Storm Petrel - c75
Subantarctic Skua - c10
Swift Tern - common coastal
Kelp Gull - common coastal
Bank Cormorant - 25+ in Bay
Crowned Cormorant - 12 along shoreline
Cape Cormorant - common inshore
White breasted Cormorant - few along shoreline
Cape Gannet - common in Bay, few offshore
African Penguin - Boulders Beach plus 1 off Cape Point

Falcon (sp) - 1 at 15nM

Southern Right Whale - 4

Thanks to Harry and his crew for the trip. Please chat to Trevor or myself or 
refer 

to the webpage for further pelagic information or to make reservations on our 
upcoming trips.

Kind regards
John.
---------------------------------------------------------
John Graham and Trevor Hardaker
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------

Beautiful seas and warm weather marked our first trip of the fall 
seabird season.

We went out about 33 miles from shore and found all of the expected 
species for August, including close looks at LONG-TAILED JAEGER and 
ARCTIC TERN, and 300 FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS, three of the August 
specialties.

We spotted all three JAEGER species and a couple distant SOUTH POLAR 
SKUAS.

The highlight of the day, however, was two pairs of XANTUS'S 
MURRELETS (Scripps's form). Presently there are only 8 accepted 
records of this species for the state, with 3 more records accepted 
as being either Xantus's or Craveri's (no accepted records of 
Craveri's for the state), and 2 records under review. There are, 
however, at least 32 reports, indicating just how hard it is to get 
a diagnostic view of these birds. That was not a problem this day, 
however, as we got within 50 feet of the second pair and they did 
not fly away. They were calling to each other and we obtained many 
great photos!

The full trip report, with a complete species list and 23 
photographs, is online at: 
http://thebirdguide.com/pelagics/archive/.htm

Please also visit our main page. We have trips with space on 
September 22, October 6, 7, and 20.

Greg Gillson
The Bird Guide, Inc.
thebirdguide.com

Another ZfB pelagic trip departed from Simonstown on Sunday, having been 
delayed from Saturday by a particularly fierce first day of spring but 
typically winter 

storm. Surprisingly (although predicted by Buoyweather) the weather had 
moderated significantly overnight and we were faced with a light SW wind and a 
residual slightly bumpy swell. Guides on board were Trevor Hardaker and John 
Graham, with additional expert "Eyes" provided by Barrie Rose, Alvin Cope and 
Barry Watkins. 

As a result of the turmoil in the weather the previous day our outward trip was 

regularly punctuated with good pelagic species, the highlight being an 
accommodating SOFT PLUMAGED PETREL which approached the boat from 
many hundreds of metres off. (Unfortunately I missed the closer parts of its 
visit 

because my contact lens blew out, but luckily I caught it otherwise the trip 
would 

have been all downhill for me).

The skipper found an assemblage of trawlers around the shelf break and we 
birded some time in that area, finding a single NORTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS, 
a friendly GREAT WINGED PETREL and a few early GREAT SHEARWATERS in 
addition to good representation of the commoner pelagic species. A couple of 
terns overhead got lost behind the wheelhouse roof before being ID'ed, but 
looked 

like early Common Terns, and we had to be content with a single flyby Southern 
Giant Petrel to add to the Northern Giant Petrels that were seen with more 
ease. 


Our trip home found us additional Soft plumaged Petrels, but was particularly 
of 

note for a large FALCON that flew directly overhead flying due south at 15 nM 
offshore. It was picked up as a result of its shadow crossing the deck and so 
only 

tail views were obtained, and although the gizz, proportions and wingbeat were 
reminiscent of Peregrine the brown upperparts and quite light brown back were 
of 

concern.

The full list for the day was as follows, with numbers being approximations 
only: 


Northern Royal Albatross - 1
Shy Albatross - c150
Black browed Albatross - c75
Atlantic Yellow nosed Albatross - 2
Indian Yellow nosed Albatross - 4
Yellow nosed Albatross(imm) - 2
Northern Giant Petrel - 4
Southern Giant Petrel - 1
Giant Petrel (sp) - 4
Pintado Petrel - c300
Soft plumaged Petrel - 5
Great winged Petrel - 1
White chinned Petrel - c750
Sooty Shearwater - c100
Great Shearwater - 3
Wilson's Storm Petrel - c75
Subantarctic Skua - c10
Swift Tern - common coastal
Kelp Gull - common coastal
Bank Cormorant - 25+ in Bay
Crowned Cormorant - 12 along shoreline
Cape Cormorant - common inshore
White breasted Cormorant - few along shoreline
Cape Gannet - common in Bay, few offshore
African Penguin - Boulders Beach plus 1 off Cape Point

Falcon (sp) - 1 at 15nM

Southern Right Whale - 4

Thanks to Harry and his crew for the trip. Please chat to Trevor or myself or 
refer 

to the webpage for further pelagic information or to make reservations on our 
upcoming trips.

Kind regards
John.
---------------------------------------------------------
John Graham and Trevor Hardaker
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------


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Seabirders,

We've had a good spring and summer for pelagic birding off Cape
Hatteras, and most of our trips have been well-attended.  We thank you
the continuing support, and we hope to run several more trips before the
year's end in August, September, October, and November.

Our next trips are coming up this weekend, and I will be running our
boat, the Stormy Petrel II, up to Wanchese on Friday for two trips out
of Oregon Inlet.  For those who don't know, Wanchese is at the other end
of Roanoke Island from Manteo.  Our trips on August 25 and 26 will focus
on waters mostly east of the inlet, looking specifically for White-faced
Storm-Petrel at what should be peak season.  These birds seem to be
found mostly to the north of the Gulf Stream in water that is not
particularly attractive to Black-capped Petrel, tropicbirds, and other
blue water specialties.  It is still a good place to see shearwaters and
both Bridled and Sooty Terns, however, and it is about time for some
phalaropes and young Long-tailed Jaegers to show up there as well.

The forecast is for light winds this weekend and we still have room for
a few more people on the boat this weekend.  The cost is $290/person for
both trips or $150 for a one day fare.  To make a reservation, please
e-mail me ASAP or call me at .  I will NOT be able to
check e-mail after Friday morning.

Our next two trips are special "Photo Trips" over Labor Day weekend:
Sept. 1 to 3.  These were going to run from Wanchese, but now we plan to
go from Hatteras.  Space is limited to only 12 participants, and the
fare is $400/person for two trips.  The trips are scheduled to run over
three days so that Sunday is a weather date for Saturday and Monday is a
weather date for Sunday.  You do not need to be a photographer to attend
these trips, but keep in mind that we are likely move at a slower pace
that we do on some of our birding trips, which can actually be
beneficial if the chum is working well. Our last "Photo Trip" located a
Black-bellied Storm-Petrel!  Some one-day reservations are currently
available for $200/person.  To see photos from our June "Photo Trips"
visit http://www.ontfin.com/ and http://www.lanahays.com/.

On the weekend of September 15 and 16, we have a chartered birding trip,
which would welcome a few more participants.  This trip is scheduled to
depart from Hatteras on Saturday with a weather date the following day,
and the fare is $135/person.  This is prime time for Long-tailed Jaeger
and Sabine's Gull, and we expect to see most of the summer birds with
the exception of Band-rumped Storm-Petrel.  There is also a good chance
for the spring/summer rarities this wekend and the next.  Anyone in the
Triangle area should consider this trip, as transportation can be
arranged with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences for a reasonable fee.

On Sepetmber 22 and 23, we have scheduled two trips, and the fare for
two days is $250.  It is also possible to sign up for one day at
$135/person.  This weekend has a good potential for variety and we
sometimes see large numbers of shearwaters in fall.

On the weekend of October 13 and 14, we have another chartered trip
which is also open to the public with limited space.  This is a
transitional time with some summer species lingering and maybe some cold
water birds such as Black-legged Kittiwake and Northern Fulmar putting
in an appearance.  This will be a Saturday departure from Hatteras with
a weather date on Sunday.  The fare is $135/person.

On Friday, November 9 and Saturday, November 10, we will be running
pelagic trips from Wanchese again as part of the Wings Over Water
festival.  It is possible to sign up directly for these trips with us,
at $135/person/day.  This should be a good time for an interesting
variety of birds and marine mammals.  We hope for numbers of Pomarine
Jaegers and Greater Shearwaters, along with kittiwakes, and lingering
Cory's and Audubbon's Shearwaters.  The Gulf Stream specialty, the
awe-inspiring Black-capped Petrel, should still be present as well.

I know I've said it before, but it's worth repeating, so I'll say it
again.  If you can conjure up a small group of birders, you might want
to charter our boat for a pelagic trip.  Our charter fee from Hatteras
starts at $1295/day for the first eight passengers, and this is a big
boat.  We have full walk-around decks and we know best where and how to
find the birds.  I know now there are more and more birders with nice
digital cameras, and I would also like to say there is NO COMPARISON
between photo opportunities on the trips we run now and other pelagic
trips you might have taken here in past years.  It's a new world,
really.  So if you have been out with us for a couple of years, please
do us both a favor and see what it's like, either on a charter or a
regular trip.

We have information available online about our pelagic birding trips at
http://www.seabirding.com/.  For those who like to fish, see our fishing
report at http://www.thestormypetrel.com/ We can set up trips to do both
if that might be your best bet for getting offshore with friends and
family!

I hope that some of you can join us for a trip this fall.

Capt. Brian Patteson
Stormy Petrel II
Hatteras, NC
brian AT patteson.com

Another ZfB pelagic trip departed from Simonstown on Saturday 4 Aug, 
guided by Alvin Cope, Barrie Rose, Trevor Hardaker and John Graham. 
The wind had gone around into the south-east since the latter parts of 
the week, and was light on our outward journey but strengthened 
noticeably on our return, putting up some spray. The skies were mostly 
clear, although there was some mid level cloud in the deep.

The skipper located one trawler, the MV Freesia, and we spent a very 
enjoyable hour and a half or so in her wake, also dropping back at times 
to look through the birds avoiding the trawling flock. The flock, which 
was small at first, grew exponentially after the trawler pulled in her torey 
lines and hauled her first catch of the day, and by the time we departed 
for the shore there was an enormous gathering of pelagic birds feasting 
on the processing scraps left in her wake.

Line honours in terms of numbers clearly went in favour of White 
chinned Petrels, with many thousand present, and there was also an 
unusually large proportion of adult Shy Albatross (seemingly all steadii) 
among the normal good numbers of immatures. In general, the Shy 
Albatross numbers were up in comparison with the Black browed's, 
which were not dominating the albatross numbers as they had earlier in 
the week.

Highlights of our return trip were another unseasonal GREAT WINGED 
PETREL seen rather well, and two excellent views of SOFT 
PLUMAGED PETREL, the second bird staying close in the Zest's wake 
and entertaining us with a stunning display of power flying for fifteen 
minutes or more. We also had good looks at a single Humpback whale 
breaching and tail slapping as we approached the Point.

The full list for the day was as follows, with numbers being 
approximations only:

Shy Albatross - c250 (25% adult)
Black browed Albatross - c350 (80% adult)
Atlantic Yellow nosed Albatross - 6
Indian Yellow nosed Albatross - 2
Yellow nosed Albatross (imm) - 1
Northern Giant Petrel - 1
Giant Petrel (sp) - 2
Antarctic Prion - c150
Pintado Petrel - c750
Soft plumaged Petrel - 3
Great winged Petrel - 1
White chinned Petrel - c3000
Sooty Shearwater - c1000
Wilson's Storm Petrel - c50
Subantarctic Skua - c15
Cape Gannet - a few in the deep, common coastal
African Penguin - 2 off Cape Point, common off Boulders
Swift Tern - common coastal
Kelp Gull - 50+ at the trawler
Hartlaub's Gull - common coastal
Bank Cormorant - 2
Crowned Cormorant - 3
White breasted Cormorant - a few along shoreline and feeding off Point
Cape Cormorant - numerous coastal

Humpback Whale - 1

Many thanks to Harry and his crew for a most enjoyable pelagic trip. We 
have regular trips scheduled over the coming weeks and for the balance 
of the year. Please refer to our webpage for detailed information or 
contact Trevor or myself to make reservations.

Kind regards
John.
---------------------------------------------------------
John Graham and Trevor Hardaker
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------

Another ZfB pelagic trip departed from Simonstown on Saturday 4 Aug, 
guided by Alvin Cope, Barrie Rose, Trevor Hardaker and John Graham. 
The wind had gone around into the south-east since the latter parts of 
the week, and was light on our outward journey but strengthened 
noticeably on our return, putting up some spray. The skies were mostly 
clear, although there was some mid level cloud in the deep.

The skipper located one trawler, the MV Freesia, and we spent a very 
enjoyable hour and a half or so in her wake, also dropping back at times 
to look through the birds avoiding the trawling flock. The flock, which 
was small at first, grew exponentially after the trawler pulled in her torey 
lines and hauled her first catch of the day, and by the time we departed 
for the shore there was an enormous gathering of pelagic birds feasting 
on the processing scraps left in her wake.

Line honours in terms of numbers clearly went in favour of White 
chinned Petrels, with many thousand present, and there was also an 
unusually large proportion of adult Shy Albatross (seemingly all steadii) 
among the normal good numbers of immatures. In general, the Shy 
Albatross numbers were up in comparison with the Black browed's, 
which were not dominating the albatross numbers as they had earlier in 
the week.

Highlights of our return trip were another unseasonal GREAT WINGED 
PETREL seen rather well, and two excellent views of SOFT 
PLUMAGED PETREL, the second bird staying close in the Zest's wake 
and entertaining us with a stunning display of power flying for fifteen 
minutes or more. We also had good looks at a single Humpback whale 
breaching and tail slapping as we approached the Point.

The full list for the day was as follows, with numbers being 
approximations only:

Shy Albatross - c250 (25% adult)
Black browed Albatross - c350 (80% adult)
Atlantic Yellow nosed Albatross - 6
Indian Yellow nosed Albatross - 2
Yellow nosed Albatross (imm) - 1
Northern Giant Petrel - 1
Giant Petrel (sp) - 2
Antarctic Prion - c150
Pintado Petrel - c750
Soft plumaged Petrel - 3
Great winged Petrel - 1
White chinned Petrel - c3000
Sooty Shearwater - c1000
Wilson's Storm Petrel - c50
Subantarctic Skua - c15
Cape Gannet - a few in the deep, common coastal
African Penguin - 2 off Cape Point, common off Boulders
Swift Tern - common coastal
Kelp Gull - 50+ at the trawler
Hartlaub's Gull - common coastal
Bank Cormorant - 2
Crowned Cormorant - 3
White breasted Cormorant - a few along shoreline and feeding off Point
Cape Cormorant - numerous coastal

Humpback Whale - 1

Many thanks to Harry and his crew for a most enjoyable pelagic trip. We 
have regular trips scheduled over the coming weeks and for the balance 
of the year. Please refer to our webpage for detailed information or 
contact Trevor or myself to make reservations.

Kind regards
John.
---------------------------------------------------------
John Graham and Trevor Hardaker
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------


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A ZfB pelagic trip arranged for the Wits Bird Club departed from Simonstown 
bright 

and early on 31 July, guided by Barrie Rose, Alvin Cope and John Graham. The 
massive cold front of the weekend had moved on, and we were presented with 
clear skies, negligable wind, and a large but mellow swell.

After seeing Gannets and Subantarctic Skuas in the Bay and our normal 
complement of Sooties, White chinned's and Shy Albatrosses and an unseasonal 
ARCTIC TERN on the transit, we found a dispersed group of trawlers and steered 
into the wake of one, the Isabella Marine. As we approached the trawler she 
pulled 

in her Torey Lines in preparation for hauling the net, and we were able to 
watch 

from close range the spectacle of hordes of seabirds converging as the catch 
came in. Bird numbers were exceptional and we revelled in the extremely close 
looks at hundreds of albatrosses, including particularly large numbers of adult 

Black browed's. After we'd spent some time scanning through the trawling flock 
the 

trawler picked up speed and headed south, leaving us dropping back in the wake 
and looking carefully through the birds that avoid the melee and stay further 
from 

the action. Unfortunately luck was not on our side with rarities this day, but 
after 

absorbing great looks at all of the commoner species we set off back 
northwards. 


We found large feeding groups of shearwaters and Gannets over shoaling "bait 
fish" near Bellows Rock, and had good looks at Bryde's Whales feeding on the 
fish. 

We also had tantalising distant views of the tall thin blow of a large rorqual 
whale, 

but sadly were not able to get a look at it.

The full list of birds for the day was as follows, with numbers being 
approximations 

only:

Shy Albatross - c200 (90% imm)
Black browed Albatross - c800 (90% ad)
Atlantic Yellow nosed Albatross - 2
Indian Yellow nosed Albatross - 5
Southern Giant Petrel - 2
Pintado Petrel - c2000
Antarctic Prion - c50
White chinned Petrel - c1000
Sooty Shearwater - c500
Wilsons Storm Petrel - c50
Subantarctic Skua - c25
Arctic Tern - 1
Swift Tern - common coastal
Cape Gannet - common coastal, large numbers at trawler
African Penguin - seen well off Boulders
Crowned Cormorant - 4
White breasted Cormorant - small numbers along shoreline
Cape Cormorant - common coastal
African Black Oystercatcher - 2 close to Boulders

Bryde's Whale - 5

Many thanks to Harry and his crew for another great pelagic trip. We have 
regular 

trips scheduled and would invite you to refer to the webpage for detailed 
pelagic 

information and schedules or to contact Trevor or myself to make reservations.

Kind regards
John.

---------------------------------------------------------
John Graham and Trevor Hardaker
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------


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options at the bottom of the page. 

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Seabirders,



Our special three-day set on July 27, 28, and 29 was a great success.
Most participants did all three trips, and we also ran a special
chartered trip for a Mass. Audubon group on Monday, July 30.   We had
light winds and slight seas on all four days.  Many of the tubenoses
appeared to be well fed and were resting on the water.  Calm weather
made them easy to spot.  Trip totals for the four days are posted below.
Highlights were large numbers of Black-capped Petrels each day (53 to
312) and some nice rarities- a Trindade Petrel and White-tailed
Tropicbird on Friday, a White-faced Storm Petrel on Saturday, and a
Red-billed Tropicbird on Monday.  The White-faced Storm-Petrel was only
my second off Hatteras in many years.  We had just slowed down in about
1000 feet of water Saturday morning, and we jumped it off the water.  We
were able to follow it closely w/ the boat for several minutes, and
Steve Howell got some nice photos of it in the early morning light.
This was our sixth speies of storm-petrel for Hatteras trips in 2007!
We did not see many shearwaters but we did see three species each day w/
nice looks at all, and we had some good views of perched Bridled Terns
on Friday and Monday.   In addition to the birds, we had some nice views
of offshore Bottlenose Dolphins and Pilot Whales, and some more distant
views of beaked whales.   And we were able to catch enough wahoo and
dolphin (mahi) for our people to have fresh fish for dinner.



Species Totals for July 27 to 30



Trindade (Herald) Petrel - 1 dark morph on 7/27

Black-capped Petrel - 596+

Pterodroma sp. - 6



Cory's Shearwater - 95-97

Greater Shearwater - 15

Audubon's Shearwater - 80-83

Shearwater sp. - 7



\Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 930+

White-faced Storm-Petrel - 1 on 7/28
Leach's Storm-Petrel - 1

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel - 38-43



White-tailed Tropicbird - 1 on 7/27

Red-billed Tropicbird - 1 on 7/30



Red-necked Phalarope - 4



Bridled Tern - 13-14

Black Tern - 5



South Polar Skua - 1 on 7/27

Pomarine Jaeger - 1

Jaeger sp. - 1



Cuvier's Beaked Whale - 5-6

Beaked Whale species - 2-3

Mesoplodon sp. - 12-14

Pilot Whale (prob Short-finned) - 9-10

Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (offshore) - 153+



Our next trip, this Saturday August 4 from Hatteras is full, but we
still have space on Sunday, August 5.  We also have room for more
participants on our special White-faced Storm-Petrel search trips from
Wanchese on August 11, 12, 25, and 26.  We are still available for
charter on August 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, and 27 if a three-day
stretch would make you more inclined to come out, or if you have a group
and would like a private trip.



We also have room on the photography trips on September 1 to 3 (2 out of
three days- Captain's choice.)  The June photo trips went very well and
Richard Crossley, an excellent birder and photographer alike, has agreed
to come along to help out on those trips.   These trips are $400 for two
days and are limited to ten participants.  Non-photographers are
allowed, but need to realize these trips will operate at a slower pace
than our regular trips.   Thus, we will not cover as much water, but the
expected species should be the same.  Depending on registration, some
one-day spots may also be available closer to departure.



I would also like to run a few trips this fall, so if you have a weekend
you are interested in, please let me know, so that we can consider a
trip then.  We also have a chartered trip on October 13 (14 weather)
with a group who would welcome a few more participants.



Thanks,



Brian Patteson

Hatteras, NC

http://www.seabirding.com

http://www.thestormypetrel.com/

I'm posting the following on behalf of Ida and the Brookline Bird 
Club...

Barbara Volkle
Northboro, MA
barb620 AT theworld.com
* * * * *

BIRDERS:

On Sunday, August 19, the Brookline Bird Club has scheduled an extra 
DEDICATED PELAGIC BIRDING Trip TO HYDROGRAPHER CANYON ALL DAY on the 
Helen H out of Hyannis, MA

There has been an interest in an extra Pelagic trip after the reports 
of the BRIDLED TERNS, AUDUBON SHEARWATER, LONG-TAILED JAEGER and the 
animals, fish, and turtle which were seen on the July 21 trip.  So, 
we have arranged to charter the HELEN H on August 19 from Hyannis to 
travel to the same waters hoping to find some of these interesting 
birds.   Join the BBC for this all day trip to the deeper warmer 
waters south and east of Nantucket Shoals in search of the above 
birds in addition to WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL and other target birds 
including BAND-RUMP STORM-PETREL, several species of SHEARWATERS 
including AUDUBON, JAEGERS, several Gulls, possible SOUTH POLAR and 
GREAT SKUA, TERNS, etc.  The Helen H leaves Hyannis  AT  4am and returns 
at 9pm.

Rick Heil will be spotting the birds with another leader who will 
narrate. The trip is limited to 74 people and costs $115.00 for BBC 
members and $135.00 for non-members. We cannot sleep overnight on the 
boat but we may board at 3:30am and take one of the 40 available 
bunks or find deck space for a sleeping bag. Good food is available 
on board. There is limited free parking.  If you are interested, we 
need to have your registration quickly because the trip will be 
cancelled if the quota is not met by August 12. To reserve a space, 
send a check for the full amount made out to the 'BROOKLINE BIRD CLUB 
AGENT' along with a signed waiver to:  IDA GIRIUNAS, 83 SUMMER AVE., 
READING, MA, 01867 and include either your email or your postal 
address for confirmation, boarding instructions and further 
information.

Boarding will be according to the order in which you sign up and 
agree to the necessary waiver. Go to 
http://www.massbird.org/bbc/PelagicWaiver_print.htm
for the waiver form.

For additional information contact Ida at  or 
ida8 AT verizon.net

Ida Giriunas
For the Brookline Bird Club
Reading, MA
ida8 AT verizon.net












[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Debi,
Thanks for the info...I do subscribe here and will forward to the BC chat
groups.
Cheers,
David Allinson
Victoria, BC

-----Original Message-----
From: pelagics AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:pelagics AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Debi Shearwater
Sent: July 21, 2007 4:14 PM
To: Seabird-News AT googlegroups.com
Subject: [pelagics] Seabirds Off British Columbia, Canada

Hello,

Currently, I am on Holland America's Amsterdam, which departed from 
Seattle, WA on July 20th. This morning, I awoke to a SOUTH POLAR SKUA, 
flying outside my cabin window. It was soon followed by several ARCTIC 
TERNS and two POMARINE JAEGERS. So, that had me jumping out of bed to 
find out what else was around. Several TUFTED PUFFINS flew off, 
followed by a single HORNED PUFFIN, which was spotted by my friend, Don 
Doolittle. By far, the most abundant bird of the day has been LEACH'S 
STORM-PETREL, with over 200 recorded. One FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL was 
flying off the bow of the ship. Breaching and tail-lobbing HUMPBACK 
WHALES made a great show. Seas are fairly calm, about a Beaufort 1-1.5; 
sea surface temperature is 14C. We are traveling on average at 22 
knots, and headed for Juneau, Alaska.

The following species list is for BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA ABOUT 9O 
MILES OFF THE MAINLAND: (74 miles SE of the tip of Queen Charlotte 
Island, 85 miles NNW of Nootka Island; N50.50, W129.54 at 11 am. and 
N51.11, W130.10 about noon).

BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS-18
NORTHERN FULMAR-9
SOOTY/SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER-8
SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER-12
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL-200+
FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL-1
SOUTH POLAR SKUA-1
POMARINE JAEGER-2
ARCTIC TERN-8
TUFTED PUFFIN-20+
COMMON MURRE-12
HORNED PUFFIN-1
RHINOCEROS AUKLET-20
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL-6
HERRING GULL-3
HUMPBACK WHALE-6

If anyone knows of any seabird folks in BC who might want this 
information, please pass it along.

Shearwaters forever,
Debi


Debra Love Shearwater
Shearwater Journeys
www.shearwaterjourneys.com
debi AT shearwaterjourneys.com
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024 USA
831/

"Real birds eat squid."-Tony Marr

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 
Yahoo! Groups Links

Seabirders,

It's been a couple of weeks since we've been out birding, but we will be
going again  next Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Hatteras: July 27,
28, and 29.  These trips are a special price if you do all three-
$330/person.  Otherwise, it's $135/day or $250/ 2  days.  I know it's
more than it used to be a couple of years ago to be but fuel has already
gone up a quarter a gallon for us since just this May and we have not
raised our rates.  Nor did we raise our rates in 2005 when fuel really
jumped our charter fees.

Steve Howell, who was with us for 15 days in a row this spring has
kindly shared some of his photos from those trips, and they can be seen
on our website- http://www.seabirding.com/.

Steve will be coming back out for the trips next weekend, as well as the
following weekend, August 4 and 5.  We are currently not booked for
Friday August 3, and I would like to offer a "make-up" trip that day.
The rate will depend on the number of sign-ups we can get- $150 to $220/
person, and we'll go with just six at the high end.  It's short notice,
but we are not booked for fishing that day, so I'm offering it now.
Please let us know ASAP if you would like to go on August 3. It would
make it possible to do three trips in a row: the make-up on August 3 and
regular Gulf Stream trips on August 4 and 5.  We are also open on Monday
August 6, and I'll add a trip then too if a small group of interested
birders wants to do four trips.

We've had some really good trips in late July and early August in years
past.  Unfortunately, low attendance in June, July, and August last year
discouraged me from trying to run every weekend this summer.  The last
day we've been birding offshore was during a private charter on July 6.
With
just Kate Sutherland and myself leading this trip, we saw a light morph
Trindade Petrel in about 500 fathoms.  We were out for two trips on June
30 and July 1.  We found nothing rare the first day, but had a Fea's
Petrel on our chum slick for about 20 minutes the second day.  In two
days of photography trips during the weekend prior to that, we found a
White-tailed Tropicbird and a Black-bellied Storm-Petrel.  The latter
was a third record for the western North Atlantic.  It did not linger as
long as the bird we saw last July, but one of our photographers did get
a photo, which we were not aware of when I first reported it.

Trindade Petrel, Fea's Petrel, and Bermuda Petrel were all seen on trips
we ran from Hatteras last August.  Summer is better than spring for
White-tailed Tropicbird and Masked Booby, and is also the ONLY time when
some of the "mega-rarities" have been seen off Cape Hatteras:  Bulwer's
Petrel, Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel, and Cape Verde Shearwater.  Some of our
trips here in late July and August have found hundreds of shearwaters
and
numbers of skuas.  Of course each weekend is different, and you might
hit the jackpot or bomb out, but chances are you will end up somewhere
in between.

We still have space on our trips from Wanchese to look for White-faced
Storm-Petrels on August 11, 12, 25, and 26.  These are $290/ for two
days and $150/day for a limited number of one day reservations.
Additional fuel and dockage necessitates a higher rate than our Hatteras
trips.  These trips might not be offered next year, so keep that it mind
if you have an interest.  We really have not done many of these trips
compared to the many dozens of Gulf Stream
trips we've run in August, but we have seen large numbers of shearwaters
and skuas in this area in addition to the storm-petrels, and it might be
a good place to look for a vagrant Cape Verde Shearwater.  We also ran
most of these trips prior to finding European and Black-bellied
Storm-Petrels, which now seem to be regular in the Gulf Stream, so we
will be paying very close attention to all of the storm-petrel flocks we
see in this area, which often amounts to several hundred birds.

I hope that some more of you will take advantage of the opportunity to
go pelagic birding off Cape Hatteras this summer.  We have a great boat
for pelagic birding now, and we are able to run our regular trips with
just a dozen people if necessary.  Summer is usually the best bet for
calm weather, but when the sea gets big in the Gulf Stream, you will be
hard-pressed to find a more stable and comfortable boat than the "Stormy
Petrel II".  And she has full walk-around decks for great visibility
forward.  This boat is all that we ever need for pelagic birding here,
but we need good attendance in June, July, and August, as well as May to
make it worth keeping her.

I would also like to run some birding trips this fall, and we still have
a number of open weekends, so if you have a small group who would be
interested, please let me know.  Private charters start at $1295 (eight
or less passengers), and we would love to do some more of them.  We are
also able to combine birding and fishing if you have some friends or
family members who might be more interested in the latter-  peruse our
fishing reports at http://www.thestormypetrel.com/ to see what you might
catch with us offshore.

Thanks,

Capt. Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
brian AT patteson.com
http://www.seabirding.com/
http://www.thestormypetrel.com/

I am writing (well, have written a first draft) a photographic guide to 
tubenoses of North America (south to Panama), inlcuding all vagrants.

It's all pretty "straightforward" except for two conservation concern 
icons, which one would think there might be some interest in: Short-
tailed Albatross and Black-footed Albatross. 

Nobody seems to have made any (serious) attempt to figure out plumage 
sequences of these species with known-age birds.

Does anybody have any photos of known-age Short-tailed Albatrosses, 
preferably in the 1-10 years of age category? Or know of somebody who 
does?

Thanks

Steve Howell

Dear Tony,
 
I would appreciate very much if you include me in your list to receive the  
pictures of the Galapagos Petrel that you offered in your recent post.  
 
Thanks in advance.  

Great Birding  and Find that next Lifer,

John (One of Birders2)_  Birders2_ 
(http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?LOGON=A2=ind9705d&L=birdchat&P=8940) 
 AT aol.com 

John + Irma=2 We are birders, too.
Los Angeles,  California

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The trouble with Modern man is he  can no longer
see the stars through his city lights.

A thought on a  moonless night in Big Bend Nat. Park.  4/30/97




************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I have been looking into the bills and plumage of immature Yellow-nosed 
Albatrosses (both Atlantic Thallasarche chlororhynchos and Indian T. 
carteri). I cannot find any feature that is definitive to species. Two 
features are usually discussed, these being (a) the shape at the base 
(proximal end) of the culmen stripe and (b) the size of the eye-patch

(a) the yellow on the bill becomes brighter on both, during the immature 
stages. The suggestion was that Atlantic has a rounded end to the culmen and 
Indian has a pointed end. This is maintained, for example, in Albatrosses 
and Petrels across the World (Brooke). I have now seen photographs of birds 
certainly Atlantic where the shape is contrary, and pointed. In Onley and 
Scofield it says 'is not a reliable ID feature' and in the text 
'shape...TENDS to be more rounded in Atlantic...this does not appear to be a 
reliable feature'.

Chris Robertson's paper of 2003 in Marine Ornithology (on the corect naming 
of T carteri) also found that specimens of Atlantic Yellow-nosed in 
collections in South Africa and Scotland did not literally 'fit the bill' 
(sorry about that one!) and they had pointed ends to the stripe. However 
this paper suggests that the difference may be in the broadening of the 
plate above the nares and that there MAY be a variation in the naricorn 
here, with carteri having straight sides (looking down on the bill) and 
chlororhynchos having convex sides. This is written in HANZAB also. Only of 
value with a bird in the hand, of course!

In the best photo to date of the Somerset bird, it appears to show, 
interestingly, a POINTED base to the bill stripe

(b) the eye-patch had been said to be smaller, non-existent on Indian birds, 
implying that birds with good eye-patches must be Atlantics. Recent 
literature adds caveats, like 'may be helpful' though Onley and Scofield say 
'Imm Atlantic birds can have....small eye-patches similar to adult Indian'!

Where does this leave us? Well, both features are not specific to species. 
They may help overall but these two characters are not definitive. I would 
like to see a photograph of the bill of the Somerset, UK bird to see if we 
can add to the debate the shape of the naricorn on this particular 
albatross.

It is easy to assume this bird is an Atlantic Yellow-nosed on geography 
alone. We cannot, on present criteria, put this bird into the one species 
and say it is categorically an Atlantic Yellow-nosed from Tristan or Gough.

This would be a dilemma for the twitchers, of course.....if we cannot 
certainly say which species it is, if they had seen the bird which would be 
the tick? They may have been more frustrated than now, and not seeing it at 
all!

If I have missed something on the identification of these two species in 
immature plumage, I would be grateful to know....and learn

Regards
Tony

_________________________________________________________________
Txt a lot? Get Messenger FREE on your mobile. 
https://livemessenger.mobile.uk.msn.com/

Hi everyone

Some years back a Galapagos Petrel crash landed onto a boat I was on. I 
remember the incident well but didn't recall that we took a few photos of 
the bird....until I found them last night! They are the only shots I have 
seen of this Pterodroma in the hand.

I know that some have been looking into the identification and the 
separation of Galapagos and Hawaiian Petrels and these photos may help?

Contact me if you need them sent by Email

Regards
Tony

_________________________________________________________________
Txt a lot? Get Messenger FREE on your mobile. 
https://livemessenger.mobile.uk.msn.com/

Our September 2nd Pelagic from North Shields has sold out but there are 
still a few places available on our 20th July, 27th July and 3rd August 
4-hour evening trips and the all-day pelagic on September 8th.

With Yellow-nosed Albatross in Norway and Somerset, and a recent upturn in 
cetacean sightings in North-east England (including the tideline corpse of a 
possible Pygmy Sperm Whale) anticipation of our forthcoming pelagic season 
is running high.

e-mail me for further details if interested

cheers
martin 

Our September 2nd Pelagic from North Shields has sold out but there are 
still a few places available on our 20th July, 27th July and 3rd August 
4-hour evening trips and the all-day pelagic on September 8th.

With Yellow-nosed Albatross in Norway and Somerset, and a recent upturn in 
cetacean sightings in North-east England (including the tideline corpse of a 
possible Pygmy Sperm Whale) anticipation of our forthcoming pelagic season 
is running high.

e-mail me for further details if interested

cheers
martin 

_______________________________________________
UKbirdnet mailing list
ukbirdnet AT dcs.bbk.ac.uk
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ukbirdnet

this may be of interest...

Barbara Volkle
Northboro, MA
barb620 AT theworld.com


>Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:26:
>From: "Ida Giriunas" 
>SubjectJune 30 Dedicated Pelagic trip from Hyannis
>
>
>
>Folks:
>
>We still have a few spots open on our all day Brookline Bird Club 
>Dedicated
>Pelagic Trip out of Hyannis on Saturday, June 30. We will be going 
>to the
>waters south of Hyannis and east of Nantucket in a very comfortable 
>100 foot
>boat. We hope to see 3-4 species of Shearwaters, Jaegers, Fulmar,
>Phalaropes, Storm-petrels, Gannets, Terns and sea ducks as well as 
>whales
>and fish.
>Rick Heil will be spotting the birds assisted by Marshal Iliff who 
>will be
>narrating and the crew will be chumming.
>
>The cost is $80.00 for BBC members, $100.00 for 
>non-members.  Contact me at
> (my cell phone) or by email to register.
>
>The weather reports look great and the bird reports, wonderful.
>
>Ida Giriunas
>Reading, MA
>

Another Zest for Birds pelagic trip departed from Simonstown early on Saturday 
morning, guided by Barrie Rose, Alvin Cope, Trevor Hardaker and John Graham. 
Weather conditions were reasonable, with a light northerly wind and a long and 
lazy 

ocean swell.

Our voyage out to the trawling waters was relatively uneventful, punctuated 
only by a 

short stop in the vicinity of an adult and calf rorqual whale, probably Sei, 
which had 

attracted a whole raft of birds into the area. Amongst them was a single Manx 
Shearwater, the first of two we were to see on the day. Despite officially 
being a summer 

migrant, we have seen Manx's in every month of the year, with no fewer than 29 
records 

over the last 10 years during the period May to September.

Once en route again the skipper quickly picked up a couple of trawlers near the 
Cape 

Canyon, and we headed in their direction. Birding in their vicinity was 
excellent, with 

exceptional views of most species and overall vast numbers of tubenoses. 
Unfortunately 

the two most exceptional birds on the day were brief flyby's and were only seen 
by a 

handful of those on board. A single SLENDER BILLED PRION sped past the bow in 
close company of an Antarctic Prion and was quickly picked out due to its paler 
plumage 

and smaller size. Trevor managed to snap a couple of quick pic's, but despite 
yelling 

loudly we were unable to get anyone else onto the bird. Alvin later picked up a 
juvenile 

WANDERING ALBATROSS in the melee, but despite streams of directions, invective 
and expletives few others were able to get onto the bird in the 30 seconds or 
so that it 

took to wander past.

Other good birds on the day included excellent views of SOFT PLUMAGED PETREL of 

the Altantic race (mollis) and an unusual mid-winter ARCTIC TERN.

With the wind starting to freshen a bit we headed for home, seeing a couple of 
GREAT 

WINGED PETRELS and a very close Sperm Whale (and another tail lobbing nearby) 
on 

the way.

The full list of birds seen was as follows, with numbers being approximations 
only: 


Wandering Albatross - 1 juv
Shy Albatross - c250
Black browed Albatross - c1000
Indian Yellow nosed Albatross - c25
Atlantic Yellow nosed Albatross - 1
Yellow nosed Albatross (juv/imm) - 2
Northern Giant Petrel - 2
Southern Giant Petrel - c10
Pintado Petrel - c500
Soft plumaged Petrel - 3 (mollis)
Great winged Petrel - 2
Antarctic Prion - c200
Slender billed Prion - 1
White chinned Petrel - c1000
Sooty Shearwater - c350
Manx Shearwater - 2
Wilson's Storm Petrel - c75
Subantarctic Skua - c25
Arctic Tern - 1
Cape Gannet - c1500 at whales and trawlers
African Penguin - 10+ at approx 5nm offshore

Sei Whale - probable, adult & calf
Sperm Whale - 2

Many thanks to Harry, Gavin and Oog for another excellent pelagic trip. We have 

upcoming trips on 7 July and 21 July, and many more during the course on the 
year. 

Please phone or e-mail Trevor or myself to make reservations, or refer to our 
webpage 

for detailed pelagic information.

Kind regards
John.
---------------------------------------------------------
John Graham and Trevor Hardaker
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------

Seabirders,

We ran seabird photography trips to the Gulf Stream from Hatteras on
June 22 and 23.  On the first day we encountered an adult White-tailed
Tropicbird around 8:30 AM along the shelf break.  The next day we found
a Black-bellied Storm-Petrel between 500 and 1000 fathoms in an area
where we were seeing good numbers of Wilson's, Leach's, and Band-rumped
Storm-Petrels.  Unfortunately the bird did not linger long on our chum
slick, and it did not present itself as a photographic subject.  Kate
Sutherland, who saw it best, noted very little in the way of a carpal
bar on the upperwings, and I thought the underwings looked consistent
with Black-bellied I have seen down South.  Although it flew across our
slick, it did not join the other storm-petrels which were feeding there,
and over several minutes of circling the area, we could not relocate it.
We might have done better keeping up with it with a few more eyes on the
boat, but it was not a regular pelagic trip, so there weren't many
people aboard just looking.  Anyhow, that was the third sighting off the
Outer Banks (and the western North Atlantic) in the last four years, and
the second one that Kate has spotted.  Last year we saw and photographed
one here off Hatteras on July 16.

Our next trips here are this weekend on June 30 and July 1, and space is
still available on both trips.  We are running on our boat, the  61 foot
Stormy Petrel II from Hatteras Landing Marina in Hatteras.  This is a
great boat for observing seabirds and other wildlife.  She is very
stable and comfortable.   We've run 20 trips on her since mid May, and
we've probably had less seasick people this year than I can ever
remember.

Trip lists from most of our spring trips this year are finally up on our
website- http://www.seabirding.com/ , and we are working on adding some
photos in the near future.  It was a record setting spring for some
species and the intensity of effort.  Kate, Steve Howell and myself did
15 trips in a row from May 19 to June 2.  The diversity per trip this
spring was exceptionally high b/c of a good showing by jaegers and
skuas, which are typically less numerous most years.

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  June, July, and
August are good months for seabird trips here, and some of our best
trips for numbers have been during the summer.  I mean hundreds of
Black-capped Petrels on some trips and a couple of thousand shearwaters.
ALL of the gadfly petrels have been seen in each of these months, and it
is typically better for tropicbirds and Masked Booby.  Cape Verde
Shearwater, Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel, and Bulwer's Petrel have ONLY been
seen in July or August.  This year we have scheduled three consecutive
trips in late July (27, 28 and 29- $330 for three trips), and there is a
possibility of additional trips in early August to complement the back
to backs on Aug. 4 and 5.  The slightly higher make-up rate would apply
to add-on trips, but we will run these with as few as EIGHT people.  We
are also booking a few one-day reservations on our White-faced
Storm-Petrel trips from Wanchese (Oregon Inlet) on either August 11, 12,
25 or 26.  The best odds are with going both days, but I know that
doesn't fit everyone's schedules.

I will also say that pelagic birding varies considerably from year to
year and even from week to week.  Last year's late July trips bombed,
but that is no reason to figure this year's will be the same.  Look at
trip lists from 1994 and 2000 to see how many bird there can be off
Hatteras in summer, and look at all of them to see the diversity which
is possible.  Steve Howell is excited about coming back for late July
and early August, and I hope that some of you are as well.  If  you
haven't been out with us this year or last, I should mention that
running our own boat takes these trips to a new level, which was not
previously possible.

I hope to see you this summer.

Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
brian AT patteson.com
http://www.seabirding.com/

Another Zest for Birds pelagic trip departed from Simonstown early on Saturday 
morning, guided by Barrie Rose, Alvin Cope, Trevor Hardaker and John Graham. 
Weather conditions were reasonable, with a light northerly wind and a long and 
lazy 

ocean swell.

Our voyage out to the trawling waters was relatively uneventful, punctuated 
only by a 

short stop in the vicinity of an adult and calf rorqual whale, probably Sei, 
which had 

attracted a whole raft of birds into the area. Amongst them was a single Manx 
Shearwater, the first of two we were to see on the day. Despite officially 
being a summer 

migrant, we have seen Manx's in every month of the year, with no fewer than 29 
records 

over the last 10 years during the period May to September.

Once en route again the skipper quickly picked up a couple of trawlers near the 
Cape 

Canyon, and we headed in their direction. Birding in their vicinity was 
excellent, with 

exceptional views of most species and overall vast numbers of tubenoses. 
Unfortunately 

the two most exceptional birds on the day were brief flyby's and were only seen 
by a 

handful of those on board. A single SLENDER BILLED PRION sped past the bow in 
close company of an Antarctic Prion and was quickly picked out due to its paler 
plumage 

and smaller size. Trevor managed to snap a couple of quick pic's, but despite 
yelling 

loudly we were unable to get anyone else onto the bird. Alvin later picked up a 
juvenile 

WANDERING ALBATROSS in the melee, but despite streams of directions, invective 
and expletives few others were able to get onto the bird in the 30 seconds or 
so that it 

took to wander past.

Other good birds on the day included excellent views of SOFT PLUMAGED PETREL of 

the Altantic race (mollis) and an unusual mid-winter ARCTIC TERN.

With the wind starting to freshen a bit we headed for home, seeing a couple of 
GREAT 

WINGED PETRELS and a very close Sperm Whale (and another tail lobbing nearby) 
on 

the way.

The full list of birds seen was as follows, with numbers being approximations 
only: 


Wandering Albatross - 1 juv
Shy Albatross - c250
Black browed Albatross - c1000
Indian Yellow nosed Albatross - c25
Atlantic Yellow nosed Albatross - 1
Yellow nosed Albatross (juv/imm) - 2
Northern Giant Petrel - 2
Southern Giant Petrel - c10
Pintado Petrel - c500
Soft plumaged Petrel - 3 (mollis)
Great winged Petrel - 2
Antarctic Prion - c200
Slender billed Prion - 1
White chinned Petrel - c1000
Sooty Shearwater - c350
Manx Shearwater - 2
Wilson's Storm Petrel - c75
Subantarctic Skua - c25
Arctic Tern - 1
Cape Gannet - c1500 at whales and trawlers
African Penguin - 10+ at approx 5nm offshore

Sei Whale - probable, adult & calf
Sperm Whale - 2

Many thanks to Harry, Gavin and Oog for another excellent pelagic trip. We have 

upcoming trips on 7 July and 21 July, and many more during the course on the 
year. 

Please phone or e-mail Trevor or myself to make reservations, or refer to our 
webpage 

for detailed pelagic information.

Kind regards
John.
---------------------------------------------------------
John Graham and Trevor Hardaker
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------


To unsubscribe from the sabirdnet please go to the web page and choose edit 
options at the bottom of the page. 

_______________________________________
Sabirdnet mailing list
Sabirdnet AT lists.ukzn.ac.za
http://lists.ukzn.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/sabirdnet

Greetings - yesterday Michael Brothers of the Ponce Inlet Marine Science Center 
joined me and members of my tournament fishing team to go tuna fishing 100nm 
off of Ponce Inlet. The weather was perfect (for a long boat ride) - 1-2' seas 
and 5-10 knot winds, following us offshore, and then turning around and 
following us home. There were virtually no birds on the 3 hour run offshore, 
only a lone Cory's 8 nm from the beach. We found the first tuna 81 nm offshore, 
beyond the east side of the Gulf Stream, and more extensive schools 90-100 nm 
off. 


There were lots of Greater Shearwaters around the tuna, along with some Cory's, 
Audubons and the normal flocks of Sooty Terns. The highlight bird of the day 
was an adult White-tailed Tropicbird, that stayed in the area for a hour. We 
caught 10 tuna to 45 lbs, and had a giant blue marlin come up into the baits, 
but not hit a lure. We also saw a Whale Shark about 20' long! 


On the run home, in 91 degree water crossing the Gulf Stream, we encountered 1 
Black-capped Petrel, and several flocks of Wilson's Storm Petrels, totally 
probably 300 birds, all resting on the water, 52nm off. 


We did also find probably 5 dead Greater Shearwaters floating in the water, 
remants from the wave of birds that came in a couple of weeks ago, mostly 
inshore near the western edge of the Stream. 


Totals seen:
Greater Shearwater - 40+
Corys Shearwater - 20+
Audubons Shearwater - 20+
Black-capped Petrel - 1
Wilsons Storm Petrel - 300+
Band-rumped Storm Petrel - 1
White-tailed Tropicbird - 1
Sooty Tern - 200
Bridled Tern - 4

R. D. Wallace
New Smyrna Beach FL





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Greetings from South Africa,

Just a quick note to let some of you who may be interested know about a trip
in November this year.

The trip aboard a small cruise liner (max 200 passengers) will leave from
Durban in South Africa and head up into the Mozambique Channel with the
ultimate destination being Europa Island. The trip is 6 nights long and will
give one the opportunity of seeing both Southern Ocean seabirds in the
southern part of the journey as well as tropical seabirds in the northern
part of the journey.

This will be the second time that we undertaking this trip, the first one
being at exactly the same time 2 years ago. Besides the "normal" array of
seabirds that we saw in large numbers e.g. Greater and Lesser Frigatebirds,
Red-tailed and White-tailed Tropicbirds, Red-footed Boobies, Sooty and
Bridled Terns, Great-winged and White-chinned Petrels, Shy Albatross, etc.,
we were also fortunate to turn up a number of more difficult birds which
included Wedge-tailed and Tropical Shearwaters and most exciting of all,
Jouanin's and Barau's Petrels.

The area that we will be visiting is also very under-birded, so there could
still be a number of surprises for us out there.

If you are interested in finding out a little more on this trip, please
visit www.zestforbirds.co.za and click on the banner near the bottom of the
front page. This will take you to links to info on this trip as well as a
trip report of the previous trip.

Kind Regards
Trevor
--------------------------------------------------------
Trevor Hardaker
To see some of my photos of
birds, mammals, reptiles, frogs and
dragon- and damselflies,
visit www.hardaker.co.za
--------------------------------------------------------
Trevor Hardaker and John Graham
ZEST for BIRDS
Cape Town, South Africa
Website: www.zestforbirds.co.za
--------------------------------------------------------

Bob,

I think they fly in on the swell when the wind is light from the east.

Brian Patteson
Hattersa, NC


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Wallace" 
To: "2Birdbrains" ; "2PelagicsSE"
; "2pelagics" 
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 9:45 PM
Subject: [pelagics] Question about shearwater migration, Ponce Inlet, FL


> Greetings - in response to all of the Greater Shearwaters that have
shown up on the beach and inside the inlet, emaciated and washing
ashore, Michael Brothers, the director of the Ponce Inlet Marine Science
Center, a seabird and turtle recovery institute, went offshore 35 miles
with me today to look for shearwaters further offshore.  A week ago we
went to the tuna grounds, 100 nm offshore, and saw only 1 Greater the
entire trip.  This week Andy Bankert reported 400 Greaters flying SOUTH
in one hour off of Sebastian Inlet, and Mike found 40+ shearwaters at
Ponce Inlet, and has had 25+ birds delivered to the rehab center, many
dead and dying.
>
> Running out to 35 nm offshore, we found at least 80 shearwaters, of
which 60 were Greaters and 20 Cory's.  There were some flocks of
Greaters inshore, near the mouth and inside the inlet, some feeding over
schools of Spanish Mackerel.  As we ran offshore, there were sporadic
Greaters sitting on the water, but out past 100' depth (20-30 nm
offshore), where the east winds had pushed in sargasso beds and blue
Gulf Stream water, we found lots of Cory's, all flying south, and many
Greaters, flying south as well.
>
> Both Greaters and Cory's (and Audubons) have been common 100nm
offshore over the tuna schools in June the past few years, but are
rarely seen from shore.  This week, without remarkable weather
conditions, only mild E winds, waves of  Greaters showed up along much
of the Florida coast, many emaciated and weak.  When we found all of
these birds inshore, we thought they were just part of the migrating
population moving north towards the north Atlantic and George's Bank
later in the summer.  There were actually more numbers of birds offshore
near the inside edge of the Gulf Stream (and they appeared healthy and
flying strongly), and though we will not get the chance to go 100nm
offshore until next week to check the tuna grounds east of the Gulf
Stream, it appears that the weaker birds inshore were just that, the
weaker ones searching for food that could not make the flight.  We
briefly circled an anchored shrimp boat, and there were a number of
shearwaters near the boat,
>  orienting on the scents from the boat.
>
> What drove the birds in to shore?  Food scent from fish in the inlet?
Why are the majority of the healthy birds we see flying south, even
close to shore where there is not Gulf Stream current (many pelagic
birds feed into the face of the oncoming current), when they
theoretically shoud be migrating north?
>
> When we got back inside the inlet, there was a flock of feeding
pelicans, gulls and at least 6 Greater Shearwaters, almost a mile inside
the inlet, in the river, over schools of bait.
>
> We also released a 60# sailfish, caught in 110' of water along a
weedline.
>
> Bob Wallace
> New Smyrna Beach FL
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

Seabirders,

I have a small group of people interested in going offshore from
Hatteras for pelagic birding in the next few days, but I don't have any
regular birding trips
planned.  If there are another four or five people who would like to go
one day between this Saturday and Monday, we will run a trip, as we are
not presently booked to fish on those days.  The cost per person of this
"make-up" trip would range from $150 to $200/person depending on the
number of participants.  The weather forecast is for light winds and
slight seas through the period, so it would be a great time to go.
We've had good birding some years in mid June, with good chances for
Fea's Petrel and both Red-billed and White-tailed Tropicbird, and even
better chances for Leach's and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels.  Black-capped
Petrel, Cory's, Greater and Audubon's Shearwaters, and Wilson's
Storm-Petrels are expected, and there is a chance to see terns, jaegers
and skuas as well.

Contact me as soon as possible if interested at  or .

We also have space on pelagic birding trips from Hatteras on June 30 and
July 1, as well as our special photography trips on June 22 to 24.

Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
brian AT patteson.com
http://www.seabirding.com/

Hi all
 
I'm currently researching storm petrel sightings for the
tropical/sub-tropical South Pacific - primarily for an area 0 to 35S, 110W
to 160E. 
 
On a recent trip to the Kermadec Islands (May 07) we made a number of
intriguing sightings and I'm keen to place these into wider context. 
 
Oceanic voyaging by seabirders through much of this area is uncommon; I'm
seeking recent (and even not so recent) unpublished sightings either made by
or known to subscribers to this group. 
 
All storm petrel taxa are of interest.  
 
Happy seabirding
 
Chris Gaskin
  www.nzseabirds.com



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

PELAGIC TRIP PROGRAMME 2007

Places are still available on all of the following pelagic trips, organised 
on behalf of the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club



Friday 20th July 2007

A 4-hour evening pelagic departing North Shields Fish Quay at 18:00.  Cost 
�15 per person.  Target species; Storm Petrel, Great Skua, cetaceans



Friday 27th July 2007

A 4-hour evening pelagic departing North Shields Fish Quay at 18:00.  Cost 
�15 per person.  Target species; Storm Petrel, Great Skua, cetaceans



Friday 3rd August 2007

A 4-hour evening pelagic departing North Shields Fish Quay at 18:00.  Cost 
�15 per person.  Target species; Storm Petrel, Great Skua, cetaceans



Sunday 2nd September 2007

An 8-hour day pelagic departing North Shields Fish Quay at 09:00.  Cost �29 
per person.  Target species; skuas, shearwaters, cetaceans



Saturday 8th September 2007

An 8-hour day pelagic departing North Shields Fish Quay at 09:00.  Cost �29 
per person.  Target species; skuas, shearwaters, cetaceans



The 20th July and 2nd September trips are proving particularly popular so 
early booking is recommended.



To reserve a place on any of these trips, or for more information, please 
contact Martin Kitching martin(dot)kitching1(at)btopenworld(dot)com or 
(O167O) 827465 and send a deposit of �10 (cheque payable to 'NTBC') per 
person per trip (non-refundable if you cancel at a later date) to Jo 
Bentley,  Honorary Treasurer, NTBC, 80 Western Avenue, Prudhoe, 
Northumberland, NE42 6PA.  The balance of payment is due on the day of the 
sailing.



Martin Kitching

Hi all

There's been a lot of recent seabirding talk about the West Pacific 
Odyssey, an amazing seabird and island endemic trip run for the first 
time (from New Zealand to Japan) in March-April 2007. 

The trip for 2008 is mostly sold out but WINGS has some of the 
remaining spaces.

A trip list and photos from my recce trip in 2007 are up on the WINGS 
website at http://wingsbirds.com/tours/view/170. 

Note that there is an annotated 2007 checklist under Itinerary, as well 
as the simple Bird List.

Best regards

Steve  Howell