Last Saturday, September 15th, Maine Audubon ran its annual pelagic trip out of Bar Harbor and we were able to track down some good birds and mammals. There was a bit of fog inshore but warm water about 50 miles southeast of Bar Harbor, near Outer Schoodic Ridges, meant clear conditions and sunny skies, plus tons of birds.
Great Skuas, our big target for this trip, were encountered several times with at least four individuals, plus two unidentified skuas. We took Bar Harbor Whale Watching Company's AtlantiCat again this year, a 130ft jet-powered catamaran, which had no trouble chasing down these pirates traveling over 30kts. Also impressive were the number of Pomarine Jaegers we found, easily over 50 for the day - at one point I had 22 in view just off the back of the boat.
What few marine mammals we found were all noteworthy: the highlight of the whole trip, for me, had to be the Sperm Whale. We found one on this trip in 2011 and photos of this animal's fluke apparently match an individual seen in the Gulf of Maine during 2014 and 2015. We also encountered (Short-beaked) Common Dolphins in US and Canadian waters, which is a first for our trips and our ninth cetacean overall.
I posted a trip summary on Maine Audubon's website, where you can also find segmented checklists (including share links for anyone who still needs the lists): https://www.maineaudubon.org/news/2018-bar-harbor-pelagic-trip-report/
Many thanks to all the participants that came on the trip and our guides for helping everyone spot these birds. Also to Doug Gochfeld and Louis Bevier for keeping the eBird lists, Jan Pierson for sharing his expertise via the mic, and Zack Klyver and the rest of the BHWW captains and crew for making this another phenomenal trip.
Here is a complete list of bird we had on the trip:
Mallard – 3
Common Eider – 6
Rock Pigeon – 1
Red-necked Phalarope – 32
Red Phalarope – 2
Red-necked/Red Phalarope – 13
GREAT SKUA – 4
skua sp. – 2
Pomarine Jaeger – 70 – high count
Pomarine/Parasitic Jaeger – 1
Razorbill – 1
Atlantic Puffin – 9
Laughing Gull – 1
Herring Gull – 57
Great Black-backed Gull – 18
Common Tern – 16
Sterna sp. – 43
Wilson's Storm-Petrel – 44
Leach's Storm-Petrel – 22
storm-petrel sp. – 2
Great Shearwater – 1,560
Sooty Shearwater – 10
Manx Shearwater – 5
shearwater sp. – 50
Northern Gannet – 16
Double-crested Cormorant – 36
Merlin – 1
Good birding,
Doug Hitchcox
Maine Audubon - Staff Naturalist
207-781-2330 x237
dhitchcox@maineaudubon.org
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