The Seacoast Chapter of NH Audubon sponsored an all day pelagic bird
trip yesterday aboard the "Granite State" out of Rye Harbor, NH. The
weather was predicted to be very challenging as 4 foot seas offshore and
thick fog were predicted as the boat departed. But the fog quickly
lifted for beautiful visibility, and the wave period of the 4 foot seas
was very long, and hardly noticed. The wind was generally light out of
the SW and the seas died down even more in the afternoon and overall the
conditions were excellent for mid-October.
Because of the early fog, we bypassed our usual tour of the Isles of
Shoals and headed south toward southern Jeffrey's Ledge off Cape Ann
where there were lots of whales seen the day before. But before we even
got past the isles of Shoals....about 5 miles from the dock, we almost
ran over (!) our first puffin of the day!! Continuing on, we ran into a
group of whales and small numbers of sea birds in the vicinity of
Scantum Basin and New Scantum off Cape Ann in the far southwestern
portion of Jeffrey's Ledge. We then turned northward and got the sun
and wind at our back and coasted north toward the NH State line.
As we cruised north into NH, we were planning on following the contours
of Jeffrey's Ledge to the east, but the sea bird activity increased, and
we noticed a distinct current line where converging currents formed a
visible line toward the NE across Jeffrey's Basin. Along this line
(possibly a result of recent storm?), we saw a fair amount of rock weed
as well as salp and krill, which appeared to be a target for Red
Phalaropes, small gulls, Fulmar, and whales. The line continued for
miles and produced an excellent number of pelagic birds. We worked this
line for most of the afternoon and NEVER EVEN GOT OUT to Jeffrey's Ledge
(!) as bird activity continued at a steady pace. We barely crossed into
Maine waters (where we got the Leach's!) before heading back through the
Isles of Shoals and then back to the dock.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemirick/48900786241/in/photostream/lightbox/
This was a great trip for birds with a near record high NH total for
Northern Fulmar and a record high NH count for Red Phalaropes.
Shearwaters were scarce and jaegers were not terribly cooperative, but
we got an amazing second state record for SOUTH POLAR SKUA, and lots of
"Bonus" birds, like LOTS of Atlantic Puffins, Leach's Storm-Petrel,
Little Gull, kittiwakes, and even a Lark Sparrow!! And the Humpback
whale performance was incredible!
Some photo pages from Ben Griffith, Jim Sparrell, and Leo McKillop:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bgriffith/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89302424@N02/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28422494@N02/
Thanks to Kyle Wilmarth (who was on "baby duty" and couldn't make it)
and David Blezard for organizing this trip and to Captain Pete Reynolds
for working the birds for the benefit of all on the boat. And thanks to
Ben Griffith for keeping count. Numbers below are TOTALS for all
locations and States. eBird checklists are being submitted for birds
seen offshore in NH, ME and MA waters.
Birds
-----------
Common Eider 236. Six moving offshore. The rest around the Isles of
Shoals.
Surf Scoter 8. All moving south offshore.
White-winged Scoter 2. Moving south offshore.
Black Scoter 3 near Isles of Shoals.
Sanderling 2 migrating offshore.
Red-necked Phalarope 6. Latish birds offshore in two groups.
RED PHALAROPE 275 (268 in NH, 7 in MA). Remarkable total for NH
waters. At first single birds here and there, but then a few large
groups (10 to 60 birds) along current-line where they may have been
feeding on salp and/or krill. Appears to be a new documented high count
for NH. There is a record of 200+ off Portsmouth on 11/17/54 (Keith & Fox).
large shorebird sp. 6
SOUTH POLAR SKUA 1 in NH waters. Fantastic bird picked out and ID'd
by Ben Griffith as it flew quickly passed the boat and then continued
southward. We chased the bird for about 10 minutes, but it just kept
flying. Unfortunately, views of this bird were brief and not terribly
satisfactory, but there were some decent photographs captured. The
first well documented record for the State came from September 2018.
Pomarine Jaeger 2. Distant birds ID'd through photos.
jaeger sp. 2. VERY distant birds.
Black Guillemot 4 at Isles of Shoals.
ATLANTIC PUFFIN 8 (all in NH waters). Incredible trip for Puffins!!
All juveniles scattered along the route with one INSIDE the Isles of
Shoals. A couple of the birds stayed on the surface for a long time and
allowed for very close views! Appears to be a high FALL count for NH (7
on Jeffrey's Ledge 11/30/18).
Black-legged Kittiwake 16. Mix of adults and juveniles.
Bonaparte's Gull 104. High count for offshore. Mostly 1st winter
birds. In small pockets here and there. Possibly working on salp and
or krill offshore.
LITTLE GULL 1 juvenile/1st winter mixed in with flock of Bonaparte's
Gulls offshore in NH waters. So far, a nice fall for Little
Gulls....this is my 3rd.
Laughing Gull 6. Lingering birds. Some offshore.
Ring-billed Gull 4. All near or inside Isles of Shoals.
Herring Gull 121
Great Black-backed Gull 64
Common Loon 7. Some migrating.
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL 1 in Maine waters. Beautiful bird that we
chased, and caught up to, for some point-blank side-of-the-boat views!
NORTHERN FULMAR 142 with 135 in NH and 7 in MA. Fantastic day for
Fulmars. Light and dark morph birds. Continuous activity for much of
the afternoon. Appears to be the 2nd highest count for NH (140 offshore
on 2/6/09)
Cory's Shearwater 1. Poor views in bad lighting.
Great Shearwater 23. Scattered offshore.
Manx Shearwater 1. Only a single bird, but nice close views on the
water.
Northern Gannet 72. Not a huge number. But nice (again) to see
close up views of two adults SITTING on SQUARE ROCK at Isles of Shoals.
Great Cormorant 5. Most on Square Rock.
Double-crested Cormorant 45 around Isles of Shoals.
LARK SPARROW 1. Remarkable passerine sighting for the boat trip
while we were well offshore. This poor bird circled and circled, but
just wouldn't land on the boat. We can only hope it made it back to the
mainland.
Pine Warbler 1. Landed on boat for a while
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 flew around boat with Pine Warbler.
Whales
-----------
Humpback Whale - 26+ counted/estimated by the whale crew on board.
Fantastic number and great feeding performance. Most of the whales were
open-mouth feeding near the surface where they were feeding on KRILL in
a feeding behavior often seen by this species. The whales were
constantly surfacing with mouths wide open right next to the boat.
Several times three to as many as 5 whales came up together with mouths
open in synchronized feeding. Many of the whales were ID'd, but I
didn't take down the names.
Fin Whale - 3
Minke Whale - 0
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin - 6 with Commons.
COMMON DOLPHIN - 8 with Atlantic White-sided Dolphins in small group.
Apparently Common Dolphins have been seen with some regularity from
whale watch boats over the last month; often in mixed pods with Atlantic
White-sided Dolphins.
Fish and other aquatic organisms
----------------------------------------------
Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola) - One floating offshore.
Salp - Lots of small chains seen along tidal rip line. Possibly a food
resource for birds.
Krill - Lots of krill seen where Humpback Whales were feeding on it. As
whales surfaced with open mouths, a flush of pink would appear and
disappear as the whales engulfed them. Whale poop was also noted to be red.
Insects
----------
None that I noted - The fog and light winds probably impacted any
potential offshore bugs.
Steve Mirick (with lots of assistance from Ben Griffith who kept numbers
and helped in spotting birds)
Bradford, MA
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