While leading an Audubon shorebird trip downeast yesterday, I ran into Chris Bartlett. We shared some notes on what’s been happening in the Eastport/Campobello/Grand Manan area. I just finished a four-day tour on Grand Manan (with one night in Lubec). I’ve crossed the Grand Manan channel by ferry perhaps 50 times in my life, but the last two trips were remarkable. Besides the usual high concentration of Great and Sooty Shearwaters, there was an abundance of Manx Shearwaters. The same was true from the whale-watch boat off the island. Manx were common, kittiwakes were common, and the number of puffins and razorbills during the ferry crossing was the highest I’ve ever seen. On the other hand phalaropes and storm-petrels are reported to be mostly on the Nova Scotia side of the bay. Meanwhile, whale sightings from Grand Manan are a struggle this summer. Right whales are only now starting to show up. I don’t know if it is the overly warm summer or changes in currents, but something odd is going on.
Likewise, shorebird numbers are still low in Lubec. We had about 275 Least Sandpipers, about 40 SemiP, 60 Black-bellied Plovers, 15-20 SB Dowitchers, 2 Red Knots, a half dozen Sanderlings, and about a dozen Ruddy Turnstones. Only three SemiP Plovers. Shorebird numbers are normal or even high in Machias and Addison, and there are a ton of Bonaparte’s Gulls in Machias behind Helen’s Restaurant.
Bob Duchesne
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