NH Audubon sponsored an all day pelagic bird trip yesterday aboard the
"Granite State" out of Rye Harbor, NH. We traveled east to the Isles
of Shoals where we wandered around the lee side of the islands hoping
for some easement from the strong southwest winds. The winds stayed
strong making it nearly impossible to get further east toward Jeffrey's
Ledge, so we made a big, wet, bumpy push directly into the winds to get
some protection from Cape Ann where there were some reported birds and
dolphins. Once there, we turned back to ride the wind for most of the
afternoon, which was very pleasant.
Despite the fact that we couldn't get far offshore, there were plenty of
birds to see as well as whales and dolphins! Most of the time was spent
in "New Hampshire waters", but some time was spent further south off
Plum Island in Massachusetts waters and some time was spent around Maine
islands at the Isles of Shoals. The biggest area of activity was over a
pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins which were working an area just
south and east of the Isles of Shoals and inside of Old Scantum, near a
"flotilla" of Tuna fishing boats. The dolphins attracted a great
concentration of shearwaters and gannets.
Thanks to Jon Woolf for organizing this trip and to Captain Pete
Reynolds who nearly gave up on this trip, but planned an excellent
strategy to work the wind and waves. And thanks to Becky Suomala who
tallied species totals for the afternoon. I am using mostly her numbers
for the list below and for eBird checklists to be submitted.
Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA
Canada Goose 11 - Migrating flock
Common Eider 162 - Most near Isles of Shoals.
Surf Scoter 10
Black Scoter 1 - Migrating south.
White-winged Scoter 41 - Several small groups migrating
scoter sp. 7
Long-tailed Duck 1 - Migrating south. First of fall.
Common Loon 7 - A few individuals migrating.
NORTHERN FULMAR 11 - Mostly light morph birds. At least one dark morph.
CORY'S SHEARWATER 91 - Most in large feeding flock with dolphins just
south and east of the Isles of Shoals.
GREAT SHEARWATER 317 - Most in large feeding flock with dolphins just
south and east of the Isles of Shoals. There was some discussion and
disagreement about the ratio of Great to Cory's Shearwaters.
shearwater sp. 32
Northern Gannet 224 - The majority were adults or near adults.
Double-crested Cormorant 70
Great Cormorant 6 - Sitting on rocks out on Isles of Shoals.
Great Blue Heron 2 - One out on Smuttynose Island.
Black-bellied Plover 5 - Offshore.
Greater Yellowlegs 1
shorebird sp. 1
POMARINE JAEGER 1 - Dark individual. Not too cooperative. Unsure on
age. Bold double wing flash below. Bulky size. Chased Northern Gannet
briefly. Some photos.
Black-legged Kittiwake 1
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Herring Gull 96
Great Black-backed Gull 94
Merlin 1 Chasing the Peregrine Falcon on Appledore Island.
Peregrine Falcon 1 On Appledore Island, chasing Merlin.
Red-eyed Vireo 1 On rocks at Little Seavey Island.
Yellow-rumped Warbler 20 On Appledore Island.
passerine sp. 2
For Marine Mammals
-----------------------------
Humpback Whale - 6 including 3 identified as "Chromosome", "Cornucopia",
and "Clamp".
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin - 50 to 75 in one nice pod. A 2nd group
off Cape Ann was just too far for us to get to.
A few photo pages:
-------------------------
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kylewilmarth/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lmedlock
https://www.flickr.com/photos/amandaaltena
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottheron
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