The Massabesic Audubon Center of NH Audubon sponsored an all day pelagic
bird trip yesterday aboard the "Granite State" out of Rye Harbor, NH.
The weather was excellent with clear skies and moderate NW winds, which
died down by about noon. We traveled east to the Isles of Shoals where
we wandered around the islands looking for odds & ends and enjoying the
beauty of the islands. We then continued off-shore forming a
counter-clockwise loop following the State line east over the "Scantums"
area and dipping briefly into MA waters before turning north over
Jeffrey's Ledge, then looping back over the inside edge of Jeffrey's
Ledge before heading back home.
The trip was highlighted by one of the most intense and exciting one
hour of pelagic birding I've ever experienced on this boat. We started
out by chasing a beautiful dark morph Pomarine Jaeger with spoons inside
of Jeffrey's Ledge in NH waters. A very rare sighting for NH. It didn't
let us approach too close, but some people managed to get some decent
photos. While chasing this bird, we were giving up when we noticed a
beautiful fresh juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger that was feeding by dipping
down to the surface over and over and allowing us to get some close
views. After several approaches to this bird, a second jaeger appeared
with it and we chased after this new bird. It landed on the water and
we approached for nice views. Sadly, I misidentified this bird as a
Parasitic (photos confirmed it was a Pomarine). While watching this,
ANOTHER adult Pomarine Jaeger flew right over us with spoons! This one
a normal light morph bird. After seeing these birds, the entire boat
was exhausted and cheering and "high-fiving" the unprecedented
occurrence of (what we thought were) 3 species of jaegers! But then
within 5 minutes we came across a South Polar Skua! Only the 2nd ever
for the State of NH! And then about a half hour later we found ANOTHER
South Polar Skua! All of this combined with nice views of Great and
Cory's Shearwaters which worked the area with the jaegers and skuas.
Thanks to Jon Woolf and Slater Roosa for organizing this trip through
Massabesic Audubon Center and to Captain Pete Reynolds and crew for
helping to spot whales and birds!
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunny, seasonable, and dry.
NW winds 15 dropping to 5 mph. Seas about 3' decreasing after noon.
Trip Report in eBird can be found here with marine chart and photos -
https://ebird.org/tripreport/272180
Birds (thanks to Becky Suomala for keeping count!)
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Common Eider 314 - Most at Smuttynose Island.
Surf Scoter 3
Black Scoter 3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 7 - Rye harbor.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 - Offshore.
American Oystercatcher 5 - One on Seavey Island and four on Lunging
Island.
Killdeer 1 - Rye harbor.
Semipalmated Plover 11. Two offshore and nine in Rye harbor.
Red-necked Phalarope 1
Red/Red-necked Phalarope 4
Spotted Sandpiper 2 - One in Rye harbor and one on Isles of Shoals.
Greater Yellowlegs 1 - Rye harbor
Ruddy Turnstone 5 - Isles of Shoals
RED KNOT 1 - Juvenile photographed on Square Rock.
Sanderling 2 - One in Rye harbor and one on Isles of Shoals.
Pectoral Sandpiper 1 - Photographed offshore.
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1 - Rye harbor
peep sp. 4 - Rye harbor
shorebird sp. 3 - Isles of Shoals
LONG-TAILED JAEGER 1 - Fresh juvenile in NH waters inside of
Jeffrey's Ledge. Remarkable feeding behavior as it hovered over the
ocean and dipped to surface over and over again; apparently grabbing
small fish or unknown organisms at the surface. First NH record since 2011.
POMARINE JAEGER 3 - Two adults including ONE SPECTACULAR ADULT DARK
MORPH WITH SPOONS! (adults with full central tail feathers are very
rarely seen in NH) Also a 3rd Pomarine initially identified as a
Parasitic, but photographs show it to be a 3rd Pomarine. We had hoped
for the Jaeger/Skua "Grand Slam", but no luck. :-(
SOUTH POLAR SKUA 2 - Incredibly TWO different South Polar Skuas on
Jeffrey's Ledge. Both well seen and photographed from close range. One
inside of the ledge in NH waters and the second one a bit further out on
the ledge in MA waters. Birds showed distinctly different wing molt.
The New Hampshire bird is a 2nd State record for NH with the first one
being on this same NH Audubon trip on 9/3/18.
jaeger sp. 5
Black Guillemot 14 - All around Isles of Shoals. Some juveniles
noted with adults.
Bonaparte's Gull 1 - Inside of Isles of Shoals.
Laughing Gull 3 - All inside of Isles of Shoals
Ring-billed Gull 6 - Rye harbor
Herring Gull 57 - Only about 27 offshore.
Great Black-backed Gull 52 - Count of birds offshore. Surprisingly,
no definite Lesser Black-backed Gulls seen for the day.
Common Tern 3 - All offshore
Common Loon 2 - Inside of Isles of Shoals
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 22 - Rather low number for this trip.
Cory's Shearwater 18 - Nice views and photos
Great Shearwater 28 - Nice views and photos
Manx Shearwater 6 - Nice views and photos
shearwater sp. 4
Northern Gannet 5 - All but one inside of Isles of Shoals
Great Cormorant 8 - All on Isles of Shoals.
Double-crested Cormorant 89
Great Blue Heron 3 - Rye harbor
Osprey 2 - Rye harbor
Bald Eagle 1 - Adult in Rye harbor
Merlin 1 - One on Seavey Island
Tree Swallow 30 - Rye harbor
Barn Swallow 2 - Just outside of Rye harbor
European Starling 15 - Rye harbor
Cedar Waxwing 5 - Migrant birds offshore
Northern Waterthrush 1 - Photographed migrant offshore.
passerine sp. 3 - Offshore migrants
Whales, Fish, and Insects
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Fin Whale - 12. Lots of activity offshore highlighted BY ONE FIN WHALE
WHICH FLUKED. This is a very rare occurrence for Fin Whales, but this
was a unique individual that had half of its fluke missing and seemed to
compensate by raising tail out of the water. Dianna Schulte recognized
this whale from about 20 years ago!!
Humpback Whale - 3. Including nice views of two traveling together
identified as "Hawksbill" and "Pena". This was the first sighting ever
for Hawksbill from this boat!
Atlantic White-sided Dolphin - Small group of about 5 moving quickly
Mola Mola - 1
Monarch - About 6 migrants offshore
Question Mark butterfly - 1 photographed
Butterfly sp. (non Monarch) - 2
Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA
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