Survey of birds encountered during UNH research trip aboard UNH Research
Vessel Gulf Challenger. Boat did not stop or steer toward birds. Jane
and I were guests on boat collecting and testing water samples at
various depths in the ocean. The boat took a different route this time
as compared the usual route with added stops outside Portsmouth Harbor
and between the mainland and the Isles of Shoals before proceeding to
CO2 buoy and then directly out to Wilkinson's Basin. This is a count of
birds encountered past Whaleback Lighthouse at entrance of harbor only.
Birds inside Portsmouth harbor not counted. Good weather allowed for
count from bow on outbound and return. Visibility on the way back was
incredible as seas died down and wind became calm.
While the overall number of birds was low for September, the diversity
was nice. Most of the birds were either very brief or distant
sightings. Three Manx Shearwaters and only 2 Great Shearwaters
offshore, but 6 Northern Fulmar were nice for September. Cory's
Shearwaters continue to be an interesting mystery with roughly 20 seen
near or inside the Isles of Shoals, but NONE SEEN FURTHER OFFSHORE.
They've been particularly numerous from Star Island and the mainland in
the last week or two so I was expecting to see them here and was
actually expecting a higher count. Could be that they are starting to
pull out of the area. We barely managed to get 3 Phalaropes, but one
appeared to be the less common Red Phalarope and Jaegers were
conspicuous locally well offshore but pretty far for photos. No alcids
yet, but a juvenile Puffin was reported from Leo McKillop on a nearby
fishing boat. There were a small number of migrants including small
groups of all 3 Scoters moving south. The mostly notable migrant was a
poor little Ruby-crowned Kinglet that landed on the boat at Wilkinson's
Basin (40 miles offshore!). I caught it when it flew into the wheel
house and we carried it all the way back to the mainland.
Weather - Morning wind out of the NE causing chop and bow spray, but
died down nicely and afternoon was like glass. Partly sunny with glare
a problem as usual on south side of boat. Winds NE at 10 knots in the
morning becoming calm in afternoon.
Seas - About 3' in long rollers causing birds on surface to disappear.
Time - 9:21 AM to 5:00 PM
eBird checklists submitted and eBird trip list with documentation
photos at this link:
https://ebird.org/tripreport/279209#
Total list with pelagic birds capitalized
-------------------------------------------------
Common Eider 1 migrating
Surf Scoter 5 migrating
White-winged Scoter 19 migrating
Black Scoter 2 migrating
RED PHALAROPE 1 not far offshore beyond Isles of Shoals.
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE 2
peep sp. 6
PARASITIC JAEGER 1 appeared to be a Parasitic chasing a Herring Gull
POMARINE JAEGER 5 with 3 together on water. All at outer Jeffrey's
or Wilkinson's.
Bonaparte's Gull 2
Laughing Gull 1 - Adult
Ring-billed Gull 5
Herring Gull 69
Great Black-backed Gull 35
Lesser Black-backed Gull 2. One adult and one juvenile.
Common Tern 9
Common Loon 5
NORTHERN FULMAR 6 All but one were dark morph(!).
CORY'S SHEARWATER 21. All near or inside of Isles of Shoals.
GREAT SHEARWATER 2. Low.
MANX SHEARWATER 3
Northern Gannet 12
Double-crested Cormorant 9
Great Blue Heron 3. High flying migrants inside of Isles of Shoals.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1. Landed on boat at Wilkinson's Basin 40 miles
offshore! We ended up bring it all the way back to shore!
passerine sp. 1
Other Offshore wildlife encountered
------------------------------------------------
Minke Whale - 1 at Wilkinson's Basin. No other large whales despite
excellent viewing conditions.
Dolphin sp. - A couple of small pods of unidentified dolphins
Harbor Seal - One or two well offshore.
Shark sp. - About 4 likely Blue Sharks on the way out. Also a possible
Basking Shark on the way back in.
Ocean Sunfish - About 3 or 4
Bait Fish - Several balls of bait fish being driven to surface by a
predator (tuna?) just outside of Isles of Shoals, but no birds foraging
over them.
Monarch - 1 well offshore
Non Monarch butterfly - 2 way offshore
Steve & Jane Mirick
Bradford, MA
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