Survey of birds encountered during UNH research trip aboard UNH R/V "Gulf Challenger". Boat did not stop or steer toward birds. Jane and I were invited guests on UNH boat that was performing ocean experiments offshore. The boat traveled east to the CO2 buoy just beyond the Isles of Shoals and collected water samples. It then continued east across Jeffrey's Ledge and just beyond to the "Wilkinson's Basin Water Sampling Spot" where it deployed the water sampler and collected net samples. It returned on the same route toward Portsmouth Harbor. We DID NOT SLOW DOWN, OR CHANGE COURSE TO SEE BIRDS. This was not a birding trip. Weather and seas - There was some some minor chop and waves in the morning, but it flattened out nicely offshore and for the rest of the trip. We could ride the bow for most of the outbound and all of the inbound. Partly to mostly cloudy. Time - 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Trip Summary ------------------- * There was an incredible mix of winter and summer pelagic birds with some real nice rarities making for a fantastic trip! * The great birds started before we even left the dock. As we were waiting for the boat to leave, a Forster's Tern (uncommon) and a Little Gull (rare) flew around the boat! * Offshore we were treated to incredible diversity with 13 species of pelagic birds including: * 6 species of shearwaters and petrels (including 2 LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS and and an early NORTHERN FULMAR) * 2 species of alcids including a young ATLANTIC PUFFIN! * Only 1 species of jaeger (Pomarine), but any jaeger is a nice one and we had lots. * 10 species of gulls (total including harbor) including 22 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Little Gull and TWO very rare pelagic SABINE'S GULLS! eBird checklists submitted and eBird trip list with documentation photos at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/572885 List from the Pier in New Castle -------------------------------------- Forster's Tern 1. With a small number of Common Terns. LITTLE GULL 1. Great views of a sub-adult Little Gull from the boat while we were still at the dock! With a few Bonaparte's Gulls. Bonaparte's Gulls - Several. Total list of birds offshore (east of Isles of Shoals) --------------------------------------------------------------- Common Eider 1 moving north by itself over Jeffrey's Ledge. Surf Scoter 1 migrating south offshore with WWSC. White-winged Scoter 1 migrating south offshore with SUSC. Red-necked Phalarope 3 Pomarine Jaeger 7. Lots of jaeger activity offshore. jaeger sp. 5. Most/all appeared to be Pomarines. What's happened to the Parasitics? ATLANTIC PUFFIN 1. Juvenile. A bit early. Razorbill 1. Juvenile. Black-legged Kittiwake 1. Juvenile. A bit early. SABINE'S GULL 2. Both juveniles far apart. My FIRST EVER for this boat and my first from a boat in New Hampshire waters! Laughing Gull 2 American Herring Gull 38 Great Black-backed Gull 21 Lesser Black-backed Gull 22. HIGH COUNT. Though increasing and great time of year for them offshore as they migrate from Greenland to Florida. The funny thing is that almost all of the gulls occur at the "Wilkinson's Basin" stop. When we stop the boat, there is ZERO birds, but when they hear the winch lowering equipment, the birds appear out of nowhere! gull sp. 30 Common Tern 2 Wilson's Storm-Petrel 169. HIGH COUNT for date. LEACH'S STORM-PETREL 2. Great views of at least 2 Leach's Storm-Petrels. Now 3 times in a row from this boat on this trip. storm-petrel sp. 1. Probably a Leach's NORTHERN FULMAR 1. Winter arrival. A bit early? Cory's Shearwater 65 Great Shearwater 14 Manx Shearwater 1 shearwater sp. 3 Northern Gannet 18 Marine Mammals ------------------------ ZERO! Fishes --------- Ocean Sunfish - 1 Blue Shark - 9! Lots of shark activity. All seemed to be consistent with this species. Steve and Jane Mirick Bradford, MA -- Maine birds mailing list maine-birds@googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds https://sites.google.com/site/birding207 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/5edeeff4-3036-4c77-a9ca-806a98d14723%40comcast.net.
Saturday, 19 September 2026
[Maine-birds] Wilkinson's Basin Pelagic Trip Bird Report - 9/17/26
Friday, 18 September 2026
[Maine-birds] Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME 9/18/26
Biology Department
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
Blog: http://mourningwarbler.blogspot.com/
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Wednesday, 16 September 2026
[Maine-birds] This Week's Highlights, 9/7 - 9/16
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Derek and Jeannette Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
207-865-6000
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com
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Sunday, 13 September 2026
[Maine-birds] Seacoast Audubon Pelagic Trip - 9/8/26 (CHILEAN SKUA!!!!)
Ben Griffith and I led an all day pelagic trip last Tuesday aboard the "Granite State" out of Rye Harbor, NH. The trip was organized by the Seacoast Chapter of NH Audubon. https://ebird.org/tripreport/569486 We started off by heading out to the Isles of Shoals where we did a quick tour of Square Rock, Lunging Island, and White and Seavey Islands. Here we located some specialty Island birds at this date including American Oystercatcher, Black Guillemot, and Great Cormorants. And once again, we spotted an adult Northern Gannet sitting on Square Rock. Funny how this always happens....never juveniles or sub-adults.....always adults. Generally Northern Gannets are rarely seen sitting on land. We then continued offshore to an area known as "Old Scantum" where there had been recent whale activity. We found the whales, but they were uncooperative, so we chased them around a bit while encountering numerous Wilson's Storm-Petrels and an occasional small flock of Red-necked Phalaropes. While chasing the whales north past Old Scantum to a point approximately 10 miles ESE of the Isles of Shoals we chanced upon the rarest bird of the day and possibly the rarest bird ever seen in NH! A CHILEAN SKUA! While we didn't know that it was a Chilean Skua at the time, we knew it was a Skua. It was extremely wary, but we continually pursued it for over 30 minutes. Unfortunately, we never got too close and the gray, cloudy skies didn't help, but we managed to get lots of photos. At this time we were uncertain whether it was the most likely South Polar Skua or the very rare Great Skua.....we didn't know there was a 3rd option!! We then resumed our planned route back south and east and found more Phalaropes (including Red!) as well as an occasional Cory's Shearwater. Manx Shearwaters were a bit more wary, but we managed some decent views. The most common shearwater is generally Great Shearwater, but we managed only a single flyby down the side of the boat. We worked over Jeffrey's Ledge and even off the eastern edge of Jeffrey's, but it was rather quiet out there so we turned back. Heading back in we ran into an incredible pod of roughly 50 Common Bottlenose Dolphins! This species is different (larger and more pelagic) from the typical bottlenose dolphin now known as Tamanend's Bottlenose Dolphin and found south along the coastal beaches to Florida. The pod gave an incredible show as they rode the wakes and jumped high out of the water several times. As we headed in, someone spotted a jaeger on the water and as we turned to try to relocate it, it flew and Ben quickly announced LONG-TAILED JAEGER! Sadly, it just kept flying and flying.....but Captain Pete continued the pursuit and we finally caught up to it! A beautiful juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger! Finally, we were running late and turned and cruised home.....but there was more excitement! As we passed through the area of the previous skua sightings, we relocated the Skua! This time we had very brief views, but VERY CLOSE views and in great lighting. It passed by the side of the boat and continued out of sight. But not before a few people got the best photos of the day of this bird. These photos showed some semblance of a Great Skua so we excitedly announced that it was a Great Skua! But when we got home, it was apparent something was wrong! The first thing I said to Jane when I uploaded the photos onto my computer was: "Jane, look at the strange color of this Skua!" Then Sam Zhang, who wasn't even on the boat started texting me. And then Ben texted me. It soon became apparent that this bird looked like a CHILEAN SKUA! The Chilean Skua is a species that breeds off the southern coast of Argentina and Chile, with wandering birds found as far north as Peru (one report in Ecuador) and Brazil. They are not known for long migrations like the South Polar Skua. THERE ARE NO RECORDS FOR NORTH AMERICA AND POSSIBLY NO RECORDS FOR THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE FOR CHILEAN SKUA! Ben Griffith has been working very hard on researching Chilean Skua and seeking opinions of Skua experts from around the world. Thus far, I don't know of anyone that has any doubt that this bird is within the range of variation of pure Chilean Skua and all have ruled out the possibility that this is any other species. The Chilean Skua is actually the most distinctive of all of the Skuas! The only "fly in the ointment" is that this species is not known for long migrations and the unlikeliness of this occurrence is generating some "what-if" scenarios. There is a HYPOTHETICAL possibility that this is a hybrid South Polar X Chilean Skua which expresses itself phenotypically as a pure Chilean Skua but adopts the DNA from a South Polar Skua which tells it to head north! For lots of photos and a bit more discussion of the Chilean Skua, see this checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S391300574 Thanks to Holly Bauer for organizing this trip through the Seacoast Chapter and to Captain Pete Reynolds and crew for helping to spot whales and birds! 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM Cloudy with brisk NW winds in the morning, clearing in the afternoon with winds dying down. Seas 1 to 3 feet. Map of Trip ---------------- https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemirick/55522780243/in/photostream/lightbox/ Birds ----------- Common Eider 86 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 migrating between Rye harbor and Isles of Shoals American Oystercatcher 3 all on Lunging. Black-bellied Plover 2 Semipalmated Plover 2 Hudsonian Whimbrel 1 on Seavey Island RED PHALAROPE 3 mixed in with Red-necked Phalaropes. Red-necked Phalarope 119 scattered in mats of Rockweed offshore. Ruddy Turnstone 3 on Lunging Island Sanderling 23 Semipalmated Sandpiper 8 LONG-TAILED JAEGER 1 juvenile which we chased and caught! POMARINE JAEGER 1 adult/subadult which flew by and disappeared. CHILIAN SKUA 1. Bird of the day! Year! Life! Black Guillemot 2 at Isles of Shoals Bonaparte's Gull 2 Laughing Gull 5 Ring-billed Gull 5 American Herring Gull 69 Great Black-backed Gull 202 Lesser Black-backed Gull 11. Mix of adults and juveniles offshore. Common Tern 8 Wilson's Storm-Petrel 351. Scattered throughout the trip. CORY'S SHEARWATER 36 GREAT SHEARWATER 1 brief flyby of only one for the day. MANX SHEARWATER 6. Scarce in recent years. Nice to see a few even if tough to approach. shearwater sp. 2 Northern Gannet 3. One adult SITTING on Square Rock. Great Cormorant 7. Most around Isles of Shoals, but one flyby of adult offshore. Double-crested Cormorant 184 Bald Eagle 1. Adult in Rye harbor. Belted Kingfisher 1 in Rye harbor. Merlin 1 on White Island Peregrine Falcon 1 on White Island. Tree Swallow 4 in Rye harbor. Barn Swallow 1 in Rye harbor. Cedar Waxwing 14. Flock of 10 and flock of 4 far offshore! passerine sp. 1 Marine Life ------------------ Humpback Whale - 6. Repeated sightings and some nice fluke shows, but generally not cooperative. One named "Chromosome". Minke Whale - 1 COMMON BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN - 50. Spectacular performance! Riding the bow and stern wakes and swimming under the bow. Numerous full body breaches. Extended long views, photos, and videos! Mola Mola (Ocean sunfish) - Several Blue Shark - 3+ with one large individual Steve Mirick & Ben Griffith Leaders -- Maine birds mailing list maine-birds@googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds https://sites.google.com/site/birding207 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. 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Sunday, 6 September 2026
[Maine-birds]
*****************************************
Derek and Jeannette Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
207-865-6000
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com
****************************************
[Maine-birds] Ruby-throated Hummingbird, various shorebirds, another Merlin, Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME 9/5/26
Biology Department
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
Blog: http://mourningwarbler.blogspot.com/
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Saturday, 5 September 2026
Re: [Maine-birds] Merlin, Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME 9/3/26
I’ve seen a relatively tame Merlin for three years now, who hunts around The Maine Mall. Rolled up to work yesterday at 8am and there he is in his favorite tree. Cheers —mco > On Sep 4, 2026, at 10:17, Jay Pitocchelli <jpitocch@gmail.com> wrote: > > Merlin flyover and heading south, Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME 9/3/26 > > Dr. Jay Pitocchelli, Professor Emeritus > Biology Department > Saint Anselm College > Manchester, NH 03102 > > Blog: http://mourningwarbler.blogspot.com/ > > -- > Maine birds mailing list > maine-birds@googlegroups.com > http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds > https://sites.google.com/site/birding207 > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com <mailto:maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com>. > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/379e1c4b-5e5e-4efb-b083-3deed5eb871cn%40googlegroups.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/379e1c4b-5e5e-4efb-b083-3deed5eb871cn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- Maine birds mailing list maine-birds@googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds https://sites.google.com/site/birding207 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/AF9CC2F9-E57C-4822-B0DA-B09CD3A4F742%40gmail.com.
Friday, 4 September 2026
[Maine-birds] Merlin, Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME 9/3/26
Biology Department
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
Blog: http://mourningwarbler.blogspot.com/
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Wednesday, 2 September 2026
[Maine-birds] Willet, Mere Creek Golf Course, Brunswick, ME 9/1/26
Biology Department
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
Blog: http://mourningwarbler.blogspot.com/
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Friday, 28 August 2026
[Maine-birds] This Week's Highlights, 8/21 - 8/27.
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Derek and Jeannette Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
207-865-6000
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com
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Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Re: [Maine-birds] Obeds Rock
Sent: Wednesday, 26 August 2026 11:10:30
To: maine-birds@googlegroups.com <maine-birds@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Maine-birds] Obeds Rock
H. Donovan
Sent from my iPad
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[Maine-birds] Obeds Rock
Two Oyster Catchers and an Eagle at Obeds rock H. Donovan Sent from my iPad -- Maine birds mailing list maine-birds@googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/maine-birds https://sites.google.com/site/birding207 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maine birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to maine-birds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/maine-birds/61DB1902-BAB5-48C6-A05A-CC9165B32E0D%40aol.com.
Tuesday, 25 August 2026
[Maine-birds] Correction - Solitary Sandpiper, not Pectoral Re: Great Egret (8/23/26), Pectoral Sandpiper (8/23/26), Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME
Biology Department
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
Blog: http://mourningwarbler.blogspot.com/
2 Great Egrets along the shoreline (8/23/26), Pectoral Sandpiper in the pond above the north end of the cove (8/23/26), Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME
Dr. Jay Pitocchelli, Professor Emeritus
Biology Department
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
Blog: http://mourningwarbler.blogspot.com/
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Monday, 24 August 2026
[Maine-birds] Great Egret (8/23/26), Pectoral Sandpiper (8/23/26), Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME
Biology Department
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
Blog: http://mourningwarbler.blogspot.com/
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[Maine-birds] Semi-palmated Plovers, Dowitcher spp,., Spotted Sandpiper, Both Yellowlegs, Forster's Tern, Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME 8/22-24/26
Biology Department
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
Blog: http://mourningwarbler.blogspot.com/
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Friday, 21 August 2026
[Maine-birds] This Week's Highlights, 8/13-20
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Derek and Jeannette Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
207-865-6000
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com
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Wednesday, 19 August 2026
[Maine-birds] Forster's Tern, Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME 8/18/26
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Tuesday, 18 August 2026
[Maine-birds] Common Nighthawk, Basin Cove, Harpswell, ME 8/17/26
Biology Department
Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH 03102
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Friday, 14 August 2026
[Maine-birds] This Week’s Highlights 8/3– 8/12/2026.
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Derek and Jeannette Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
207-865-6000
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com
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Saturday, 1 August 2026
[Maine-birds] Monhegan Island sightings update January-July 2026
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