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The CBC pelagic trip



Folks:
	Susan Campbell alluded to the CBC pelagic trip but did not give any
details, saying that the trip leaders would provide details. I have not
seen anything on carolinabirds in a few days about the trip, and John
Fussell referred to the Red Phalaropes. (He was not on the trip.) Thus
-- here is my summary:

It was a good but not great trip, at least by this jaded observer's
standards. But, we did see six pelagic species, which is about as good
as one can hope for in winter. However, two were not really lifer views.
First we had 2-3 Great Skuas, though none were seen well and certainly
not lifer views for folks. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that only
Great of the skuas should be here in winter would they even be listed as
"Great" rather than "skua sp.". Also disappointing were the alcids, of
which we tallied 10 Razorbills, essentially only flying away. I doubt
anyone got lifer views of them either. But, February has always been a
better month for alcids, as colder weather later into the season seems
to push them farther south to NC. But, the warm weather this week won't
help the scenario for the Feb. 16 trip, unless the weather returns to
much colder by then! Normally we would expect to see many dozens of
Razorbills, if not more, in mid-February, with hopes of Dovekies or
Puffins.

We DID get good views of the other four. We had about 43 N. Fulmars, by
Brian Patteson's tally. Everyone got on quite a few. We also had 7 Manx
Shearwaters, all singles dashing past the boat. Fortunately, they banked
enough so that we could see the white undertail coverts. A few were even
in the Gulf Stream, so we had to be really sure of those, as Audubon's
is probably out there as well. A tally of 18 Black-legged Kittiwakes was
about an even mix of adults and immatures. Quite a few joined the gull
flock (GBBG, Herring, and one or two Lessers, along with Gannets) in our
wake, thanks to Butch Pearce's chumming efforts. And, we tallied at
least 3800 - 5000 Red Phalaropes! Most were in the slick at the edge of
the Gulf Stream. Because of the 2-3 foot seas, we were able to go
farther from Hatteras than normal on a winter trip, and Captain Spurgeon
Stowe was able to get as far north as "The Point", well known to birders
as a hotspot on warm weather pelagic trips. This lies about at the edge
of the Gulf Stream, where the bottom drops off sharply. From there
southward along the edge of the stream we were constantly kicking flocks
of phalaropes, along with 5000-8000 Bonaparte's Gull, by my guess, off
the water. Nary a Little Gull could be found, however. (We did have an
adult "Nelson's Gull" - hybrid Glaucous x Herring on the trip.) No warm
weather birds could be found in our brief stay in the Gulf Stream. We
were hoping to find Black-capped Petrel, or maybe Audubon's Shearwater.
But, we spent relatively little time there, though we did stay along the
edge of the stream a bit as the phalaropes and Bonaparte's were abundant
there.

Other things offshore added to the merit of the trip. We had a Humpback
Whale tail-slapping within sight of Buxton/Frisco on the way out, and
presumably the same individual there on the return. This slapping of the
tail, several dozen times, was very unforgettable! Also, we had great
views looking down on several Hammerhead Sharks and a handful of Manta
Rays. We had 5-10 views of Loggerhead Seaturtles, as well. Plenty of
Bottlenose Dolphins were seen, but only that and the Humpback completed
the meager cetacean list. (I've seen Fin, Minke, Harbor Porpoise, Common
Dolphin, and a few others on winter trips.)

Hope for cold weather between now and February 16, for those going
offshore on Brian's trip on that date.

Harry LeGrand