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Outer Banks - Hatteras Pelagic



Hi Folks

The Hatteras Pelagic was another good one. The weather was very nice with 
calm seas. Found a couple of Black-capped Petrels way out in the stream, over 
a hundred Northern Fulmars, several Manx Shearwaters, several hundred Red 
Phalaropes, a couple of Great Skuas, two Little Gulls, single adult Iceland 
and Glaucous Gulls, a handful of Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Also had an 
almost all white Northern Gannet. Had several Humpback Whales, Pilot Whales, 
one close Sperm Whale, and both Common and Bottlenose Dolphins. A really nice 
trip offshore, even if we did not find any of those blasted Puffins!

Early Sunday morning, before heading home, I walked out to C. Hatteras Point. 
Some good gulls found included an adult Thayers (the bright pink-red legs 
always amaze me on these birds), an adult California Gull (colors also 
becoming bright), and an apparent Lesser-Herring Hybrid. The mantle color was 
between a Lesser and a Herring. The legs were yellow, the bill was yellow 
with some weird dark markings, the bird's size was intermediate between a 
Lessser and Herring. If anyone ventures out to the Banks in the next couple 
of weeks, be sure to study the gulls  well. The time from now to mid March is 
often the best for good gulls at the Point. 

Later, Ricky



Ricky Davis
608 Smallwood Drive
Rocky Mount, NC 27804
RJDNC@aol.com(H)
rickyd@theodavis.com(W)
(252)443-0276(H)
(919)269-7401(W)