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Chasing Hurricane Birds (fwd)



Hi Carolinabirders,

I managed to save this message that Harry LeGrand posted last year when 
it looked like Hurricane Bonnie might follow Fran's path inland. Alas, it 
didn't, but various people managed to find Sooty Terns and such on inland 
lakes after Bonnie broke up anyway. Since the hurricane season is finally 
starting, and Steve posted a few warnings about birding during and after 
hurricanes, I thought people might want to read Harry's post again. 
Enjoy!

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 16:45:57 -0400
From: Harry LeGrand <Harry_LeGrand@mail.enr.state.nc.us>
To: carolinabirds@acpub.duke.edu
Subject: Chasing Hurricane Birds

I have a few comments to make about chasing hurricane birds, as I have done this
on a number of occasions.  I have a quite nice inland list, including
Black-capped Petrel, South Polar Skua, Leach's Storm-Petrel, White-tailed
Tropicbird, etc.

1.  DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT HEADING TO THE COAST.  This is where the worst
damage is, and you will probably have a nearly impossible time getting onto the
islands.  Security will either not let you on, or else the fallen wires, trees,
will also be a barrier.  Also, these storm-blown birds will likely quickly move
back out to sea.  You practically have to live at the coast, and have a house or
have relatives who have a house, to even think about being at the coast to look
for hurricane birds.

2.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE ANYWHERE BEFORE LIGHT.  There is the temptation to
be at a lake before the crack of dawn, if the hurricane's eye passed near the
lake overnight.  This is very dangerous.  Fallen trees and downed wires don't
have lights, and you can't expect DOT or utility crews to have cleared away
trees before light.

3.  DO NOT BOTHER CHASING HURRICANE BIRDS IF THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE/STORM DOES
NOT COME INLAND.  You need to remember that it is the eye of the storm that
carries birds inland, not strong winds that blow them inland.  If the eye of
Bonnie passes 30 miles off the Outer Banks, and never crosses land, winds of
100-115 miles an hour won't blow Pterodroma petrels and the like to an inland
lake.  They could well blow such birds into Chesapeake Bay, as they have in the
past,  but there is no history to such an event in North Carolina, because our
coast is essentially one string of land to a seabird, and they will not be blown
inland.  They might take up shelter in dunes, but they won't be found on a
catfish pond in Pitt County.

4.  FIND AS LARGE A LAKE AS YOU CAN NEAR THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE, PREFERABLY
EITHER IN THE TRACK OF THE EYE, OR TO THE EAST OF THE EYE.   Birds fall out of
the eye onto large bodies of water, or even wet parking lots that look like
water. Check other lakes and ponds as well.  Actually, some lakes are almost too
big.  It is very frustrating to stand on the shore of Lake Norman or Lake
Waccamaw and see birds in the middle, 2-3 miles away, that can't be identified! 
Nonetheless, there are generally more birds there than at smaller lakes, and
frustrating or not, you want to be at these larger bodies of water first.

5.  Try to get to the lakes as soon as you can after storm passage, as hurricane
birds often depart soon afterward.  If the eye passes over Jordan Lake on
Thursday morning, try to get there as soon as it is safe on Thursday morning or
afternoon.  Friday will be too late, though a few birds might still be present.

6.  REMEMBER THAT YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO GET TO YOUR DESTINATION!  Several of
us in Raleigh had Hurricane Fran pegged.  The hurricane was going to pass near
Wilson, and we would head out to Falls Lake north of Raleigh early that morning.
 Well, guess what?  None of us made it to Falls Lake, as the eye passed near
Raleigh.  I got about 5 blocks from home, and another never got out of the
driveway.  Needless to say, the phone calls that came in that night about the
good birds we missed at Falls Lake were very difficult to take!

Hope these words are helpful.  It is hard to sit here and actually hope that the
eye of Bonnie (or Danielle) actually crosses into inland NC or SC, but ......

            Harry LeGrand
            Raleigh
            harry_legrand@mail.enr.state.nc.us