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Upcoming Pelagic Trips, Recent Offshore Sightings, and a Correction



Dear Carolinabirders,

I wanted to remind you that we still have space on most of our winter
pelagic trips this January and February and on all of our trips this
spring and summer. In fact we still NEED MORE PARTICIPANTS for trips
from Virginia Beach this weekend, JAN. 15(16), as well as next weekend,
JAN. 22(23). We also need more participants if we are going to run our
trips on the Miss Hatteras from Wanchese(Oregon Inlet) on FEB. 5(6) and
from Hatteras on FEB. 19(20). In a previous posting the date of this
trip was given incorrectly as Feb. 22(23). Our trip from Virginia Beach
on Feb. 12(13) is full, but if there is enough interest, we may run a
second boat on that date (that is, two boats on the SAME DAY). Just a
few spaces remain on our trip from Virginia Beach on January 29(30). 

I was just offshore from Virginia Beach this past Sunday, Jan. 9
commercial fishing for sea bass and I saw about 250 Red Phalaropes, 200+
kittiwakes, and one Great Skua. Had it been a birding trip, we probably
would have seen even more, but as it was the boat was stationary for
most of the day and the majority of our traveling was done in the
darkness. It has also been my experience that just because there aren't
any alcids in early January doesn't mean that there won't be any a
couple of weeks later. For bird lists from about thirty previous winter
trips since 1988, check out our website-http://www.patteson.com/

I haven't been offshore from Hatteras for a few weeks now, but Capt.
Spurgeon Stowe of the Miss Hatteras reported seeing several kittiwakes
while he was commercial fishing near the Gulf Stream this past Sunday.
In past years, most of our winter trips from Hatteras and Oregon Inlet
have been productive for Great Skuas, fulmars, kittiwakes, Manx
Shearwaters, and Razorbills. Red Phalaropes are also a good possibility
on these trips particularly if the seas are calm. Dovekies and puffins
are probably both fairly likely on the Wanchese (OI) trip and less so on
the Hatteras trip. One of the best things about these trips is that off
the Outer Banks the birds can often be found just a few miles offshore,
making for a much less grueling trip than our winter forays from
Vriginia Beach to the Norfolk Canyon. The Miss Hatteras is also a great
boat for winter trips, with a large heated cabin and two decks. 

If you are interested in taking any of these trips, please contact me
ASAP via e-mail or phone me at (252) 986-1363.

Thanks,

Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
Brian@Patteson.Com