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Yellow-nosed Albatross off Hatteras; Another trip on Feb. 19 (20)



Dear Carolinabirders,

I wanted to report that our pelagic trip from Hatteras yesterday (Feb.
5) produced what should be the first solid record of Yellow-nosed
Albatross for North Carolina. We were only about 3 miles off the beach
between Avon and Salvo and had been watching a pair of Great Skuas when
the great bird appeared and made a beeline for the Miss Hatteras to join
the dozens of gulls and gannets that were swarming around us. We had the
bird in view for about ten minutes and flushed it from the water several
times while obtaining photographs to document the record. We lost it
when it landed several hundred yards astern and we turned around to get
another look. Needless to say, we had already seen it quite well by then
anyway. The bird had a yellow ridge atop the bill but lacked the red tip
characteristic of an adult, according to the literature. Most of us
aboard had no prior experience with the species, but a couple of us had
seen the Black-browed Albatross at the Norfolk Canyon last February and
were impressed by how much smaller and sleeker this bird was by
comparison. The head was quite gray and that is characteristic of the
nominate race (or the Atlantic species).

While we didn't see especially large numbers of seabirds on this trip,
we saw most species quite well despite fairly rough conditions. The
close proximity of pelagic birds to the shore of Hatteras Island makes
it possible to run trips here when it would be impossible to do them on
similar vessels off the coast of Maryland or Virginia, where the birds
are typically found much farther out to sea. Other pelagic birds that we
saw included Northern Fulmar(11), Red Phalarope(87-mostly on the edge of
the Gulf Stream where it was very rough), Great Skua(4-including 3 very
close to the beach), Black-legged Kittiwake(11- surprisingly low after
we saw nearly 300 off Va. Beach last week), and Razorbill (4). We also
saw hundreds of gannets and nine species of gulls including 14+ Lesser
Black-backeds, 2 Icelands, 1 Glaucous, and 1 Little Gull. While alcids
were scarce to say the least, they were correspondingly scarce off Va.
Beach a week earlier as well.

OUR NEXT SCHEDULED HATTERAS TRIP IS ON FEB. 19(20). Our trip from
Virginia Beach next weekend is full. I don't know what we'll see two
weeks from now, but we sure didn't expect to see an albatross yesterday.
In the past we've seen numbers of Great Skuas on most of our Hatteras
trips in February and March and there is always the possibility that
some Dovekies and puffins might arrive in the next few days. For access
to past trip lists, visit our website at http://www.patteson.com/. 

IF ANYONE IS KEEN TO TRY TO RELOCATE THE ALBATROSS THIS WEEK I MIGHT BE
ABLE TO ORGANIZE A TRIP, BUT I SUSPECT IT WILL BE FAIRLY EXPENSIVE (AT
LEAST $200/PERSON). Right now in Hatteras, Bluefin Tuna fishing is
red-hot so charter boats are in demand and diesel fuel prices are higher
then ever. 

I hope that some of you will join us on Feb. 19(20). 

Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
Brian@Patteson.com
(252) 986-1363