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Gulls at Cape Point; Space on Feb. 19(20) Pelagic Trip from Hatteras



Dear Carolinabirders,

It seems that ugly weather is the best for gull watching at Cape Point,
and this morning, Feb. 9 was not really too windy here, but it was rainy
with a falling barometer. Lesser Black-backed Gulls are not as common as
they were about a month ago when I tallied 75 in a morning from Cape
Point to Frisco, but I had no problem finding at least 20 at Cape Point
late this morning. I also found a first winter California Gull on the
point as well as a first winter Thayer's Gull. This is the second Cal.
Gull I've seen there this winter, the other being an adult about three
weeks ago. This morning's Thayer's is the first that I've seen on the
island this winter. While I didn't see any Iceland or Glaucous Gulls on
the beach today, we did see both species on Saturday's pelagic trip, and
I've seen at least three different Iceland Gulls at Cape Point this
winter. I did see two Little Gulls flying together with Bonaparte's
Gulls over the surf at Avon two days ago.

We've still got some room on our next pelagic trip from Hatteras on Feb.
19(20). If you missed it, we found and photographed YELLOW-NOSED
ALBATROSS on our Hatteras trip on Feb. 5. This bird and two of the four
Great Skuas that we saw that day were remarkably only three miles off
the beach! That trip also produced sightings of 11 Northern Fulmars, 87
Red Phalaropes, 10 Black-legged Kittiwakes, and 4 Razorbills. Our trip
on Feb. 19(20) offers a chance at these species plus Manx Shearwater,
Dovekie, Atlantic Puffin, and other pelagic and near-shore species. For
past trip lists and additional information about the upcoming trip,
please visit our website at http://www.patteson.com/

Many people have already signed up for this trip in the past few days
and I hope that some more of you are able to join us on what should be
an interesting trip. I can be reached via e-mail(below) or by telephone
at (252) 986-1363.

Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
Brian@Patteson.com