Fall pelagics in the Gulf of Maine are notoriously hit or miss. Suffice to say, our Half-Day Pelagic out of Boothbay Harbor on 10/5, with our partner, Cap’n Fish’s Cruises, was most definitely a hit!

And not just because of the ridiculously pleasant weather! The birding was great, the marine mammals were fantastic, and I don’t think a single person was seasick! What a difference a year makes.

We departed the harbor at 9:00am, with clear and calm skies, less than a foot of swell offshore, and high hopes (I had a productive scouting trip on a whale watch two days prior). But even with the always-lofty expectations of pelagic trips, we would not be disappointed this day.

Perhaps the one complaint I had was that we didn’t get all that far offshore! In fact, our furthest point was only about 20 miles south-southwest of Monhegan. There was just too much to look at, and every time we were about to head further offshore, something else of note appeared.

We started picking up a few seabirds, including our first of what would be a remarkable total of mostly juvenile Atlantic Puffins, the first of our sought-after Northern Fulmars, scattered Red-necked Phalaropes (mostly), along with a few Great Shearwaters, all around Murray Hole, but we hit paydirt right around the edge of the incoming shipping channel to Portland.

There, in about 500-600 feet of water (but otherwise “in the middle of nowhere”), our chum slick of fish oil and pork fat (generously donated by Durham’s Old Crow Ranch!) worked its magic. Will Broussard, with both the honor and burden of his first time as Chummer, was the hero, bringing Northern Fulmars and Great Shearwaters in for close looks.]

Passerines would appear on occasion, a total of somewhere between 4 and 8 White-throated Sparrows, including one that rode right back to port with us in the cabin. A male Purple Finch took a break on the boat, resting and preening on our radar, as a female did later. Passerines are always a fun addition to a pelagic birding experience.

Less fun, perhaps, but most amazing and insightful, however, was watching a Peregrine Falcon chasing a passerine, driving it into the water, and then, unable to snatch it off the surface, moved on, leaving an Ovenbird helpless on the ocean’s surface, likely becoming waterlogged and hypothermic. It was impossible for us not to, so we attempted a water rescue, with the crew putting in a valiant effort to save the hapless warbler. Unfortunately, it perished, but we had to try!

Repeated sightings of Atlantic Puffins continued to surprise us, and we spent some time with two different Fin Whales, including getting to see one doing a little lunge-feeding. While we looked at whales, birds were all around us, thanks to the chum, so we had something for everyone.

While this was of course a birding tour, we made sure to enjoy the marine mammals we encountered, along with a Blue Shark, but the highlight for most everyone was the incredible and awesome experience we had with a small pod of 25-30 Common Dolphins. Amid all of our seabird activity, the pod approached us in the glass-calm warblers. Captain Nate added a little speed to build up a wake, and the dolphins had come to play. They rode the bow, did some surfing, and otherwise created constant “oohs and aahs.”  The photos don’t quite do it justice…it was really a special experience, a life mammal for most of the crew, and one of the best dolphin encounters I have experienced in the Gulf of Maine.

Puffins and fulmars, Fin Whales and dolphins, and all on just the most ridiculous weather possible for a fall pelagic in Maine! We’ll see you on board next year!

I want to thank Captain Nate for his skilled maneuvering of the boat – even more remarkable as this was his first pelagic, too! Naturalist Trinity shared the narration duties with me, taking over for local landmarks and non-feathered marine life, and Valentin and Joe took care of everyone at the galley – and did the work of our attempted Ovenbird rescue. Thanks to my team, chummer Will Broussard, and our checklist-keeper Noah Gibb.  And a special thanks to Tabor and Seamus at Cap’n Fish’s for working with me to make this memorable trip a reality.

Here’s the complete trip list, including birds seen while docked before departure marled with an *. We know counts of several species, such as Common Eider and Herring Gull are likely extremely low, but we chose to be conservative with our Northern Fulmar and Great Shearwater tallies as we covered a relatively small area during our deeper-water time, and the chumming kept birds with us, and perhaps, coming back for more.

267 Common Eider

89 Surf Scoter

3 White-winged Scoter

36 Black Scoter

25 Rock Pigeon*

54 Red-necked Phalaropes

21 unidentified phalaropes

1 Pomarine Jaeger

28 ATLANTIC PUFFINS

15 Black Guillemots

2 Razorbills

1 Black-legged Kittiwake (only spotted from photos later, unfortunately)

10 Laughing Gulls

3 Ring-billed Gulls

385 American Herring Gulls

86 Great Black-backed Gulls

4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

1 Red-throated Loon

14 Common Loons

18 NORTHER FULMARS

55 Great Shearwaters

13 Northern Gannets

8 Great Cormorants

165 Double-crested Cormorants

3 Great Blue Herons

1 Bald Eagle

1 Peregrine Falcon

2 American Crows*

4 House Sparrows*

2 Purple Finches

1 Dark-eyed Junco

8 White-throated Sparrows

1 OVENBIRD

Mammals:

2 Fin Whales

2 Minke Whales

30+ Common Dolphin

X  Harbor Porpoise

X  Gray Seal

X Harbor Seal