Beginning in 2022, Cap’n Fish’s Cruises in Boothbay Harbor and Freeport Wild Bird Supply have partnered together to offer a mid-summer seabirding opportunity. I join the boat’s naturalist as a seabird and pelagic specialist, to help everyone see all of the breeding seabirds at Eastern Egg Rock (Atlantic Puffins; Arctic, Common, and Roseate Terns; Laughing Gulls; and sometimes Razorbill and Common Murre) before we venture offshore in search of whales. While doing so, we pay special attention on this cruise to the bird life – which is often found at the same places where we are looking for whales. This trip gives us a slightly more bird-centric tour compared to the regularly-scheduled departures.

Here are the trip reports from this very popular annual event.

• July 16. 2022

Seas were fairly high (3-5ft) as we bounced offshore to deeper water first. Wilson’s Storm-Petrels were soon visible, and we passed one Razorbill. We could not stop or turn around for it as the seas were just a little too rough for that, and this was unfortunately our only Razorbill of the day. We cruised around waters over 300 feet deep, and were treated to a good performance from Great Shearwaters, Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, and picked up a few Sooty Shearwaters. We had one offshore Atlantic Puffin, but the big surprise was a rare, mid-summer NORTHERN FULMAR – definitely the pelagic bird of the trip.

With the seas building, we made a turn and took advantage of much more pleasant conditions as we trolled the area, giving people a better chance and seeing the aforementioned species. We also spotted a couple of Mola Molas, but no marine mammals, unfortunately.

Away from Eastern Egg Rock (both coming and going), our offshore (“pelagic”) scorecard was:

• 76 Great Shearwaters
• 61 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels
• 21 Northern Gannets
• 3 Sooty Shearwaters
• 2 Arctic Terns
• 1 Razorbill
• 1 Atlantic Puffin
• 1 NORTHERN FULMAR
• 1 Common Loon
• scattered Common Terns and unidentified Sterna

As we approached Eastern Egg Rock, the action really picked up with all of the island’s breeding species soon apparent. Roseate and Arctic Terns joined the multitudes of Common Terns. At least a dozen Roseates included several putting on a good show, and we singled out quite a few close-passing Arctic Terns for good studies. 4 migrant Ruddy Turnstones joined island-breeding Spotted Sandpipers onshore, and we heard a couple of singing Song Sparrows. And of course a plentitude of Laughing Gulls; about half of the entire state’s population breeds here. Black Guillemots were also conspicuous today.

But Atlantic Puffins are the star of the show out here, and today, they did not disappoint. In fact, it was a great mid-summer performance, with several dozen on the water – often in very close proximity to the boat, commuters passing by, and dozens more stately stationed on the island’s rocks.

We wandered offshore on the way back, near where the boat had recently seen whales, added a few birds to the tallies, but alas, the only marine mammals of the day were two species of seals: lots of Harbor Seals and two Gray Seals. Hopefully, this got the seal of approval from the marine mammal watchers aboard today.

• July 10, 2023.

A Parasitic Jaeger got everyone to our feet as we were motoring home through the fog.

With even more anticipation than usual, birders flocked aboard for this afternoon departure. Three hours earlier, I had spotted the near-mythical Tufted Puffin on Eastern Egg Rock aboard Cap’n Fish’s morning Puffin Cruise.  We made a bee-line for the island’s north end, but alas, the Tufted was not to be seen.

Nonetheless, we had a fantastic visit. Fog resulted in many of the island’s Atlantic Puffins being in the water and we had close birds all around the boat. We studied Arctic and Roseate Terns among the masses, making sure everyone had at least one rewarding look at each. While we searched vigilantly for the Tufted, we picked out one of two American Oystercatchers that have been here this summer, and just as we were about to leave, the single Common Murre floated around just off our bow.

It didn’t take long before our first Wilson’s Storm-Petrels of the day to be sighted, with small groups and singletons here and there throughout the rest of the trip for a total of 100-150 or so. Fog only thickened as we traveled further offshore, however, although we did find a hole where the visibility increased dramatically for a spell. While we searched diligently for whales to no avail (but plenty of Harbor Porpoises today), birds began to appear one by one.

A good look at a Sooty Shearwater. A glimpse of a Great Shearwater was followed later by a cooperative one that allowed close approach on the water. One group spotted a Manx Shearwater heading straight away, and a couple of other distant shearwaters disappeared into the fog. We only saw a few gannets today, scattered Common Loons on our way to and from, but a subadult Parasitic Jaeger spiced things up on our ride back (photo above). 

Considering how dense the fog was, we were happy to spot much of anything once we left the rock, and considering we remained just east of torrential rain all day, we were more than satisfied with the comfort of what we did see!

While we’ll have a dedicated pelagic in October one again (see our website for more information about all of our pelagic birding opportunities) and we look forward to another edition of this summer special in 2024!