Considering most people would have been happy with a single Northern Fulmar, our tally of at least 18 was fantastic…but the photo opportunities of this winter visitor could not be beat, including of this much less common dark morph.
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.
Black Guillemots are always a nice way to begin and end all of our local pelagic trips since they are usually only seen in inshore waters.
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.
Great Shearwaters and Northern Fulmars were constant companions in our deeper water time.All of the photographed phalaropes so far that we encountered were Red-necked Phalaropes, so the checklist has been adjusted accordingly, even though we believe we had some Reds over the course of the trip.
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!
This might be one of the most incredible photos of non-pelagics ever taken on a pelagic. Awesome work, Bill!
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.
A big and bright-billed adult Atlantic Puffin.Both of our Razorbills were hanging out with juvenile puffins.
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.
Subadult Northern Gannet
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)
Once we traveled beyond the shelter of Damariscove Island, we had a plan – or at least the concept of a plan. We’d slowly work our way straight south to deep water, make a turn to the east as the forecast was for seas to start diminishing, and then take mostly following seas for a smooth return trip home.
Peregrine Falcon having brunch to go.
We had lots of Northern Gannets early in the trip – always a good sign – but it was pretty slow going through the area known as The Pasture, which like all offshore patches, is always hit or miss. In fact, the only other pelagic we had was a single Cory’s Shearwater seen by only a handful.
Unfortunately, once we made the turn to the east, it became essentially unbirdable. The forecast 4-6 foot seas were right, but the distance between waves (the wave period) was significantly shorter than forecast, and the waves were definitely not diminishing. Captain Steve did an exceptional job of trying to soften the ride and keep us safe, but we just weren’t going to be able to continue east towards some of our deep water hotspots. When a bird was called – such as a single Northern Fulmar (one of our primary targets on the trip), few people were able to even try to see it before it was long gone behind the waves. Perhaps only the Yellow-rumped Warbler and Savannah Sparrow that we encountered about 15 miles offshore were having a worse day. I tried to keep some bird commentary going, if only as a distraction, but I’m not sure anyone was listening at this point!
So it was decided to make a turn for home. In a last ditch effort to salvage the birding day, we angled for the mouth of Sheepscot Bay. An unidentified dark jaeger zipped by, seen by just a few, tantalizing us to what else is out here today.
Once in the mouth of the bay, sheltered by Damariscove off to the east, we found gentle seas, and decided to try our hand at attracting some birds with a chum slick. We laid a slick for about 1-2 miles of pork fat soaked in fish oil. Thanks to a generous donation of surplus fatback compliments of Old Crow Ranch of Durham, we were likely the first ever pelagic to use local, pasture-based, regeneratively-farmed, non-GMO, pork fat. The experiment turned out to be quite a success, too!
First, we kicked up two Common Murres as we traveled, one of which flew past the boat affording a great view for those who were still on deck; even the seabirds were seeking sheltered waters today!
We were soon attracting several hundred gulls to our chumslick, and we finally teased out a single Lesser Black-backed Gull from the masses. A few lingering Laughing Gulls and several Ring-billed Gulls, including spiffy fresh juveniles, joined the myriads of Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.
We then tried the same technique closer to the mouth of the outer Boothbay Harbor, closer to Damarsicove. At first the results were surprisingly lower, until a Peregrine Falcon and a Northern Harrier over the island kicked up the gulls roosting on the windward side. Once the gulls saw the feeding birds behind us, the game was on. Meanwhile, we enjoyed many dozens of Surf Scoters and Common Eiders, punctuated by both Black and White-winged Scoters, and from here to the harbor, another couple of dozen Common Loons and plenty of Black Guillemots.
I want to thank the captain and crew of Cap’n Fish’s Cruises for their hard work and dedication today, and their best efforts to keep us comfortable. I want to thank my spotters, Jeannette Lovitch and Ian Carlsen (who also did a fantastic job keeping the official eBird checklist following pelagic protocol). A big thank you to Alex Lamoreaux for still finding birds in the worst of the snotty water. And another big thanks to our chummer, Dan Nickerson, who got the action going once we found some calm waters.
And most importantly, thank you to all of those who came aboard today. Some said they had fun. Many suffered. But everyone endured. If this was your first pelagic, you’ll be thrilled to know you were likely just had your worst trip. For those who like roller coasters (unlike me!), I guess you’re welcome?
Here’s the trip list. For the hit-or-miss October pelagics in the Gulf of Maine it’s really not that bad.
Yup, I’m leading off a pelagic trip report with a photo of a Song Sparrow. It’s a sign of things to come…but it was 28 miles offshore!
The thing about pelagic birding, especially on the Eastern Seaboard, is that it can be very hit or miss. This year was our 4th Fall Mini-Pelagic with our partners Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay Harbor. Last year’s trip was pretty good, 2021 was outstanding, and 2020, had well, Leach’s Storm-Petrels, so that counts as great!
This year, well, this one is going to have to be counted as a miss.
Granted, I love the thrill and challenge of seeing and identifying passerines at sea. It’s like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: you never know what you’re gonna get. And they’re always a fun addition to a pelagic birding tour. But let’s be honest, that’s not what we packed the boat for. More species of sparrows than seabirds is not why we go on pelagic birding tours!
There’s no other way around it – it was dead out there. Kelsey, the boat’s Naturalist, reported it has been very quiet for both birds and marine mammals recently, and she was not kidding.
But hey, we were offshore on a boat! It sure beats most other things we could have been doing instead. Plus, the waves were not very bad (2-3 feet is pretty generous), the winds were much lighter than forecast, and other than a few sprinkles, we didn’t hit any rain until we returned to the outer harbor. The light winds, the gray sky, and the minimally choppy waters were all perfect for pelagic bird finding. But alas.
We can’t be accused of not trying though! Captain Steve covered nearly 70 miles, and we hit a total of 5 hotspots, including perennial favorites like Murray Hole and Mistaken Ground. The only real action we had were gulls and Northern Gannets, which we spent some time with at Bantam Ledge on the way to and from the deeper waters. Diving gannets are always a good show. And with several visitors from well beyond New England, we saved a few minutes to enjoy the nearshore birds around Cuckhold’s Ledge Light on the way back, with 3 Great Cormorants and all three scoters scattered among 750-1000 Common Eider.
More Northern Flickers than jaegers, more species of warblers than alcids, but we tried! And days like this only make those great days feel even better! We’ll get ‘em next year.
Here’s the trip list:
12 Canada Geese
3 Mallards
1006 Common Eider
46 Surf Scoters
8 White-winged Scoters
9 Black Scoters
3 Long-tailed Ducks
40 Rock Pigeons
1 POMARINE JAEGER
7 Black Guillemots
1 Black-legged Kittiwake (independently photo’d by two people)
2 Bonaparte’s Gulls
2 Laughing Gulls
2 Ring-billed Gulls
137 Herring Gulls
81 Great Black-backed Gulls
11 Red-throated Loons
30 Common Loons
58 Northern Gannets
3 Great Cormorants
165 Double-crested Cormorants
4 Great Blue Herons
1 Northern Harrier (crossing outer harbor)
1 Cooper’s Hawk (at dock)
2 Northern Flickers
2 Merlin (outer harbor)
4 American Crows (harbor)
4 American Pipits
6 Pine Siskins
2 White-throated Sparrows
3 Savannah Sparrows
1 Song Sparrow
1 Palm Warbler
5 Yellow-rumped Warblers
23 unidentified passerines (including a flock of 14 that were probably Pine Siskins).
*All of the passerines were offshore, including several sparrows 28 miles offshore!
Marine Mammals:
1 distant breaching Minke Whale seen by only a handful
I didn’t hit the shoreline at all this week, other than a quick jaunt to the Brunswick waterfront, so I don’t have a lot of observations of note, other than 2 Upland Sandpipers at Brunswick Landing, Brunswick, 7/1 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group) and continued scattered Red Crossbills.
However, bird-watching was fantastic this week overall, even if it did not produce anything out of the ordinary. From a visit with clients to Salt Bay Farm Preserve in Damariscotta on Thursday to a stroll this morning at Old Town House Park, I found plenty of entertainment in the life and antics of our common breeding species.
In fact, on a couple of mornings, I just couldn’t tear myself away from our feeding station, which is chock-full of activity right now, including multiple pairs each of Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Gray Catbirds, Purple Finches, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and 5 species of woodpeckers, including fledglings of many: Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Red-bellied, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Yeah, we’re going through a lot of suet right now!
Therefore, I’ll just leave you today with some of my favorite photos from last month’s tour with NJ Audubon. And maybe next week I’ll have some more time for bird-finding again!
Thanks to our store’s partnership with Zeiss Optics, our biannual “Zeiss Day” occurred offshore this spring. With Zeiss’s sponsorship, we were able to offer this unique trip at a special price, with extra spotters to help people see birds, and of course, with chumming.
And the weather could not be any better! In fact, we were all excited to head offshore to beat the heat on this day. Barely a puff of breeze resulted in remarkably calm seas, with the only waves caused by our boat. Thanks to the weather gods for this day offshore!
Evan Obercian, Dan Nickerson, and Jeannette helped spot birds, Noah Gibb handled the checklists, and Robby Lambert – chummer emeritus – stood at the ready as the boat’s naturalist, Kelsey, and I scanned from the wheelhouse. Our captain was amazing, and together we laid out a plan for the day. Throughout the day, Rich and Bill from Zeiss handed out binoculars to try and lots of optical questions were answered. It was a great way to test-drive a new pair of excellent binoculars, especially noting how important size and weight is when trying to hold binoculars steady on the open ocean, even without much in the way of waves.
Robby at his office.
Motoring out of Boothbay Harbor and across Muscongus Bay, we familiarized ourselves with the common denizens of Maine’s summer coast, such as Common Eiders, Black Guillemots, Common Terns, and Ospreys. Kelsey pointed out landmarks and gave a little history of the area.
Our first destination was Eastern Egg Rock, home to a thriving seabird colony thanks to the restoration efforts of Project Puffin. Leading pelagic trips in June is easy when at least some of our target birds are guaranteed!
The amazingly calm conditions and unusually warmth worked in our favor, as many of the island’s Atlantic Puffins and Black Guillemots were in the water instead of loafing on the rocks, allowing us to drift closely to many of them. One of the island’s ephemeral Razorbills was spotted near the boat, giving us long and good looks as well.
Razorbill.
Of course there were the terns, and for a change, both Roseate and Arctic were easy to isolate for all to see. With the help of my spotters, and a cooperative pair of Roseates on an obvious rock, everyone saw each species well, as well as many hundreds of Common Terns of course. And a thousand or so Laughing Gulls, too.
Arctic Tern.
Roseate Tern.
Laughing Gull
Common Eider.
Satisfied with our views of the island’s denizens, we turned offshore and followed the Arctic Terns to deeper waters. It wasn’t too long before we started seeing scattered Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, but we slammed on the breaks when I spotted a Common Murre on the water up ahead. Captain Steve was able to circle the bird for all to see and photograph before we continued on; the murre was most obliging. It also made for the hoped-for 4-alcid day, which is always a challenge this far south.
The lack of swell allowed us to make good progress and afforded us the chance to check three offshore hotspots. A good number of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels and a few Northern Gannets were at Murray Hole, but we motored through it.
We laid down a mile-long chum slick at The Kettle, but only a few of the many Wilson’s Storm-Petrels came in to check it out. I think it was simply too calm today – the scent wasn’t drifting, and birds – especially any shearwaters out here – were just not taking flight to forage; it’s just too inefficient without any wind for them to bother. But a fly-by from a southbound Ruby-throated Hummingbird nearly 20 miles offshore was unexpected!
We continued to tally Wilson’s when we set up a second chum slick at Mistaken Ground, but once again, little was interested, and only a few Wilson’s and gannets were to be seen.
Despite our extended time with the charter, it was soon time to head back to port, but we kept our eyes peeled throughout the trip. On the way back, we had a flock of 12 Red-necked Phalaropes buzz by and eventually land on the water, but we were going too fast and behind schedule to be able to turn around in time. Later, we passed not one, but two Basking Sharks, which was a real treat.
Harbor Porpoise and Harbor Seals were seen now and again, but overall, the offshore waters were quite slow – especially with gulls. The few gulls around didn’t even seem interested in our popcorn and suet, either.
Robby contemplates the meaning of life…and chum.
Our tally of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels was decent enough, but sadly, this would be our only tubenose of the day. Northern Gannets were in low numbers, as if often the case in early June, and whatever shearwaters may have already arrived may simply have been sitting on the water somewhere waiting for a breeze. I also felt terrible that not everyone saw the phalaropes.
Nonetheless – thanks to a perfect visit at Eastern Egg Rock and a random Common Murre floating offshore – I would call the day a smashing success! And for $40, few complaints were audible. The weather helped, too.
Rich talks optics.
Thanks to Zeiss for making this idea of mine come to fruition, and thanks to Cap’n Fish’s for letting us charter the boat to make this all happen. And most importantly, thanks to everyone who signed up and helped us explore the Gulf of Maine at this woefully under-birded time of year. Every day is different offshore, and you never know what you will or will not see. Excitingly, I am pleased to announce that Rich said, “let’s do this again next year!” Hope to see you aboard!
Here’s the complete trip list, from dock to offshore and back. Thanks to Noah for compiling this!
Our third and final ½ Day Pelagic with our partners Cap’n Fish’s cruises out of Boothbay Harbor took place on a glorious fall day on Tuesday, October 11th.
OK, let’s get right down to business: it was NOT a South Polar Skua. This is not the first time a mea culpa was issued over a Stercorariidae. It won’t be the last. Certainly not my last, anyway. But yeah, I got this one wrong, and I apologize.
We spotted a large, dark, and very heavy-looking skua/jaeger in flight parallel to the boat. Captain Nick did an exceptional job of staying with it, staying parallel to it, affording incredible views for an unusually long amount of time. We were traveling at 18.2 knots, and the bird was slowly taking the lead. When it looked like it was thinking of landing, I had Nick angle slightly away so as not to make the bird concerned. It worked! It landed, we slowly worked our way up to it, and almost circled it before it took off. High-fives were exchanged. Smiles reigned. We got a skua! Big, barrel-chested, thick dark bill, and short tail. The very cold tones and extensive molt strongly suggested South Polar Skua. It would be a life bird for many.
I was convinced in the field, and I was convinced when I got off the boat. Everyone I talked to was convinced too. Other than a small feeling that the bill looked a little long, and the bird looked a little, well, not-menacing on the water, I had little doubt. But as I announce on all of my pelagics, all jaeger and skua identifications are provisional until I can review photographs.
The doubt -err, fear – began in the evening, as I looked over Jeannette’s shoulder as she began to sort photos. Starting with the skua, I wanted to make sure it was in fact a South Polar, and not a Great. That was my only real concern. But then I saw her pics. I was observing through 8x binoculars, she was shooting at 400mm. Details would likely emerge that I could not see in the field. And I didn’t like those details.
That rear end did look a little tapered. The bill did seem a little thin. And wait, is that barring in the underwings? Uh-oh. Are we sure? What about the location of white within the outer primaries? Is it too narrow? And boy, it looks cuter on the water than I expected. And that bill does look two-toned and kinda long.
Photos were sent to a friend. The shadow of doubt cast over the room. He immediately said “Pomarine.” But we discussed, and he left it off as “but I could buy this as a skua.” Another friend “That’s a skua.” “I’m flip-flopping…maybe a hint of barring on the undertail and underwing coverts, but it looks so skua-like…the molt pattern is identical to one I saw a couple of weeks ago.” Back and forth with these three friends continued. I posted to the Skuas and Jaegers of the World Facebook page; “Definitely a skua…” said the first commentor. Books and papers were referenced.
More photos were received. And discussion continued. Some photos showed what could be nearly impossible to argue was anything other than a South Polar Skua. I only wanted to look at these.
I mean, look at that short little tail!And those dark underwings!
Sheepishly – knowing how tired he must be after a long drive to and from in the same day, I asked my friend Bill Thompson to check his photos. He jumped right on it, and sent this.
Well, crap.
Is that the beginning of the long, round-tipped central tail feathers of a Pomarine Jaeger? They’re so broad. And the rest of the tail is a worn, ratty disaster. That would explain why it looked so short-tailed in the field. But that bill looks short, stout, and all-dark.
I asked for an underwing shot.
Yeah, that looks barred. But still, that bird was a massive keg.
These photos were entered into the various discussions, and uncertainty ruled as I finally passed out from boat and skua-induced exhaustion.
I awoke – stalled in turning my phone on – and what little glimmer of hope was crushed when I opened some emails from Tony Carapella that clearly showed a Pomarine Jaeger. I mean clearly, unequivocally, without a doubt.
“And upon further review, the call on the field is overturned. After the play, personal foul, unnecessary roughness on the trip leader’s self esteem. 15 yards…”
Sorry, folks, I got this one wrong.
But, hey, the rest of the trip was decent, too, even if we scratched the headliner off the top. Right? Please tell me it’s all OK?
Of course, this wasn’t the only quandary on the day either. Late in the trip, three jaegers gave us the slip. I am hoping someone got some distant photos that might yield a hint, but for now, they will go unidentified. There were also two larger dolphins within a small group of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins. Kelsey and I are still trying to figure things out. Stay tuned. They were not skuas, either, however.
Several Northern Fulmars included one that eventually gave fantastic views. We had a few Black-legged Kittiwakes, and Captain Nick did an amazing job getting us a close look at the first one that was loafing on the water. We also had an American Pipit fly-by, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler land in the cabin and rest for a while before departing.
And it was an absolutely, insanely gorgeous day. The water had only a slight ripple, there was virtually no swell, and it was warm with plenty of sun (but just enough high clouds to reduce the glare). There could not be a better day to head into deep water in the Gulf of Maine.
In fact, the unreasonably benign conditions allowed us to motor even further offshore than usual to explore a new area. After finding two of our favorite spots a little, well, low on birds, we headed out about 28 miles to an area we found on the map known as “Mistaken Ground” where the bottom plunged to a depth of 918 feet. I accept the name as a warning that maybe this would not be a good decision. But alas, it was where most of our action was. I could have spent all day here.
Northern Gannets
While the chum slick failed to work, perhaps because it wasn’t windy enough to waft the odor towards hungry birds, and there were long stretches with virtually no life in sight, overall, we had a solid list for merely 4.5 hours offshore. The proximity to deep water and interesting underwater topography afforded by starting from Boothbay Harbor allows us to run these trips in a shorter timeframe, especially for those learning to get their sea legs. And today was definitely a day for building up one’s oceanic confidence. Confidence in skua identification, however, well, that is another story. Apparently, my “mistaken ground” was thinking I could identify these birds before studying photos on the computer!
Here’s the annotated trip list:
8 Canada Geese
970 Common Eider
113 Surf Scoter
12 White-winged Scoters
24 Rock Pigeon
1 POMARINE JAEGER (see treatise above)
1 PARASITIC JAEGER (one of the three distant birds that turned out to be identifiable from photos)
2 Unidentified jaegers
1 COMMON MURRE (spotted in outer harbor by a few observers)
1 Razorbill (confirmed from jaeger photo bomb)
9 Black Guillemots
7 Black-legged Kittiwakes
2 Bonaparte’s Gulls
145 Herring Gulls
1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
With Great Black-backed Gull (right)
51 Great Black-backed Gulls
3 NORTHERN FULMAR
With Great Black-backed Gulls
1 Red-throated Loon
15 Common Loons
242 Northern Gannets
75 Double-crested Cormorants
2 Great Blue Herons
2 Bald Eagles
1 Merlin
8 American Crows
1 American Pipit
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 Unidentified passerine.
Mammals:
1 Minke Whale
1 small pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins
2 unidentified larger dolphins (still working on ID possibilities but we have no conclusive photos yet)
A displaying pair of Northern Gannets stole the show at Machias Seal Island on our visit there on 6/22.Atlantic Puffins, Machias Seal Island, 6/22.Razorbills, Machias Seal Island, 6/22.Arctic Tern, Machias Seal Island, 6/22.
I had a rather busy week, but not as busy with birding as I would have liked. Therefore, this mostly to share Jeannette’s photography from our visit to Machias Seal Island last week. However, a few observations of note over the past seven days included the following
1 female ORCHARD ORIOLE and 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Green Point WMA, 6/27 (with Jeannette).
1+ BOREAL CHICKADEE, East Royce Mountain, White Mountains National Forest, 6/26 (with Jeannette).
1-2 LITTLE EGRET X SNOWY EGRET hybrids, Falmouth, 6/30. One bird spotted from the Martin’s Point Bridge appeared to have at least one long, Little Egret-like plume. It was not close enough for photos, but the plume – as well as overall structure was distinctive. After flying upriver with the incoming tide, I found a hybrid at Gilsland Farm (photo below), but no head plumes are visible. Note the greenish-yellow lores (looked darker in the field than this poor, phone-scoped photo), very long and fine bill, and spindly neck. It’s slightly longer legs and overall slightly larger size was apparent when it joined a distant Snowy. However, did I imagine the plume in the earlier view? Did it fall off in transit? Or, are there actually two again this year?
This presumptive Little Egret x Snowy Egret Hybrid was along the Presumpscot River in Portland and Falmouth on the 30th. See notes above.
I found this 1st summer Little Gull on Hill’s Beach in Biddeford on 6/19. It was among about 40-50 Bonaparte’s Gulls and hunkered down against the wind. This was my first in southern Maine in quite a few years.
Breeding season is upon us, and Maine’s seabird islands are in full effect – even when they don’t have a Tufted Puffin. I did find a Little Gull, however, and that was fun; I really like Little Gulls! My observations of note over the past seven days included the following:
Biddeford Pool shoreline and neighborhood, 6/19: 1 1st summer Great Cormorant, 3 Black Scoters, 1 pair Surf Scoters, and 1 likely-late migrant Magnolia Warbler.
1 first-summer LITTLE GULL and 1 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, Hill’s Beach, Biddeford, 6/19 (photos above).
3 Semipalmated Sandpipers and 14 Black-bellied Plovers, The Pool, Biddeford Pool, 6/19.
Belgrade PURPLE MARTIN colony, 6/21: Jeannette and I counted at least 25 occupied nests holes, which I believe would be a recent record high of this venerable colony.
1 Red Crossbill, Downeast Sunrise Trail, Machias, 6/21 (with Jeannette).
15-20 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, Cutler Harbor to Machias Seal Island with Bold Coast Charter Co, 6/22 (with Paul Dioron, Bill Thompson, and Jeannette).
1 pair NORTHERN GANNETS, displaying and early-courtship behavior, Machias Seal Island with Bold Coast Charter Co, 6/22 (with Paul Dioron, Bill Thompson, and Jeannette).
1 Greater Yellowlegs, Machias River Causeway, 6/22 (with Jeannette). High-flying and heading south, was this our first migrant of “fall?” or just an over-summering bird heading to a roost?
2 Red Crossbills (Typ1 10 fide Matt Young), 1 Bay-breasted Warbler, Palm Warblers, etc, Cutler Coast Maine Public Reserve Lands, 6/23 (with Jeannette).
1 pair AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS, Egg Rock off Petit Manan peninsula, with Acadia Nature Tours puffin trip to Petit Manan Island (with Doug Hitchcox, Jeannette, et al). No Tufted Puffin.
After a couple of failed nesting attempts followed by a 2-3(?) year hiatus, a male Northern Gannet has been hanging out and “prospecting” on Machias Seal Island again this year. Recently, he has attracted the attention of a 4th-cycle, presumed female. We were lucky enough to view them outside of our blind during a tour there on 6/22. This was just a quick snapshot with my phone. Jeannette has over a thousand photos to sort through!
Well that sure was fun! What a day! All the superlatives.
Fall pelagics in the Gulf of Maine are few and far between, especially in October. With whale watches ending early to mid-month each year, opportunities to board vessels to look for seabirds become greatly limited. There’s so much to learn about what is out there at this time of year.
Furthermore, fall weather is temperamental, and planning for a day of deep-sea birding months in advance is a crapshoot. And even when the conditions are great, there are days where there just seems to be no life out there. I’ve certainly been on whale watches in October without a single non-gannet seabird. Those can be long days, especially in rough seas.
Monday was NOT one of those days. In fact, it was incredible. Following up on our success of last year’s trip on October 12, and several extremely productive whale watches over the years with our partners for this tour, Cap’n Fish’s Cruises, we had high hopes, but reasonable expectations. Because pelagics. In the Gulf of Maine. In October.
The first of our wishes had come true: the boat was going to run! Although there would be some swell offshore (and there was), there was no concern about getting far offshore today. The winds were light, the air was warm, and it was basically about the nicest day one could hope for in a normal October in Maine.
So that was a good start. But soon, it got even better. Shockingly so.
Just a few minutes out of the dock, a few folks spotted what they thought was a Red-throated Loon. I took a look, expecting the first Red-throated Loon of the season, but was shocked when I saw the puffy head and bright gray nape of what could only have been a Pacific Loon! In full breeding plumage!
What the what?
This stunning bird – rare but regular in Maine but extremely rare in such stunning breeding plumage – was with a Common Loon right off our bow. And we had not yet even left the harbor’s no-wake zone.
We were in the boat channel, and luckily, there was no traffic coming or going, so Captain Steve adeptly turned us around and we slowly worked our way closer to the loon, attempting to get the bird in the best light possible for photographs. And this was no easy feat – we were in a narrow channel and if there were any other boats coming or going, this maneuver might not have even been possible. But alas, luck was with us already, and many folks had a life bird, year-bird, or “life-plumage” before we even left the harbor. I for one was not ready for this…I was still organizing, and we were still plotting a course! And I clearly needed to finish that cup of coffee (words? What are words? And how do I use them again?)
Could this day get any better? Spoiler alert: it did.
The great thing about our partnership with Cap’n Fish’s is that we have a great, fast, comfortable boat that can cover a lot of ground when we need to. However, there’s something special about this area at this time of year that means we usually don’t have to. In fact, shortly after clearing Damariscove Island, we started picking up Northern Gannets and the first few scattered Great Shearwaters. There just wasn’t a long stretch of “worthless” ground to be transited before we start to see life. This was even more evident on the way back, as we were tallying seabirds until we were right up to the eastern side of Damariscove.
In between, we covered a fair amount of ground at a steady speed, setting two chum slicks over promising areas. Covering a couple of ledges and a long contour line where we have had great success in the past, there was rarely any lengths of time we didn’t have a pelagic species or two. We never went further than 20-25 miles offshore, mostly working an area near the Portland ship channel that has been productive for us in the past. At times we were in waters up to 500ft deep but were more interested in places where upwelling might occur – such as near ledges, ridges, or “holes.”
Unfortunately, birds were just not excited about the chum today, so we didn’t have a ton of birds close enough to touch. But, our captain did his best to get us close to the occasional raft of loafing Great Shearwaters for example. Northern Fulmars seemed to be “sniffing out” our offerings, but excitement never developed. Lots of great, close passes however, with others sitting on the water here and there. I was conservative in my count as I thought 4 birds were making a wide circle around us for a spell, but it’s possible there were a lot more individuals.
Great Shearwaters
I now expect Atlantic Puffins off this boat at this time of year, but we did not expect to tally 32 of them (which seems quite low in hindsight). I was surprised to not see any Razorbills until we were almost back inshore, but then we had some good looks within site of the outer islands.
It took photo review to confirm the two jaegers (including one frustratingly distant one) as the expected species, Pomarine. But still, any day with a jaeger is a good day.
There was a good 2-4 foot swell offshore, but little chop. You could feel the roll though, and a few sharp turns were definitely noticed. It was just enough to limit how quickly we could stop on a dime and go back for a loafing bird, or change course to chase down a jaeger. But overall, it was a decidedly pleasant day on the water!
I think most people would have been satisfied if the only “good” bird was the Pacific Loon, but we had a challenger for best bird of the day. Now, the looks we had and the gorgeous plumage of the loon put it ahead for many, but from a rarely-encountered perspective – along with the fact that this is THE bird(s) we hope for on this trip – the excitement among participants reached its crescendo when I yelled the magic word: “SKUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAA!”
Just about 2/3rds of the way through the trip and about 20miles offshore, a dark, menacing terror of the ocean came roaring towards us and passed in front of the bow. It took a half-hearted swing at a Herring Gull before, unfortunately, continuing on. I spotted it as it was coming towards us at 11:00 (the bow of the boat is 12:00), but most folks got on it only as it came out of the sun glare by 1:00 or so. Therefore, most of our photos are of the bird heading away.
My initial reaction was Great Skua based on my impression of a reddish-tone to the upperparts in particular. I thought I saw a darker crown and I didn’t see a pale blaze on the face. Great Skua is a little more likely in this season, but we are still far from understanding the true ranges of it, and its southern Atlantic counterpart, the South Polar Skua, and especially differences in age classes (and their respective molt patterns).
However, after trying my best to give useful and enunciated directions to all the observers on board, I got back on the bird to study it only as it was going away. I was surprised by the cold, dark brown appearance it now had, as opposed to that first impression.
We threw out some chum to try and stir the pot, but it just kept going. We began a chase, but that did not last long – the skua smoked us!
The first photo I looked on the back of a camera seemed to confirm the reddish tone that would be indicative of Great Skua.
So that temporarily confirmed the call on the field, but as I made clear, I wanted to review as many photos as possible. And as I began to receive them, I could not get over how most of them showed a very dark, cold South Polar-like color impression.
The instant replay was now under review. Some skuas are straightforward, but this was not one of them, in large part because of the distance it passed and the lighting we were able to photograph it in. I have sent photos to several friends more fluent in skua than I, and I awaited their analysis. There are a few things that are just not computing for me, but I – like 99.9% of birders – just don’t have enough experience with skuas, especially in fall when many are a molting mess.
Unfortunately, a head-on or side shot might give us a definitive head pattern, but that is not apparently in existence. The lack of blond streaks on the back is a knock against Great, but some non-adults are really dark and minimally streaked at this season. And no photos show the nape, either.
So this is the best that we have to go on at the moment. I’ve included a series of photos here, and more can be found on eBird. I will update this blog as I receive more information and continue to study the incoming photos but I do believe at this time that this is a 1st-year South Polar Skua. That would explain the pattern of molt (similar to what an adult Great Skua should look like now) and those worn outer primaries that gave many folks – myself included – an impression of a paler, warmer brown. Also, those new coverts on the upperparts are so blackish – I can’t seem to find photos of Great Skuas suggesting that kind of deep, dark color. (I will add comments and commentary at the end of this entry as I receive them. I’ll also update the photo suite if I receive anything new and revelatory.)
Anyway, skuas are awesome, even if their identity is often in question – and realistically, cannot always be answered. But we had _a_ skua, any skua, and that is the apex of a fall pelagic trip, especially the further west and south you get.
(Oh, and since I am thinking of it, here’s a link to the pelagic-by-cruiseship that Jeannette and I investigated a few years back. That was a skua fest and resulted in my first confirmed Great Skua for Maine – which had been a nemesis until then. We were talking about this trip on the boat and wanted to share the link. )
So yeah, a Pacific Loon and a <insert identity> Skua! Lots of puffins, Great Shearwaters, Northern Fulmars (another target of the season), and so much more. And yes, we had a couple of Minke Whales, lots of Harbor Porpoise and Harbor Seals, several schools of Bluefin Tuna, and a really lovely pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins.
The following counts were adjusted to reflect total number of individuals (and not double-counting birds in and around the harbor while traveling to and fro) tallied in separate eBird transects kept by my trusty co-leader, chummer, and list-keeper, Ian Carlsen.
I’ve annotated the checklist with photos from Jeannette and others, as I received them. I’ll add more, especially if any pertinent to the skua ID discussion surface.
500+ Common Eiders
300+ Herring Gulls
173 Great Shearwaters
100+ Double-crested Cormorants
85+ Great Black-backed Gulls
94 Northern Gannets
32 ATLANTIC PUFFINS (high!)
31 Rock Pigeons (dock)
16 Common Loons
15 Black Guillemots
12 NORTHERN FULMARS
8 Razorbills
3 Bald Eagles
2 POMARINE JAEGERS
Bird #1:
Bird #2:
1 Surf Scoter
1 SOUTH POLAR SKUA (*see discussion above)
1 Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile)
1 PACIFIC LOON (no, seriously!)
Today was a good day!
Skua Identification feedback (coming soon):
From Michael O’Brien:
“It’s tough to see much detail on this bird, so hard to be 100% sure about it. Having said that, I think I would lean toward a first year South Polar. It has fresh inner primaries, which fits the molt pattern of an adult Great or first year South Polar. The outer primaries seem quite worn/faded, which is why I’m thinking it’s a first year bird with old juv outer primaries. In terms of color, it seems fairly cold toned, and in particular, what looks like fresh greater coverts seem dark and cold toned vs normally paler, warmer, and more mottled (and contrasting with darker secondaries) on a Great. So that’s my take on it, at the risk of reading too much into some distant photos! “
Thanks to last fall’s wildly successful half-day pelagic with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises, we partnered up again to offer three outings in 2021. On Monday, June 7th, the first of three departures took place.
June is an untraditional month for southern Maine pelagics, but our Boothbay Harbor departures, and a fast, steady boat allow us access to some prime areas. Few people had this in mind however on Monday, when instead, most people were just excited to escape the stifling heat on land!
The seas had died down overnight, and the mere 2 foot swell was often barely noticeable. A cooling breeze over the 56-degree water made us welcome our layers, but not at all miss the sweltering mainland.
There are few guarantees in pelagic birding…well unless you visit a seabird island! So instead of just searching for needles in the offshore haystack, we first headed over to Eastern Egg Rock. We sifted through many hundreds of Common Terns until everyone got good looks at Roseate (20+) and Arctic (20+) Terns. 75-100 Atlantic Puffins, 100+ Black Guillemots, 500+ Laughing Gulls, Common Eiders, a Spotted Sandpiper, Double-crested Cormorants, Herring Gulls, and Great Black-backed Gulls were all observed from the comfort of our limited-capacity boat.
A passerine on our way to Eastern Egg Rock may have been an oriole (awaiting photos to review), but that was our only non-seabird of the day. Kelsey pointed out lighthouses, islands, and other landmarks as we motored from the harbor out past Monhegan Island.
We then traveled over 20 miles to waters over 500 feet deep, and a ledge where the bottom rose steeply to a depth of only 380. On the way out, it was quiet. Really, really quiet. Uh-oh, is this was June pelagic birding is like around here too?
But traveling over fairly flat, often sandy or muddy bottom is not a good sample, and as we hit the deeper water and some topography, we began to see our first tubenoses of the day: Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, which have just arrived from their sub-Antarctic breeding areas.
With Ian chumming, petrels began to come in closer, and the first of our Northern Fulmars arrived to check things out. While we worked the ledge, and then double-backed on our chum slick, the birds kept appearing and Captain Mike did a great job keeping birds in the best lighting possible.
Some of the highlights included the rather late fulmars and an unseasonable offshore Common Murre, but I think the real highlight was how well we saw just about everything! Even two of our Red-necked Phalaropes were close enough to age and sex (they were adult female), and Ian’s chum brought fulmars and storm-petrels in close. While we only had one Great Shearwater on this early date, it too made a close pass, affording good looks for everyone.
The total seabird count away from Eastern Egg Rock (see estimates from there above) was as follows (not including gulls and other nearshore species)
103 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels
13 Northern Gannets
10+ Arctic Terns (out of sight of Eastern Egg)
5 Unidentified phalaropes
5 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES
4 NORTHERN FULMARS
1 Great Shearwater
1 COMMON MURRE
It was not the diversity of later summer and fall, and certainly not the numbers (at least once we left the magic of Eastern Egg), but we had a nice selection of “good” birds, great looks at them, and we did all of this in less than four hours in offshore waters. The convenience of a Boothbay departure, the accessibility of some rich feeding areas without heading too far, the speed and comfort of the boat (especially the grilled cheese sandwiches), and more resulted in another rewarding trip and a sure sign of the potential of these tours.
In fact, our next trip in July (no chumming on this one, unfortunately) with a similar itinerary of starting at Eastern Egg Rock is filling up fast. We’re also now accepting reservations for our October outing, which, based on last year’s results, we are already looking forward too!
Maine Birding Field Notes 