Tag Archives: seabirds

This Week’s Highlights 10/8 – 10/14/2025.

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No photos represented my birding week more than Yellow-rumped Warblers in flight! Thanks, as always, to Bill for allowing me to use his photos here.

  • My tour report from our 10/5 Half-Day Pelagic out of Boothbay Harbor is posted here, including a complete species list and lots of photos.
2025 Fall Half-Day Pelagic with Freeport Wild Bird Supply and Cap’n Fish’s Cruises.

Next, my observations of note over the last seven days included the following:

  • Highlights from our Durham property this week included 1 Rusty Blackbird 10/8-9 and 3 American Woodcocks on 10/14.
  • Sandy Point Morning Flight, 10/9: A record-shattering day!

An exceptional Morning Flight passed over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth this morning. In fact, it was record-breaking!

6:48-10:48am

41, clear, lt-mod NW (did not take early wind reading) decreasing then increasing back to 7.7-10.5mph before becoming increasingly gusty)

3244 Yellow-rumped Warblers (NEW RECORD!)

1423 American Robins

585 Unidentified (mostly high bunches or too far to north or south)

576 Dark-eyed Juncos (NEW RECORD!)

100+ White-throated Sparrows (Conservative estimate in parking lot area after flight; a handful appeared to cross at dawn).

59 Ruby-crowned Kinglets

50 Palm Warblers

74 Northern Flickers

72 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

44 Rusty Blackbirds (NEW RECORD)

43 Golden-crowned Kinglets

18 Chipping Sparrows

16 Black-throated Green Warblers

15 Northern Parulas

14 Cedar Waxwings

11 Purple Finches

10 unidentified kinglets

9 American Pipits

8 Blue-headed Vireos

6 Blackpoll Warblers

6 Hermit Thrushes (minimum, with two or several repeatedly visiting pasture rose hips at bridge base)

4 Eastern Bluebirds

4 Eastern Phoebes

4 American Goldfinches

3 Red-bellied Woodpeckers (NEW RECORD!)

2 Black-throated Blue Warblers

2 White-crowned Sparrows

2 Brown Creepers

2 Swamp Sparrows

2 Tufted Titmice (several false starts)

2 Merlins

2 Magnolia Warblers

2 Common Loons

1 Swainson’s Thrush (confirmed by Bill Thompson)

1 Yellow Warbler

1 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER

1 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (from photo review by Bill Thompson)

1 Red-tailed Hawk

1 Red-winged Blackbird

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 American Redstart

1 Blue Jay

1 Turkey Vulture

1 unidentified sparrow (probably a Field)

1 Eastern Towhee

1 Cooper’s Hawk

1 Pine Siskin

X Song Sparrows (significant increase in parking lot area but did not count)

***Total = 6,428 *** 2ND HIGHEST ALL-TIME COUNT and HIGHEST OCTOBER COUNT!***

  • Sandy Point Morning Flight, 10/10:

A good morning flight passed over and through Sandy Point Beach, Cousin’s Island, Yarmouth this morning. Given the calm winds of much of the night, and the completely calm dawn, it was much more active than I expected. Kinglets were swirling all over, so my counts may be too high or very low. The Ruby-crowned count seems a touch high, while the Golden-crowned count feels low. Meanwhile, the slower and lower flight, with more birds pausing before crossing despite the lack of wind made for excellent viewing and much more relaxing and enjoyable morning!

6:49-9:52am

33F, clear, calm with a developing puff of WNW.

449 Yellow-rumped Warblers

138 Ruby-crowned Kinglets

106 American Robins

52 Golden-crowned Kinglets

37 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

35 Dark-eyed Juncos

25 Cedar Waxwings

16 Northern Flickers

10 Eastern Bluebirds

9 Blue-headed Vireos

8 Palm Warblers

8 Chipping Sparrows

8 White-throated Sparrows

5 Red-breasted Mergansers

5 Nashville Warblers

5 Northern Parulas

4 Brown Creepers

3 Tennessee Warblers

3 Black-throated Blue Warblers

3 Hermit Thrushes

2 Blue Jays

2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers (2nd highest tally after yesterday’s record 3!)

2 American Goldfinches

2 Common Loons

2 Eastern Phoebes

2 Tufted Titmice (numerous “false starts.” Same two as yesterday?)

2 Black-capped Chickadees

2 Red-breasted Nuthatches

1 Osprey

1 Purple Finch

1 Black-throated Green Warbler

1 House Finch

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 unidentified Catharus

1 Common Yellowthroat

1 American Redstart

1 Hairy Woodpecker

1 American Pipit

1 Northern Harrier

1 Savannah Sparrow

1 Lincoln’s Sparrow

1 Red-eyed Vireo

1 Swamp Sparrow

Total = 960

  • 3 continuing juvenile LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS and 1 continuing juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher, Walsh Preserve, Freeport, 10/10.
  • 1 “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow (FOF), 1 Saltmarsh Sparrow, 4 Nelson’s Sparrows, 2 Red Crossbills, 2 Northern Pintails, etc, Reid State Park, Georgetown, 10/12.
  • 1 “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow and 2 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, 10/13.

Upcoming Tours with Limited Space Available:

  • Birds on Tap℠ – The Boat Trip! Rare Birds and Island Exploration with Portland Explorer.

This Sunday! October 19, 2025; 9:00am – 2:00pm

​These unique, relaxed birding and beer-ing adventures that you have come to love combine great local birding at seasonal hotspots with visits to sample the delicious creations of some of our favorite local breweries. These tours are a perfect introduction to birding and/or craft beer, and a great opportunity to travel with significant others, friends, and family that have interest in one topic, while your interest is primarily in the other (for now!). But this time we’re leaving the van in the garage, and hitting the water! That’s right, we’re taking a cruise, and we’re returning to the private House Island in Porland Harbor twice in 2025. 

During last year’s wildly successful outing in which we became the first birding group ever on the island, we found oodles of Yellow-rumped Wabrlers, an uncommon Field Sparrow, and other migrants. But we were truly captivated by Captain Pete, who guided us through the historic fort, sharing a wealth of historical knowledge and fascinating stories. The beer was pretty darn good too, as we sampled the history of Maine’s craft beer scene. 

Building on that success, we’re visiting the private House Island in Portland Harbor twice in 2025. We’ve been granted special permission to come ashore and scour the island here in the peak of fall migration. We’ll follow well-maintained trails through the island’s mosaic of open habitats, scrub, and young woods. These are great habitats to search for a variety of migrants, and perhaps even a rarity!  

Returning in late October, once again rarities will be on our mind. While rare birds are rare, we are still going to expect the unexpected. But more likely are regular migrants of the season such as Yellow-rumped Warblers, a variety of sparrows, and a growing diversity of waterbirds. At the very least, we’ll have resident waterbirds and several species of gulls to sort through. We are having daydreams of a rare flycatcher!

As we motor back across the harbor, we’ll continue to familiarize ourselves with some of the common waterbirds, such as Common Eiders, Common Loons, and the vanguard of our winter diving ducks while enjoying a local craft beverage produced in the city of Portland. While the exact plan is subject to change, we’ll be sure to come up with a plan to adequately celebrate our discoveries.

This Week’s Highlights, 6/28-7/4/2025

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This week I even had some time to spend a few mornings on my own enjoying Maine’s birds of summer, like this Roseate Tern on Hill’s Beach in Biddeford on the 29th.

It was back to normal for my schedule this week, and I was actually in the state for the whole week! With a little time off for a change as well, I had a great week of birding resulting in the following observations of note:

  • 1 adult male ORCHARD ORIOLE feeding a very-recently fledged fledglings, Old Town House Park, North Yarmouth, 6/28 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • 4 American Oystercatchers, 10 Short-billed Dowitchers (likely first southbound migrants of fall!), 1 Semipalmated Plover, and 1 Black-bellied Plover, Hill’s Beach, Biddeford, 6/28.
  • 3 Short-billed Dowitchers and 2 Black-bellied Plovers, The Pool, Biddeford, 6/28.
  • 8+ singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS, California Fields Wildlife Area, Hollis, 6/30.
  • 3 Cory’s Shearwaters and 200+ Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, off Boothbay Harbor via Freeport Wild Bird Supply/Cap’n Fish’s Cruises Whale/Puffin Combo Tour, 7/3 (morning; with tour group).
  • 3 American Oystercatchers, 16 Short-billed Dowitchers, 1 Ruddy Turnstone, etc, Eastern Egg Rock and 40+ Wilson’s Storm-Petrels offshore via Cap’n Fish’s Cruises Whale/Puffin Combo Tour, 7/3 (afternoon).
  • Fledglings being fed at our feeders in Durham this week included Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Bluebird, Carolina Wren, etc, etc.

UPCOMING TOURS

Join me and Cap’n Fish’s Cruises out of Boothbay for another special edition of their daily Puffin and Whales Cruise on Saturday July 19th. While this is not a dedicated pelagic, I’ll be a guest naturalist to help spot and call out birds at Eastern Egg Rock and offshore. With the irregular occurrence of the Tufted Puffin and now a Bridled Tern at EEG, you won’t want to miss the chance for a more birding-focused few hours on the water!  And the more birders we have aboard, the better!

Gulf of Maine Pelagic Birding by Cruiseship, Oct-Nov 2024.

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Cruise ships are big, stable platforms that allow for pelagic birding in comfort and with the use of spotting scopes!

In 2019, Jeannette and I took a cruise through the Gulf of Maine and northwestern Atlantic Ocean in the hopes of finding Great Skuas in particular. It was wildly successful, and if we could repeat this success, perhaps there would be a cruise-ship-based tour to offer. At least it would be more comfortable than last week’s attempt!

Therefore, on the evening of 10/26, Jeannette and I boarded Princess Cruises’s Enchanted Princess out of Brooklyn, New York. Our hope was to replicate the success of our 2019 trip. We were planning on a second scouting trip in the fall of 2020, but then COVID.

After finally feeling ready to consider a cruise again, we found the itinerary had changed, and we would need to spend seven days to get two full days offshore..we even needed to come back home first! But alas, we had pandemic-era credit that was going to expire, so off we went. Is this a reliable way to see Great Skuas in North America? Could I document a Barolo’s Shearwater this time?

We started our birding, however, at Brooklyn’s Greenwood Cemetery, home of this massive Monk Parakeet colony.

We departed New York Harbor with about an hour of usable daylight, picking up a single Cory’s Shearwater and plenty of Northern Gannets.

Screenshot

Arriving off Newport before dawn the next morning, we got the first shuttle to town, where our friends Bill and Jess picked us up for a lovely day of birding (Clay-colored Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler, late Nashville Warbler) before returning to the boat. About 45 minutes of deck time produced 8 Cory’s and a single Great Shearwater.

Newport arrivals.
“Western” Palm Warbler at Sachuest NWR.

Unfortunately, this particular boat offered less-than-ideal viewing opportunities compared to our first trip, with the best deck space on Deck 7 (a great height) but way too aft. Even with our scopes on the steady platform, this was going to be a challenge.

Approaching Boston on the morning of 10/28, we checked the decks for passerines (none) before taking our place on Deck 7. There were a lot of Northern Gannets, 4-5 Cory’s Shearwaters close enough to identify as borealis, and a pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins. A Song Sparrow flew aboard just outside the outer harbor islands, but before that, our first real surprise of the trip: an American Woodcock appearing from the north and cruising alongside the length of the boat before disappearing. That’s not a “pelagic” we expected!

We birded Boston’s Greenway a bit, but returned to the boat well after dark. Sailing slowly overnight, we returned to Portland (the original itinerary had us visiting Bar Harbor), where a long, thorough check of the Eastern Promenade yielded two Orange-crowned Warblers and a very late Red-eyed Vireo.

Darkness reached us a tantalizingly-short distance to Cash’s Ledge, so we retired to rest up for the big day at sea tomorrow (finally!). 

Waking up in Maine waters about 16.5 nautical miles southeast of Mt Desert Rock, I stepped outside well before first light at 6:05am. I immediately texted Noam, the other birder on board that we rapidly had become friends with, and I hustled Jeannette outside. With some drizzle arriving ahead of approaching light rain, we had ourselves a fallout!

Unexpected considering there were little to no birds on the Maine radars overnight, and with a south wind through most of the night, I was surprised to immediately hear the flight calls of several Yellow-rumped Warblers. Sparrows were scattered about on the open decks. Noam and I had to usher a Rusty Blackbird out of a foyer, while Jeannette had to steer a Dark-eyed Junco down a hallway.

“Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow – that was an unexpected migrant, but makes sense considering we were southwest of Sable Island!

Clearly disoriented by the obnoxiously superfluous lighting of the ship, dozens of birds were around…often being flushed by now-awakening crew and passengers. Luckily, few birds seemed to be in dire straits – only one Yellow-rumped Warbler looked to me to be thoroughly exhausted, thankfully. In fact, most birds were leaving the boat as the sun rose and they were able to reorient themselves. While some birds seemed to arrive in the 15 or so minutes after sunrise, just about all passerines had departed the boat by 7:30 or so.

This photo, taken from off Eastern Point in Gloucester, MA the night before shows just how bright these ships are, and how disorienting they can be to birds.

With birds circling the boat before dawn, calling continuously, and others hiding in corners before being flushed to another corner, it was tough to count, but I estimated and counted a bare minimum of 8 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 8 American Robins (mostly overhead), 7 European Starlings (surprisingly), 6+ Dark-eyed Juncos, 2 Purple Finches, 2 fly-over American Pipits, 2 Savannah Sparrows, and one each of Palm Warbler, Snow Bunting, White-throated Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, and Rusty Blackbird. Additionally, Noam photographed a Pine Warbler.

The three of us were in place on Deck 7 by 7:30, but the passerine show continued. A flock of 12 Red-winged Blackbirds flew by, while a flock of 14 American Robins joined by two more red-wings flew alongside the boat for several miles later in the morning before overtaking us and heading back to Nova Scotia.

Throughout the day, other passerines appeared and disappeared, some of which could easily have been sheltering out of sight somewhere inaccessible on the boat. These included a few more robins, 3+ Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 Dark-eyed Juncos, and one each of Palm Warbler, Song Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, Snow Bunting, American Pipit, and Lapland Longspur.

American Pipit
Harlequin Duck (L) with Black Scoters

But this was a seabird trip, and so we remained vigilant over the water. While we only had a few minutes in Maine waters once we began our vigil, the rest of the day was productive overall, although the afternoon was quite slow. As we passed the southern tip of Nova Scotia (we even spotted Seal Island Light that we were lucky enough to visit with a group of birders about 20 years ago), we finally called it quits at 5:45 pm when cloud cover accelerated the falling of darkness.

Here’s our route (left pin to right pin) for the day, thanks to the Navionics Boating app by Garmin.

From start to finish, our respectable – albeit not breathtaking – seabird tallies included oodles of Northern Gannets (including a steady southbound trickle almost all morning), and occasional southbound flocks of all three scoters and Common Eiders. Specific counts included:

  • 47 Black-legged Kittiwakes
  • 36 Razorbills
  • 13 Northern Fulmars
  • 10 Great Shearwaters
  • 6 DOVEKIES (one flock landing off to the side of the boat)
  • 3 ATLANTIC PUFFINS
  • 3 American Black Ducks
  • 3 unidentified large shearwaters
  • 2 Harlequin Ducks
  • 1 Greater Scaup
Great Shearwater

So all in all, not a bad day, but the passerines stole the show, and while Dovekie is one of the target birds of this trip, we didn’t see a skua…or even a jaeger, surprisingly.

The next day we awoke well within Halifax Harbor, but a sunrise passerine check yielded two birds: a White-throated Sparrow, and of all things, a rare Dickcissel!

Local friends Eric and Anne once again rescued us for a day of casual birding and good conversation, but the ship departed after dark; just more time to rest for our second full day at sea!

Halifax Public Garden
Northern Flicker

The morning of 11/1 found us between Downeast Maine and the northern corner of Georges Bank. The rest of the day would be in the same waters of our great success on our trip five years ago. After a passerine check which didn’t turn up anything (which meant nothing was disoriented by the ship overnight or desperate for a place to land come dawn, so this is never a bad thing), it was time to get to work in our usual spot.

Unfortunately, strong southwesterly winds and growing seas, with haze and light fog in the distance, made birding challenging. We worked hard though, but it was slow. We did have some excitement from two Dovekies that landed fairly close to the boat, and two Manx Shearwaters that, thanks to the lighting, I was absolutely sure were not Manx Shearwaters until we carefully reviews Noam’s photos later.

With glare and haze becoming problematic, we broke for an early lunch at 11:30, with the previous 4.5 hours of observation producing only the following, plus two Humpback Whales:

  • 12 Northern Gannets
  • 7 Great Shearwaters
  • 6 Red Phalaropes
  • 4 unidentified large shearwaters
  • 2 DOVEKIES
  • 2 Northern Fulmars
  • 2 Manx Shearwater (after review)
  • 2 Black-legged Kittiwakes
  • 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
  • 2 unidentified large alcids
  • 1 unidentified small black-and-white shearwater.

Unfortunately, with increasing wind (that we were heading straight into) and seas growing up to 7-10 feet (barely noticeable on a ship this big though, thankfully!), the lower deck was closed off for safety. Later, even the upper decks were closed off due to the very high winds, which were now blowing nearly 30mph out of the southwest.

Screenshot

Luckily for Jeannette and I, we had scored a forward-facing room, and although we were high up on Deck 17, we could see forward. Haze and the angled window were problematic, but we could see birds close to the ship, and we could relax, remove layers, and even crack open a beer. This is pelagic birding in style!

From 1pm to 5pm, when we finally called it a day, the afternoon cabin-watch netted:

  • 11 Great Shearwaters
  • 9 Northern Gannets
  • 5 Cory’s/Cory’s-type Shearwaters
  • 3 unidentified phalaropes
  • 2 Manx Shearwaters
Screenshot

And so our two days at seas concluded without a Great Skua, our primary target species for a future cruise..and perhaps a future tour. Alas, we’re only 1 for 2 in seeing skuas from the boat, and we would need a different class of ship (and, a shorter itinerary with more time at sea and less time in multiple ports) if we were to do this again. We’ll be keeping an eye out from other companies and other Princess ships to see if there’s a more skua-tactic itinerary in the future, but until then, our northeast Atlantic cruisin’ days may have come to a close.

Arriving in New York harbor before dawn, our last sunrise deck check yielded a single Dark-eyed Junco, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and White-throated Sparrow, bringing our more-productive passerine birding cruise to a close.

Boothbay ½-day Pelagic Trip Report, 10/14/2024

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The trip started off right with plenty of close Northern Gannets.

Pelagic birding is a lot like Goldilocks’ porridge: it’s hard for it to be juuuuust right. Last year it was too calm and birds were hard to find. This year, it was anything but calm.

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.

Canada Goose7
Mallard5
American Black Duck2
Common Eider255
Surf Scoter180
White-winged Scoter50
Black Scoter40
unidentified dark-winged scoter40
unidentified scoter240
Rock Pigeon20
Dunlin3
Semipalmated Sandpiper1
Black Guillemot24
COMMON MURRE2
UNIDENTIFIED JAEGER1
Bonaparte’s Gull2
Laughing Gull7
Ring-billed Gull14
Herring Gull781
Great Black-backed Gull347
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL1
Common Loon50
NORTHERN FULMAR1
Cory’s Shearwater1
Northern Gannet67
Double-crested Cormorant307
Great Blue Heron1
Osprey3
Northern Harrier1
Peregrine Falcon2
American Crow7
Savannah Sparrow1
Yellow-rumped Warbler1
Unidentified passerine1

Boothbay Harbor Mini-Pelagic with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises, 10/16/23

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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
  • scattered Harbor Seals

Hurricane Lee Birding in Maine FOMO – or not!

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As Jeannette and I boarded our plane at the Portland Jetport on Thursday the 14th, I had a sinking feeling of future regret. While I was very much looking forward to attending my cousin’s wedding, seeing family, and spending some time in Philadelphia, I could not help but wonder if I was about to miss the birding event of a lifetime in Maine.

While concern about lives, property, and environmental damage of course reign supreme, birders can repress that as the “rarity fever” symptoms surge and dreams of vagrants and storm-tossed seabirds dance in our minds. As with any storm, safety comes first, but as soon as it’s reasonably safe to venture outside, birders hit the ground. Birders along the Gulf Coast and Florida are used to gearing up for this. We here in New England are not.

Hurricanes are rare this far north – at least for now – and few have been as big as Hurricane Lee. Lee was barreling straight for Downeast Maine as of Thursday morning, with a possible direct hit on Washington County or the Bay of Fundy.  Had I not had family obligations (family first! Although, yes, I did wonder for a second if I should claim COVID and run out of the airport) I would have been heading to Lubec this weekend without a doubt. I’ve never done a bonafide storm (bird) chase, and this would be the chance.

While an upper-level trough could still push Lee well to our east, it seemed clear we would be seeing some impacts here in Maine regardless.  Be that a strong northeasterly wind producing exceptional -but perhaps rarity-free seawatching – or first state records from a direct hit (White-faced Storm-Petrel anyone?), I would have liked to be in position to find out.

Instead, I’ll watch from afar as events unfold, and hope either 1) I have less regrets, or 2) a vagrant or two stick around until Tuesday! 

Several friends and I had been discussing the possible rarity potential of Hurricane Lee, and Luke Seitz immediately pointed out the similarity to the track of Hurricane Fiona that slammed into eastern Nova Scotia in September of 2023.

Making landfall in the early morning hours of September 23rd between Canso and Guysborough, Fiona caused unprecedented damage throughout a large portion of Atlantic Canada. It also yielded some unprecedented birding.

The summary of the storm’s windfall (pardon the pun) is summarized by this American Birding Association blog post.

Hurricane Fiona Report 2022

But there are two particularly epic eBird checklists, here and here, that captured the moment.

Was this about to happen in Maine? Would I be missing it? Arrgh!

While birding at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge on the outskirts of Philly on Friday morning helped take my mind off of it, my thoughts were often wandering to my friends Downeast. First and foremost was their safety and well-being. A distant second, however, was the birding. By Saturday morning, when we took a walk around Independence National Historic Park, I waited for my phone to blow up.

And then…crickets.

Before making landfall, Hurricane Lee had transitioned to a post-tropical cyclone over the Gulf of Maine. It also had shifted slightly east – making a direct hit on Nova Scotia now seem more likely. The storm was now absolutely massive in size, with tropical storm-force winds from New Hampshire to Cape Breton. A little wobble in the stormtrack in the late morning shifted the center of the storm into the Bay of Fundy, skimming Nova Scotia’s southwest coast.

But I heard nothing from back home, so I just couldn’t take it anymore and began checking in via text messages. Chris Barlett was stationed on the seawall at Eastport, where he spent “5 hours watching the ocean…during the worst weather on Saturday in hopes of seeing just one rare bird.  Torrential rain and 60mph gusts rocked my vehicle.  Dozens of Bonaparte’s gulls and up to 20 common terns flew against the wind and fed in the waves beside my truck, but no rarities joined the fray.  We lost power at home for about 12 hours. “

Luke and cohorts were heading east into New Brunswick. Evan Obercian was out checking for grounded shorebirds in the Mid-Coast. Nova Scotia birders were repositioning. I decided to drown my expected sorrows in cheese whiz.

With a strong northeasterly wind, seawatching along Maine’s southern coast was about average for the conditions. No rarities; just a few more pelagic species closer to shore than normal – although all within the expected birds for a good onshore blow. And while there were a few more shorebird reports inland than average, nothing was suggestive of a major grounding.

By Saturday afternoon, with the storm making its landfall Nova Scotia (officially on Long Island), a few reports started to make it in – but nothing of even a remotely tropical nature in Maine. In southern Maine and the mid-coast, winds were already whipping out of the northwest, ushering any seabirds further from shore. Seawatching was a bust. In other words, it was a non-event.

In New Brunswick, Luke reported “a few storm birds on the Saint John River in the afternoon and on Sunday Morning” but just the regular Bay of Fundy species and not in any unusual numbers, and rare bird reports from the province were non-existent.

It remained a non-event in Maine through Sunday morning. Here’s Chris’s report from Eastport: “I went back to the breakwater on Sunday morning and watched the sunrise as I scanned the waters between Campobello Island , NB and Eastport, Maine.  There weren’t many birds flying and low tide was around 7am (no rips), so I decided to launch my little skiff.  At 9am Doug Hitchcox and I took a cruise through choppy seas in Head Harbor Passage.  We found a few hundred Bonaparte’s gulls and a handful of common terns feeding in the tidal rips but, alas, no rarities.  I kept an eye out throughout the day for vagrant seabirds while I was cleaning up the yard and mowing the lawn.  Oh well, at least there wasn’t widespread damage!”  Seawatching elsewhere was similarly uneventful.

There weren’t even a lot of reports of concentrations of common birds during the storm. An exception was the group of 50+ Snowy Egrets seeking shelter in a small pond in Freeport.

In Nova Scotia, however, birders were finding a few things thanks to the more eastern arrival of the storm, including a couple of tropical Bridled and Sooty Terns (the expected and hoped-for low-hanging fruit of tropical waifs). A Least Tern and a Gull-billed Tern were intriguing, as Lee never skimmed a coastline where these birds would be expected to be picked up from. Leach’s Storm-Petrels were being reported from a number of locations, especially in the afternoon.

By Sunday morning, Nova Scotia birders were out in force, with seawatching being productive. “Tons” of seabirds were passing the Cape St. Mary’s lighthouse on the southwest coast of Nova Scotia according to one report, as birds were pushed up against the shoreline on that side (as opposed to Maine) by the strong westerly wind. A few Leach’s Storm-Petrels were being found, included one found grounded on a lawn in Bedford and one passing the Cape D’or lighthouse near the head of the Bay of Fundy.  While I did not do an exhaustive search, displaced tropical or even true pelagic birds remained very few and very far between.

Even as of Monday, Leach’s Storm-Petrels were still being reported from the shore in Nova Scotia. A Gull-billed Tern continued in Grand Pre.  So birds were definitely displaced by the storm, but they were mostly non-tropical in nature…and nothing like Fiona.

There were however, a lot of uncommon to rare passerines being reported in Nova Scotia since Sunday morning (such as a White-eyed Vireo and a Golden-winged Warbler), but without a careful analysis of radar images and broader-scale wind maps, I am unconvinced these birds were somehow entrained or displaced in the storm all the way from the open ocean south of Bermuda. Possible, for sure, but could it also have been nothing more than “detection bias” with some many birders out looking because of the hope for storm-blown vagrants? I’ll leave this debate for another time Furthermore, a little spate of “good” southern warblers on Monhegan could also be related, or it could just be Monhegan being Monhegan as usual. 9/28 edit: As reports of North American passerines (aka “Yanks”) continue to pour in from Great Britian, it seems clear that Lee displaced countless numbers of Neotropical migrant songbirds. Enough that it even made the NY Times! I retract my earlier skepticsm (I wasn’t alone at least!) in being wary of this, but presumably birds were displaced ahead of and around the massive storm after encountering it as they headed south while over the open Atlantic.

But back to seabirds…Sure, some hotspots were closed or inaccessible in southern Nova Scotia during the peak of the storm, and conditions often made viewing impossible as the storm came ashore, but there were just so few sightings of note anywhere, despite the massive size of the storm.  I heard little from Grand Manan, however, and observations during the storm from there would be most interesting.

While the storm was too far east to be of major consequence to Maine and New Brunswick, the lack of tropical birds in comparison to Fiona was remarkable.  While every storm is different, and we’re far from understanding exactly what makes for a great birding storm, a very detailed comparison of these two systems would be a worthy endeavor. 

Granted, it’s not over yet: a Brown Booby at Quaco Head in New Brunswick on the morning of the 18th could have been lingering from storm displacement, so maybe there are a few birds yet to be found. Also, the winds following the passage of the storm are perfect for producing Northern Wheatears in the following days and weeks after the storm (one was seen at Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia on the 17th), so you know I’ll be back looking…now that I am back in the state!

But in the meantime, I wanted to learn more about what happened with Lee. I reached out to my friend Meteorologist Mallory Brooke, in part to understand what happens when the tropical system undergoes its transformation to an extra-tropical, cold-core system, as happened with both Fiona and Lee: “When that (transition) happens, the core of intense wind spreads out rapidly; hence why a landfall in Nova Scotia was creating high wind in New Hampshire. In addition, the precipitation shield usually expands as well, but we didn’t see so much of that with Lee.” Lee had basically become a massive Nor’Easter.

I wondered if this transition was when we lost the entrained birds. Mallory suggested“…perhaps the timing to landfall made the difference – the transition took place very close to landfall for Lee whereas Fiona still had some distance to travel”   Was this the reason for the lack of tropical rarities?  Did they escape, or perhaps even perish as the eye collapsed and/or the core transition occurred? Would a close analysis, far beyond the scope of this blog, comparing the timing and location of the transition and the eye wall collapse between Lee and Fiona explain something? Was it time (or lack there of) spent in the Gulf Stream waters where the likes of White-faced Storm-Petrels reside?

While birds – especially strong-flying seabirds – are pushed ahead of a storm, especially by the strong winds in the northeast quadrant, we now know that birds riding the calm of the eye has a lot to do – if not more – with transporting birds far distances in tropical systems. The phenomenon, as well as some of the variables that could be at play in this case, are well-explained in this article.

In the case of Lee, the eyewall collapsed over the Gulf of Maine before landfall (at which point the eye structure had briefly returned)…perhaps if birders were in the middle of it (no thanks!) at the time we would know.

Regardless, it is interesting to speculate on what could have been. And I am sure others, especially in Nova Scotia will analyze the storm and its sightings in more detail. But it’s still worthwhile the exercise, if only to prepare for where to be when the next storm approaches. With more tropical storms expected in the Gulf of Maine due to climate change, we will have to be prepared to be in place for the next one (and I am out of cousins who are yet to be married).

So in the end, I wasn’t lamenting what I had missed. The “fear of missing out” was not realized. While I would have enjoyed the chase and collecting more “negative data,” I had no lingering regrets…except, perhaps, from all of the cheese whiz.

Thanks to Chris Bartlett, Mallory Brooke, and Luke Seitz for their assistance and insight while writing this essay.

This Week’s Highlights, 9/2-9/8, 2023

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It was a good week for Caspian Terns, and it’s always a treat to see one sitting still. This adult was on the Lubec Flats on the 4th.

A busy week of birding included our annual late summer/early fall trip to Washington County and a bunch of guiding, producing the following observations of note:

  • 25-30 Common Nighthawks, over Chebeague Island in the mid-morning, 9/3 (with The Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust birdwalk group).
  • 1 juvenile LITTLE BLUE HERON, 1 CASPIAN TERN, 1 Great Egret, 5 Surf Scoters, etc, Lubec Flats, Lubec, 9/4 (with Jeannette).
  • A relatively slow morning in Head Harbor Passage from Eastport on 9/5 (with Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Jeannette, and friends) was most noteworthy for the continuing large numbers of COMMON MURRES. I tallied 109, but that seems very conservative. We only had 4 Razorbills and 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Quiet time with just us and a Fin Whale more than made up for it though.
  • The afternoon whale watch on Eastport Windjammers to the same waters that day (with Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, and Jeannette) yielded an adult LITTLE GULL, 3 CASPIAN TERNS, 1 late ARCTIC TERN, 2 Great Shearwaters, etc. Incredibly experience with 2 Fin Whales, 1 Humpback Whale, and 1 Minke Whale though.

We always enjoy our quality time with Black-legged Kittiwakes in the Head Harbor Passage area at this time of year.

  • 2 American Pipits (FOF), Sanborn Cove, Machiasport, 9/6 (with Jeannette). Interestingly, we had pipits at a number of places throughout the day, with a high count of 22 at Addison Marsh, Addison.
  • 1 Great Egret, Addison Marsh, 9/6 (with Jeannette).
  • 1 Great Egret, Essex Marsh, Bangor, 9/6 (with Jeannette).
  • 3 SANDHILL CRANES, Plymouth Pond, Plymouth, 9/6 (with Jeannette).
  • High count for warbler species in our Durham backyard this week was 11 on 9/7 (with Angela Woodside).
  • 3 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Popham Beach State Park, Phippsburg, 9/8 (with clients from Texas).
  • Great whale-watching trumped the bird-watching again this week with 3 lunge-feeding Fin Whales off of Boothbay Harbor aboard Cap’n Fish’s Cruises on 9/8 (with clients from Texas). 3 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, 1 Great Shearwater, 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, 10 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels and making it back to shore before the violent thunderstorms add to the success of the trip!

Meanwhile, my shorebird high counts this week were as follows. While reduced in diversity by a lack of visitation to southern Maine shorebird hotspots, Downeast yielded some excellent numbers and I found some uncommon species in unexpected places for a goodly total of 18 species (“shorebird season” is far from over!):

  • AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER: 1, Popham Beach State Park, Phippsburg, 9/8 (with clients from Texas).
  • Black-bellied Plover: 75, Lubec Flats, Lubec, 9/4 (with Jeannette).
  • Killdeer: 56, Mayall Road, Gray, 9/6 (with Jeannette).
  • Semipalmated Plover: 600, Lubec Flats, 9/4 (with Jeannette).
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 1, flying 10 miles off of Boothbay Harbor, 9/8 (with clients from Texas). Odd sighting of a single juvenile bird circling the boat repeatedly in hazy conditions where the mainland was not visible.
  • Sanderling: 24, Popham Beach State Park, 9/8 (with clients from Texas)
  • BAIRD’S SANDPIPER: 1, Yarmouth Town Landing, 9/2 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Least Sandpiper: 25+ Sanborn Cove, Machiasport, 9/5 (with Jeannette).
  • White-rumped Sandpiper: 125!, Lubec Flats, 9/4.
  • Semipalmated Sandpiper: 2500-3000!, Lubec Flats, 9/4 (with Jeannette).
  • WESTERN SANDPIPER: 1 juv, Lubec Flats, 9/4 (with Jeannette).
  • Short-billed Dowitcher: 4, Lubec Flats, 9/4 (with Jeannette).
  • American Woodcock: 1, over Rte 1, Pembroke, at dusk on 9/5 (with Jeannette).
  • Spotted Sandpiper: 1, multiple locations.
  • Solitary Sandpiper: 1, over our yard in Durham, 9/2.
  • Lesser Yellowlegs: 9, Yarmouth Town Landing, 9/2 (with Saturday Morning Birdwalk group).
  • Greater Yellowlegs: 2, Red Point Nature Preserve, Lubec, 9/4 (with Jeannette).
  • RED-NECKED PHALAROPE: 7, Passamaquoddy Bay, Eastport-New Brunswick, 9/5 (with Beth Edmonds, Dan Nickerson, Jeannette, and friends).

Seal Island Tour Report, July 2023

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On July 22nd we boarded the Isle au Haut Boat Service’s The Otter for our special annual charter out of Stonington to the raucous seabird colony on Seal Island.  Our partnership began while “Troppy” the world-famous Red-billed Tropicbird that called the area home for 17 years. Unfortunately, Troppy failed to appear last year, but we ran the trip anyway, and had an amazing time!

2022 Seal Island Trip Report (The “not-so-search for Troppy), 7/23.

So we did it again this year. There’s just so much life out there, and it’s such an amazing place to visit, and so I needed an excuse for my annual visit. And sure, if that wily Tufted Puffin that’s been wandering the Gulf for the last two summers wants to be the new Troppy, that would be fine, too. But for now, we headed offshore with all sorts of high hopes.

As we left Stonington Harbor, the fog began to thicken, but not before we spotted a group of 15 Red-necked Phalaropes sitting on the water. Captain Tracy did a great job getting us closer, and then inching up to them when they relocated a short distance away. It’s a treat to get so close to phalaropes on the open water.

A handful of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels were bouncing around, but the action picked up as usual as we approached Saddleback Ledge Light. A 1st summer Great Cormorant was surveying the scene, and our first Atlantic Puffin circled around us for a couple of passes.  After we ourselves circled the small island twice, we turned for Seal and immediately ran into dense fog that had slowly been creeping in. The tradeoff for calm waters is often fog, and it was pea soup today.

Not surprisingly, we saw little en route, but soon enough, we were out at Seal. While we heard – and even smelled – the tern colony before we could see the island, once along its shores, visibility was adequate. Arctic Terns put on a particularly good show for us, with several near the boat feeding and bathing. Arctic and Common Tern fledglings were everywhere, and we enjoyed their antics.  There were plenty of Atlantic Puffins in the water and on land, including several groups that were remarkably confiding as we sided up to them in the glass-calm waters. And Black Guillemots were numerous, and very busy.

Razorbills were fledgling rapidly, so we only found two on the island, but later, we had great looks at one on the water, too.

We circled around the southern end, spending some time observing the state’s last colony of Great Cormorants (and Double-crested); nests were brimming with chicks! 

We kept an eye out for migrant shorebirds in addition to the locally breeding Spotted Sandpipers, but visibility remained a challenge: 4 Short-billed Dowitchers, 3 Least Sandpipers, and some unidentified peeps was the best we could do.  A Great Shearwater made a close, but brief, pass as we were on the east side of the island before vanishing back into the fog.

Somehow, it was even foggier on our way back, so seabird sightings – even with a second visit to Saddleback Ledge – were limited to just a couple more Wilson’s Storm-Petrels.

So yeah, the fog was annoying, and did impact photos and our search for the next mega-rarity. But it also produced one of the smoothest boat rides you’ll ever be on in the Gulf of Maine and yielded lots of close puffins and some great looks at phalaropes.  And besides, any day birding from a boat is a good day in our book! Especially when a few days prior we thought this trip was going to be cancelled due to wind and thunderstorms.

Harbor Seals on the way out of the harbor.

Summertime Puffin/Whale/Pelagics Trip with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises

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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!

This Week’s Highlights, 7/8-14,2023

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If I only saw one bird all week, and it was THIS bird, I would have been more than satisfied. The near-mythological Tufted Puffin that has wandered around the Gulf of Maine for the last two summers finally was in front of my binoculars at Eastern Egg Rock on 7/10 (with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises “Audubon Puffin and Scenic Cruise). Unfortunately, it was not seen a mere three hours later when I returned to the island with my previously-scheduled Mini-Pelagic with our partners at Cap’n Fish’s.

While just about anything else would pale in comparison, I did have several other observations of note over the past seven days, plus lots of quality time with Roseate Terns, Salmarsh and Nelson’s Sparrows, etc:

  • Scarborough Marsh migrant shorebirds, 7/9 (with Ken Mettie and Mary Beth Oles): 16 Short-billed Dowitchers (First of fall), 4-6 Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Least Sandpipers (FOF), and 2 Greater Yellowlegs.
  • Freeport Wild Bird Supply’s “Puffin/Whale Combo Mini-Pelagic” with Cap’n Fish’s Cruises, 7/10: 1 COMMON MURRE and 1 American Oystercatcher at Eastern Egg Rock. Offshore pelagic visitors: 100-150 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 2 Great Shearwaters, 2 unidentified shearwaters, 1 Sooty Shearwater, 1 subadult PARASITIC JAEGER. Some observers had a MANX SHEARWATER as well.
  • 1 LOUSIANA WATERTHRUSH and 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Morgan Meadow WMA, 7/11 (with Jeannette).
  • Scarborough Marsh and Pine Point migrant shorebird totals, 7/14 (with Alec Humann and Buffalo Ornithological Society tour group): 18 Short-billed Dowitchers, 15 Lesser Yellowlegs, 12 Least Sandpipers, 5 Semipalmated Sandpipers (FOF), 2 Whimbrel (FOF, Jones Creek, Pine Point), and 1 Greater Yellowlegs.