Alcids in NJ & NY from Belmar, NJ Mackerel Fishing Boat

[Paul Guris]

Today I boarded a Mackerel fishing trip out of Belmar with my brother Steve and birder Marty Dellwo.  We first moved north and fished in NJ pelagic waters out to about a dozen miles.  Fishing was OK, but the Capt. decided to move towards a pack of fish off NY, and we worked an area a mere 4-6 miles off the beach.  Maybe somebody can identify where we were from the photos I posted on the Paulagics Birding Facebook page?  The link to the gallery is:

    http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.140871612695560.28753.100003181671988&type=1&l=f7080e96d0


One of the big highlights were 10 DOVEKIES within a dozen or so miles of shore.  The water out there is still warm (well, by Jan. standards for the area) and so Dovekies don't seem to be completely pushed farther offshore.  7 COMMON MURRES were not at all unexpected.

Here are the results for the species I tabulated:

Common Loon - 15+
Northern Gannet - 100+
Great Blue Heron - 1 (about a dozen miles offshore)
Black-legged Kittiwake - 8 (5 NJ, 3 NY)
Dovekie - 10 (4 NJ, 6 NY)
Common Murre - 7 (3 NJ, 4 NY)
murre sp - 4
Razorbill - 34 (22 NJ, 12 NY)

Be sure to check out the photo gallery for this trip.  Photo opportunities aren't the best from a fishing boat, but there's some identifiable stuff.

We are running trips to these same waters next weekend from Freeport, NY on Sat. and from Belmar, NJ on Sun.  Hope to see some of you aboard.


-PAG

--
Paul A. Guris
See Life Paulagics
PO Box 161
Green Lane, PA  18054
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