Hatteras, NC and Manteo, NC Pelagic Trips In May and June
J. BRIAN PATTESON
There is still an opportunity for more birders to join a number of our
pelagic trips off Cape Hatteras in May and June. Beginning on Saturday,
May 17, we have openings daily through Thursday, May 22 on trips from
Hatteras, NC. All of our trips from Hatteras from May 23 through May 31
are full, but we have space remaining on trips that we have chartered on
the Country Girl on May 24, 25, and 26. These trips depart from Manteo
and over the years have been very productive for rarities and seabird
diversity. They were a bit slow in 2007, but that was unusual. We also
have room on some trips in early June, which can still be productive for
rarities and generally better for shearwaters and storm-petrels.
Here is a list of available combinations of dates this spring:
Hatteras: May 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
Manteo: May 24, 25, 26
Hatteras: June 1 (one space), 2, 6, 7, 8
In most years, the Manteo departures would have filled by now, but there
seem be more people signing up for Hatteras trips this year, even
mid-week. We would like to go ahead and fill the trips, so we are
offering a discounted price for participants who sign up for two or more
Manteo trips. These trips are $145/person/day (same as last year!), but
for persons taking two trips, we will discount it to $135/person/day and
all three trips can be booked for $395. For groups of FIVE or more
people booking together, the trips are $125/person/day, $240/person/two
days or $350/person for all three days. Even near capacity, we probably
won't make any profit on these, so please take advantage of the service
which is being offered. With rising fuel prices, there could be less
opportunities to go offshore next year.
You can find more information on our website about these and all of the
trips we offer: http://www.seabirding.com/. In addition to regularly
scheduled trips, we can arrange private charters at a reasonable rate.
This is something we can accomplish because we operate most of our trips
aboard our own boat in Hatteras, which is the closest port to the Gulf
Stream. Ours is an inspected vessel, which means she is subject to
annual inspections by the U.S. Coast Guard. We recently completed the
inspection and were highly rated by the Marine Safety Team. The Country
Girl is also an inspected boat, and she is kept in top condition by her
captain and crew.
I realize that there is not much data on the website for the earlier May
dates, but they should be good. We have recorded both Trindade Petrel
and Fea's Petrel as early as May 14. We have only ever run one trip on
May 17, and we saw a Red-billed Tropicbird on that date. I don't think
we have yet run one on May 18. But beginning on May 19, we have
recorded Trindade Petrel and Fea's Petrel on all dates through June 2.
Bermuda Petrel proably occurs then too, but it is very rare and we
haven't run enough trips to bear this out. Our coverage in early June
has been less intense than late May, but we have had Bermuda Petrel
through June 4 (and also in July, August, and September) and European
Storm-Petrel through June 5. Both Red-billed and White-tailed
Tropicbirds are probably more likely in June than May, especially the
latter.
Each spring is little different because of varying weather patterns and
the meandering of the Gulf Stream, but you can be sssured we will do our
best to find what's out there. We pioneered spring pelagic birding off
Cape Hatteras and have been at it every year since 1990.
Capt. Brian Patteson
Hatteras, NC
br...@patteson.com
http://www.seabirding.com/