8/25 Lewes Pelagic Results: A Ptail of Ptwo Pterodromas (and 4 Storm-Petrels)

[Paul Guris]

See Life Paulagics ran its best summer trip ever out of Lewes, DE this past Saturday.  Highlights included a dark morph HERALD PETREL, 5 BLACK-CAPPED PETRELS, a WHITE-FACED STORM-PETRELS, an unprecedented 122 BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETRELS, an also unprecedented 58 LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS, ARCTIC TERN, BRIDLED TERN, and the more expected species.  An amazing lowlight was a count of just 85 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS.  A few other the birds weren't as cooperative as we'd like, with several that simply flew by plus one MANX SHEARWATER and one LONG-TAILED JAEGER only identified through very distant photos.

The trip left before midnight and gently cruised out to the deep waters beyond the edge of the Continental Shelf near Maryland's southern pelagic border.  We arrived just as the sky began to pale and dropped a big slick of nasty, smelly fish products and beef suet.

Birds began arriving in short order.  Excitement ran high when some of the first arrivals included both BAND-RUMPED and LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS.  We made every effort to get everybody aboard on the birds and to explain the differences, assuming that we would only have a few shots at these species.  Little did we know.  Long winged storm-petrels continued coming in from downwind.  For hours you could scan our slick at any given time and find both species.  The funny thing is that if you wanted to also see WILSON'S STORM-PETREL, you had to work for it.  What the hell is going on here?  This feels a bit like California, Toto ... except that Alvaro Jaramillo just ran a trip out of that state and found Wilson's was pretty easy to come by.  Is there a West Coast plot to steal our storm-petrels?

A little after 7:00 a dark bird flying to the boat was called.  Several unsure utterings of "Sooty Shearwater?" and "jaeger?" were made until the words "HERRRRALD PETREL!!!" cut through the air.  Panic ensued as everybody made sure they got good looks.  But as relief set in for everybody, I heard somebody say "that one has a lot of white in it".  I spun my camera and staring at me through the lens was a ... "BLACK-CAPPED PETREL!!!"  Again the adrenaline levels aboard hit the cloud cover.  Incredibly this bird was followed by a buddy in short order.  As with the storm-petrels, there was really no need to panic as the birds made multiple repeated trips past the boat over the next hour or so.  In fact we managed to find 2 other Black-cappeds in the area.  Oh, yeah.  We also had CORY'S, GREAT, and AUDUBON'S SHEARWATERS for people to check off.  Around 9:30 or so we decided to move north.  A bonus on the ride was yet another Black-capped Petrel.

The ride was a bit bumpy so most of us stayed on the dry side, but Ed Boyd (the artist formerly known as White-faced Storm-Petrel Kryptonite) glued himself to the pulpit.  Standing in front of the spray, he held on through the bouncing seas, scanning ever outward for a sign of the object of his unrewarded affections.  I had visions of him with Ahab's beard, glaring at the attempt ocean in search of his nemesis.  Lo and behold, the bird gods decided it was time to stop tormenting him since a joke that goes on too long just isn't that funny anymore.  He yells "WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL!" and yet again the boat suffered from that delicious brand of mass hysteria best described as the "pelagic panic".  We chased the bird and got most people on it, but not 100%.  We dropped a massive chum bomb and our little buddy came right to it, giving everybody aboard repeated looks.

A small pod of Cuvier's Beaked Whales, a pod of 40 Pantropical Spotted Dolphins, and a couple of hammerhead sharks made the non-avian list as well.  All in all we had an amazing day. 

Here are the totals for the day.  Note that almost all of these birds were in Maryland waters.  Birds seen in Delaware are noted:

Herald Petrel               1
Black-capped Petrel         5
Cory's Shearwater          11
Great Shearwater           53
Manx Shearwater             1 (photo ID)
Audubon's Shearwater       10
Wilson's Storm-Petrel      85 (WHAT THE HECK???!!!)
White-faced  Storm-Petrel   1
Leach's Storm-Petrel       58
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel  122
Ruddy Turnstone             1
Red-necked Phalarope       18 (all fly-by)
Bridled Tern                1 (adult in DE)
Black Tern                  5
Common Tern                 1
Arctic Tern                 1 (juvenile in MD)
Pomarine Jaeger             1 (sub-adult)
Long-tailed Jaeger          1 (juvenile in DE, photo ID)
jaeger sp.                  1

Cuvier's Beaked Whale        3
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin 40



Our next trip is another overnighter out of Cape May leaving on Saturday night, September 8.  Who knows what awaits us?  Maybe we'll see you aboard.


-PAG

--
Paul A. Guris
See Life Paulagics
PO Box 161
Green Lane, PA  18054
215-234-6805
www.paulagics.com
paulagics.com@gmail.com
in...@paulagics.com

[Edward Boyd]

Hi Paul,

 

It was a GREAT, no - UNBELIEVABLE trip, but I can't take sole credit for the White-faced. Talking to Mike and Betsy with me at the time was the Amazing Mikey Lutmerding and we both got on the bird at the same time but I think the words came out of his mouth first. I couldn't get my mouth to work because I think I was too stunned to believe I had finally gotten my much coveted nemesis bird and I looked at it several times to be sure of what I was seeing.

 

It was the most amazing day of Maryland seabirding that I've ever experienced. Thanks to all that made it such a great success.

 

Ed Boyd

 

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[Paul Guris]

"...but I can't take sole credit for the White-faced. "

Well that may be so, but you make a much better story! ;-)  Besides, Mikey was already riding high with sole credit for getting on last year's Thayer's Gull.  I think he has an advantage on pelagics.  He's so tall that he can see over the waves really well.


-PAG