Trip results and reports for the Brookline Bird Club.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Stellwagen 7/30
A couple of folks from the Brookline Bird Club joined me on a Boston Harbor Cruises boat out of Boston yesterday - with nice views of the expected shearwaters. We only had one Manx Shearwater, a relatively quick look, but the other bird were reasonably cooperative. The jaeger was a medium-small jaeger, I would guess Parasitic, but didn't get any pictures. Nice way to beat the heat in the city.
4-6 Humpback whales and 2-3 Minke whales were seen as well.
Regards,
Naeem Yusuff
Cambridge, MA
Stellwagen Bank, Barnstable, US-MA Jul 30, 2011 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Protocol: Traveling 9.0 mile(s) 9 species (+1 other taxa)
The Brookline Bird Club did a trip to South Beach, Chatham on Saturday July 30, 2011. Nothing unusual and missed a couple of things others have had. The last cove south was the best. Very little out to sea; lots of heat shimmer. Winds constant NNW/NW at 20-25 mph with gusts to 30.
M-Morris Island, rest at South Beach
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 6 Double-crested Cormorant 50 Great Egret 1 Snowy Egret 3 Osprey 2 Northern Harrier 2 (1 1st summer male) Black-bellied Plover 135 Semipalmated Plover 75 Piping Plover 21 American Oystercatcher 15 Greater Yellowlegs 30 Willet 30 western Willet 4 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Whimbrel 7 Hudsonian Godwit 41 Ruddy Turnstone 40 Red Knot 50 Sanderling 250 Semipalmated Sandpiper 250 Least Sandpiper 50 White-rumped Sandpiper 1 Dunlin 1 Short-billed Dowitcher 800 Laughing Gull 250 (200-North Monomoy) Ring-billed Gull 150 Herring Gull *** Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 (1S) Great Black-backed Gull *** Roseate Tern 25 Common Tern 3750 (3000-North Monomoy) Least Tern 15 Mourning Dove 2-M Downy Woodpecker 1-M Northern Flicker 2-M Horned Lark 6 Tree Swallow 350 Bank Swallow 25 Barn Swallow 10 Black-capped Chickadee 3-M Tufted Titmouse 2-M Carolina Wren 3-M American Robin 4-M Gray Catbird 2-M Northern Mockingbird 1-M Eastern Towhee 2-M Savannah Sparrow 6 Saltmarsh Sparrow 12 Song Sparrow 1-M Northern Cardinal 1-M Red-winged Blackbird 75 Common Grackle 1-M Brown-headed Cowbird 4-M House Finch 4-M American Goldfinch 4-M House Sparrow ***
Whale shark through the fish eye. Photo by Mark Yuhina
The Brookline Bird Club ran a full-day pelagic trip to the offshore canyons of the Continental Shelf off Massachusetts on 16 July 2011. With Steve Mirick, Jeremiah Trimble, James P. Smith, Naeem Yusuff, and myself on board as leaders, we departed Hyannis aboard the Helen H with Captain Joe Huckemeyer at the helm. We set a course for an area of warm water with a sharp temperature break, that was situated just west of Atlantic Canyon and just east of Block Canyon. Our route took us into Rhode Island waters for part of the trip (based on a closest point of land approach to state lines).
See a trip route overlay on ocean water temperatures, compiled by Steve Mirick
The birds were excellent, with great looks at the three most expected shearwaters (Sooty tends to get uncommon by this date), nice experiences with both Pomarine and Long-tailed Jaegers, and stellar looks at good numbers of Leach's Storm-Petrels visiting our chum slick for the second year in a row. It was the non-bird fauna that was probably the highlight, with four species of sharks (!), Loggerhead Sea Turtle, two dolphins, and numerous Fin Whales. Loggerhead turtle. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
By first light we were seeing a few shearwaters and Wilson's Storm-Petrel, and not long after that we were treated to a high-flying Pomarine Jaeger that flew over the bow on a direct flight to the east as we headed south. A bit later in the morning we had our first of six Manx Shearwaters for the day. Not long thereafter, Benjamin van Doren of New York spotted a fin off to the starboard side, and when we approached it became apparent that it was a large Basking Shark. Although Basking Sharks can be considered regular in these waters, we had not encountered one on any of our recent trips, so this was a real treat. As is often typical, the birding was rather slow in the 20-30 miles before the Continental Shelf, with just the occasional Wilson's Storm-Petrel or shearwater to break the doldrums.
Once we reached the edge of the Continental Shelf, there were instant signs of activity. Storm-Petrel numbers increased and we soon had our first Leach's Storm-Petrel cross the bow. A few Great Shearwaters kept us company and later a couple Cory's appeared. We set about trying to get ourselves to the warm water temperature break and continued south into deeper water. Eventually the Sea Surface Temperature started to climb from 67 F to 70 F to 72 F and ultimately to 73.5 F, which was where it stabilized for most of our time offshore. Once in the warmer waters, we cruised more slowly and chummed intermittently. In addition to hoping for rarities, we tried to make sure everyone on the boat had good looks at Leach's Storm-Petrels, which can be tricky birds to see well due to their flightiness, high speed of flight, and similar appearance to Wilson's Storm-Petrels. After some effort, we managed to get everyone on these fast-flying storm-petrels and the birds thankfully provided excellent side-by-side comparisons with the smaller Wilson's. Wilson's Storm-petrel, with beef suet in mouth. Photo by Naeem Yusuff Leach's Storm-petrel. Photo by Naeem Yusuff Portugese Man-o-War. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
A few Portuguese Man O' War (jellyfish) made for nice sightings, but the trip highlight was yet to come. As we were motoring slowly east, a large 4-5 ft scimitar-shaped fin broke the surface. None of us immediately knew what we were looking at, and Capt. Joe and the leaders were all struggling to identify what we had just seen as we steered the boat towards the odd fin. Standing in front, Jeremiah Trimble and I noticed a large dorsal fin break the surface, which reminded us of the Basking Shark from earlier, only different. Maybe even larger. As we watched with binoculars and drew ever closer, suddenly we started to see pale spots on the fin. Almost in unison, we started shouting WHALE SHARK, at which point Steve Mirick excitedly started announcing it over the microphone. Steve's excitement may have exceeded even ours. For those of us on the trip, his stream of ecstatic narration will never be forgotten and might not be appropriate to repeat here. Suffice it to say that Steve never expected to see a Whale Shark on these trips (it represented one of just a handful of records in New England, and Captain Joe, who has spent countless hours at sea in these waters, had seen just one before). The animal actually approached the boat while we were standing still and sort of kissed our port side beam as it swam away, we could see flecks of blue paint on its snout, presumably from its sandpaper-like skin rubbing paint from the boat. It looped away from the boat and then made a second pass back under the bow, affording more incredible look and giving Steve cause to continue his stream of excitement. For almost everyone aboard, this was the moment of the trip and we all felt really lucky to have seen such a rare fish.
Video of whale shark captured by Scott Spangenberg, with narration by Steve Mirick. Rated PG.
The great fish for the trip continued a short while later, as we chummed up a flock of several hundred storm-petrels (including multiple Leach's). After 10-15 minutes of chumming, a fin broke the surface back in the wake and we all watching as a large Tiger Shark popped its snout out of the water repeatedly and chowed down on the beef suet that we had tossed overboard to attract seabirds. It ate its way up to our stern, and then started to make a pass at two decoys that artist Keith Mueller had carved special for this trip. Incredible works of art, one of a Great Shearwater and one of a Great Skua, these decoys had been deployed in our chum slick to try to attract more birds to us. In this instance, they did not fool the bird, but they did fool the Tiger Shark, which started to stalk and hunt the shearwater until it was reeled back in just in the knick of time!
As we continued eastward we had other great sightings: a couple of Atlantic Manta Rays (the brown form), a Loggerhead Sea Turtle which gave great views next to the boat, numerous Risso's Dolphins, and an energetic solo Bottlenosed Dolphin that played on our bow and in our wake. The birdiest point of our day came near Atlantis Canyon, just at the margin of the cooler water. Here there were 7 or more Fin Whales feeding along with hundreds of Great Shearwaters. We chummed these right into the boat and had great looks at the squabbling Great Shearwaters fighting over beef suet, along with an incredibly cooperative Manx Shearwater.
The trip back in was marked by two first-summer Long-tailed Jaegers that Captain Joe pursued for great looks, along with another Basking Shark and a Mola mola. Our trip totals were as follows:
Great Shearwater 726 (MA & RI waters)
Cory's Shearwater 14 (two confirmed to be of expected borealis subspecies) (MA ^ RI waters)
Cory's/Great Shearwater 5
Manx Shearwater 6 (MA waters)
black-and-white shearwater sp. 1, probable Manx (MA & RI waters)
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 613 (MA & RI waters)
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL 45 (MA & RI waters, with most in Massachusetts)
Northern Gannet 1 (MA waters)
Herring Gull 1 (MA waters)
Great Black-backed Gull 1 (MA waters)
tern sp. 1 (MA waters)
Pomarine Jaeger 1 immature (MA waters)
LONG-TAILED JAEGER 2 first-summer (MA waters on return trip)
passerine sp. 1 possible Cedar Waxwing (MA waters)
(Offshore) Bottlenosed Dolphin 1 (MA waters)
Risso's Dolphin - 25, three pods (MA & RI waters)
Fin Whale - 9 (MA waters)
whale sp. - 2 (one possible Sperm Whale) (RI waters)
WHALE SHARK - 1 (RI waters)
TIGER SHARK - 1, eating suet in our chum slick (MA waters)
BASKING SHARK - 2
Blue Shark - 1, maybe seen by Todd McGrath only
ATLANTIC MANTA - 2, of the brown form
Mola mola - 1
LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE - 1 large animal (MA waters)
Portuguese Man O'War - 16+
EBIRD LISTS: Importantly, the leaders kept detailed bird lists for every half-hour period of the day, providing a detailed snapshot of where and when the pelagic life was occurring relative to geography and water conditions. These lists have been submitted to eBird and we can share these detailed lists, or a single list for each state's waters, for the entire day to anyone who would like copies of those lists. Whether you already have an eBird account or not, this checklist sharing process can copy these lists to your account, and once there, you can modify them as needed to reflect the birds that you did or didn't see at various points during the trip. To receive copies of those lists, please email me and tell me if you'd like the detailed lists, summary list, or both. Please provide either an eBird username (preferred) or an email address. (The eBird username is the name you use to log in to eBird with; if you don't have an account yet, just provide an email address).
PHOTOS: As always, many photographers aboard got incredible images (check out the shots of Keith Mueller's decoys, as well as the great live animals). Just a sampling would include: Luke Seitz Naeem Yusuff Ryan Schain [includes some of Steve's narration�"Look at the size of this thing!"] Jeremiah Trimble Marshall Iliff Jason Forbes
Thanks as always to the Brookline Bird Club for organizing and running this trip. In particular, Naeem Yusuff and especially Ida Giriunas deserve our thanks for their roles in making this trip a success. The caption Joe Huckemeyer and first mate Matt deserve special recognition as well for their superb boat driving, excellent help chumming, and overall incredibly hard work and professional approach to these trips.
We are all looking forward to the August overnight trip, which unfortunately is already sold out. If you have an interest in this trip (which comes at a great time for White-faced Storm-Petrel and has tallied 6 and 23 White-faced in 2009 and 2010, respectively), you may want to be sure to sign up early for 2012!
Best,
Marshall Iliff
Calm seas, balmy breezes, lots of Birds, 35+ whales, several dolphins, even a breaching Blue-fin tuna fish and a breaching shark – the whole package – and no insects and no sweating on the Seven Seas Whale watch boat out of Gloucester to the southern end of stellwagon bank from 8:30 AM to 1PM, today, Sunday, July 24.
Birds seen:
Cory’s Shearwater – 1
Great Shearwater – 12
Sooty Shearwater - 16
Manx Shearwater - 3
Wilson’s Storm-petrels – 110
Northern Gannet- 1
D.C. Cormorants – 10
Laughing gulls – 50+
Greater Black-back Gulls – lots
Herring Gulls – lots
Common tern – 1
Rock Pigeons – 20+
Barn swallow – 3
Warbler species - 1
Trip extension took us to the Jodrey pier to look for the King Eider. We did not find it but we did see a LONG-TAILED DUCK in the harbor along with common eider, Black Ducks and lots more D.C. Cormorants. A further extension of the trip to Grapevine Road produced a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a cardinal, a Catbird, Blue Jays and lots of House sparrows.
Our BBC trip last night was highlighted by the HUNDREDS of shorebirds at the Bill Forward Pool at Hellcat. It was handicapped by hundreds of Greenheads . We did find relief from them at the new blind at the Bill Forward Pool but the sun was in our eyes. We moved to the dike with better light and many insect bites. Most birds were too far away for good identification but we did manage to I.D. the HUDSONIAN GODWIT reported earlier. The peeps and the dowitchers were too far away from the dike to safely separate one species from another except by silhouette. Morning is the time to study that area with the light behind you and the birds a bit closer than from the dike.
There were about 20 egrets in the pool but no Little egret.
June 25 Brookline Bird Club Pelagic Hyannis to Nantucket Shoals area
Weather: A.M.: Overcast, NE winds 5-10 knots, 60-75 F. Clearing throughout the day. PM Sunny and pleasant.
Seas: 2-4 feet. Beaufort scale: 2
Visibility: Moderate to heavy fog in the AM. Visibility less that ½ mile at times. PM Clear to horizon.
Leaders: Marshall Iliff, Jeremiah Trimble, Steve “check out my cool iPad App” Mirick; Naeem Yusuff keeping the eBird list, and of course, Ida Giriunas.
The route aboard the “Helen H” with Captain Joe Huckameyer was nicely charted by Steve Mirick.
A full boat set off from Hyannis Harbor at 7AM, with overcast skies and a thick fog. In the early going, we had only frustratingly quick glimpses of birds disappearing into the haze. The epic “one that got away” was a skua, which was viewed for 20-30 seconds before vanishing. Photos were taken by Keith Mueller of Connecticut, and all were optimistic to be able to ID the bird. Unfortunately, after seeing the pictures, the concensus expert opinion was “skua in the fog.”
Skua in the fog. Photo by Keith Mueller
The skies cleared latter in the day, Captain Joe avoided the colder water over the Nantucket Shoals to minimize our time enshrouded in fog.
Our first shearwater of the day was a Cory's, a smattering of Cory's were seen throughout the day, all appeared to be the expected borealis subspecies. Cory's Shearwater are a warmer water bird, and their numbers fluctuate greatly year to year depending on the water temperatures. Initial reports seem to suggest that this is moderate Cory's year.
Cory's Shearwater, borealis Photo by Jeremiah Trimble
Steaming east into colder waters, slick of menhaden oil mixed with beef fat and fish chum was put out at about 10AM, attracting good numbers of Great Shearwaters and Wilson's Storm petrels, as well as a handful of Sooty Shearwaters.
Sooty Shearwater, Photo by Jeremiah Trimble
Great Shearwater, Photo by Jeremiah Trimble
Steaming away from the slick, a shout of “Leach's Storm-petrel” came over the ship's sound system – a handful of birds were seen well with their characteristic nighthawk type flight. The chumming technique on the BBC Pelagic trips has really evolved; the combination of fish oil with cubed chunks of beef fat has made getting these harder to see storm petrels a little easier. Four Leach's were initially seen, with an additional handful of Leach's seen throughout the rest of the day.
Leach's Storm-petrel, Photo by Naeem Yusuff
Soon afterwards, a light-morph Northern Fulmar appeared behind the boat, again attracted by the chum stream. Fulmars are more common in the winter; we were quite pleased to find this bird. The fulmar lingered behind the boat making pass after pass, giving all great looks.
Northern Fulmar, Photo by Naeem Yusuff
No that's a tubenose!, Photo by Naeem Yusuff
Pausing to look at the fulmar also gave all the chance to appreciate the ubiqitous Wilson's Storm-petrels dancing in the slick. The majority of these were in active wing molt (and therefore adults), but a few fresher birds were seen and likely represented juveniles hatched in the austral summer (our winter).
Fulmar and Wilson's Storm-petrels, Photo by Naeem Yusuff
Many of the Great Shearwaters were also in active wing molt, with multiple distinctive birds seen with missing greater coverts giving them a huge white band in the mid-wing--something not shown in most field guides.
Molting Great Shearwater, Photo by Naeem Yusuff
Perhaps the best bird of the day was missed by most on the boat. While steaming away, an alcid was flushed from the water and seen by a lucky few as it flew directly away from the boat. Depsite dozens on cameras on board, Keith Mueller of Connecticut was the only one quick enough to get photos. His images turned out to be diagnostic, showing the brownish cast to the back, slender bill, and importantly, the streaked flanks of Common Murre. Any alcid is unusual in these waters at this time of year, but Common Murre has been increasing on the breeding grounds and now has a dozen or more June records for Massachusetts. Still, this was a great rarity and a first for us on these summer trips -- too bad it flew off before most folks could get on it.
Common Murre, Photo by Keith Mueller
Steaming further east, a gill-net fishing boat was encountered, with a massive entourage of birds following. A conservative estimate of 250 gulls, with an additional 100 shearwater were seen taking advantage of by-catch.
Gill net fishing boat and gulls. Only part of entourage. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
We kept a respectful distance, and followed the fishing boat seeing an additional 2-3 Northern Fulmar, 2-3 Cory's Shearwater, 60 Sooty Shearwater, 40 Sooty Shearwater, as well as an cooperative Pomarine Jaeger. Rather than the typical fly-by view of the jaeger, this bird sat on the water several times, and gave several passes with great looks for all.
What a bruin! Pomarine Jaeger, Photo by Naeem Yusuff
We next encountered one of the more impressive spectacles I've observed in MA waters– a massive collection of bait fish had attracted tuna, stripped bass and bluefish, all actively feeding around the boat – in addition to a huge swarm of shearwaters. I was overwhelmed by trying to count them all, Marshall Iliff estimated 1200 shearwaters, roughly 8:1 Sooty:Great. Tuna, stripped bass and bluefish were seen breaching the surface.
Looks like a page from the Crossley Guide, except not edited. Photo by Naeem Yusuff
The crew of the Helen H got a couple of fishing lines into the water, but alas, no dinner was caught.
Next came our second jaeger of the day – an exceeding obliging Parasitic Jaeger was sitting on the water, then gave mulitple passes around the boat.
Parasitic Jaeger, Photo by Naeem Yusuff
Jaegers are powerful fliers, not even the Helen H can keep up with them in full flight, so we were fortunate to find both a pomarine and a parasitic which allowed such close study. Field guides show the length and thickness of the bill of jaegers being diagnostic, with the parasitic having a long slender bill, while the pomarine's is shorter and thicker. This is the first time I've seen them well enough to study the differences.
The return trip brought us past Monomoy Island, with about 70 grey seals including many young (resembling Harbor Seals) lounging on the beach. Common Eider, Double-crested Cormorant as well as a handful of gulls were the most common birds on the beach, and a few people espied a Piping Plover.
Over all, another highly sucessful BBC Pelagic! Join us for our next “extreme” pelagic, July 16 to the Hydrographer Canyon area in search of some of the warmer and deeper water specialties! Join us and get those pelagic birds.
Regards, Naeem Yusuff Cambridge, MA
The list (omitting the on-shore sightings from Hyannis Harbor and Monomoy Island). Participants on the trip who would like to have the eBird lists shared with them, please contact either me or Marshall Iliff.
