2001 Pelagic Birding Trip Reports

Manx Shearwater Year
2 White-faced Storm-petrels on Hydro

Skuas Jaegers Gannet | Phalaropes | Loons Grebes Cormorants | Alcids | Ducks | Gulls | Whales | Trip Notes

All trips to Stellwagen Bank or Jeffrey's Ledge unless date in red. See Trip Notes for details.

SW - Stellwagen Bank, Jeff- Jeffreys Ledge, Great So C - Great South, Channel Cont S - Continental Shelf edge

* near shore

12/23/2001 Rockport Lobster Trip - Jim Wallius

I went for a ride on a lobster fishing boat. We began the day about 8 miles northeast of Halibut Point and ended about 7 miles east of Rockport Harbor. The following are the approximations of what I saw during trap hauling and does not include the in and out trips.
17 Razorbills -- one group of 7 fairly close, others distant 20 Black-Legged Kittiwakes -- close to boat 6
6 Red-Throated Loons -- distant
5 Common Eider -- distant
30 Northern Gannets -- 3/4 were distant
45 Herring Gulls
60 Great Black-Backed Gulls
3 Pomarine Jaegers -- one snuck in real close before I knew it was there
3 Long-Tailed Ducks -- close flyby
5 Black Scoter -- distant
1 probable Atlantic Puffin
1 Fin Whale -- distant
15 White Sided Dolphin -- next to the boat

12/12/2001 - Scott Landry Center for Coastal Studies

The bird community has been pretty interesting so far this winter. The core is definitely kittiwakes and gannets. The shearwaters really disappeared this year - we haven't seen a single one in about two months. Great jaegers (pomarine and parasitic) and very good ducks at Race Point (oldsquaw, eiders, scoters, rbms).
Scott Landry, CCS Naturalist

12/04/2001 Jeffreys Ledge _ Jim Berry

Don Green and I had a chance to go out on the UNH hagfish-collecting boat yesterday to Jeffreys Ledge. The trip lasted from 8 till about 1and took us through Maine, NH, and Mass. waters. The collection spot and most of the birds were in Massachusetts, if anybody cares, though most of the birds were seen in all 3 states. Sorry for the late post (not that it makes much difference; one can't hop in one's car and drive out to the ledge). Here are the highlights from a beautiful December day with mild temps, sunny skies, minimal wind, and calm waters (waves never over a foot): n. fulmar 75 (2 dark) greater shearwater 2 (late) n. gannet 250+ (mostly adults) jaeger sp. 1 (too distant to nail down) Bonaparte's gull 35 (mostly inshore) b-l kittiwake 100+ (all adults) razorbill 17 black guillemot 4 The kittiwakes and fulmars, along with the large gulls, were all over the leftover hagfish and dead herring (bait for the hagfish) thrown overboard, as well as the slime from the hagfish. (If you haven't seen these fish, you might not want to.) The conditions made it ideal for photographing the birds, however. Glenn, maybe you should schedule the Plymouth trip a month later! jim Jim Berry Ipswich, Mass. jimberry@nii.net

11/10/2001 Jeffreys Ledge - Denny Abbott

Yesterday, Saturday the 10th, I accompanied the hagfish research team from UNH to Jeffries Ledge making notes on birds seen from the Portsmouth fishing dock to a pre-determined location at the edge of Jeffries Ledge. Highlights follow: Red-throated Loon, 2
Common Loon, 31
Greater Shearwater, 2 sitting on the water about 5 miles beyond the Isles of Shoals
Northern Gannet, 29
Double-crested Cormorrant, 35
Great Cormorant, 1
Great Blue Heron, 1
White-winged Scoter, 2
Long-tailed Duck, 56
Red-breasted Merganser, 1
Pomerine Jaeger, 1 a light phased adult at Jeffries Ledge
Bonepartes Gull, 9
Black-legged Kittiwake, 9 a mixture of juvs. and adults
Numbers of Black-backed (225) and Herring Gulls (45) have icreased considerably since previous trips.
Denny Abbott 58 River Rd. Stratham, NH 03885 603-772-4464 abbott99@mediaone.net

10/11/2001 Atlantis Canyon

Overnight tuna- fishing trip to the Atlantis Canyon -- about 80 miles south of Martha's Vineyard -- on Thursday 10/11/01. We did not move around a lot and the steam out and back were under the cover of darkness.

Greater Shearwater - 2

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 2

Northern Gannet - 2

Pomarine Jaeger -2 (1 light & 1 dark phase. Heard one of them calling - sounded like a Greater Yellowlegs with a bad cold).

Northern Fulmar - 2 (light phase- this is the third year in a row that I've seen this species on this trip in the Atlantis. It's kind of weird to see such a "low arctic" species flying around over 71 degree blue water with Sargassum weed. What is probably happening is that they wander out from Georges Bank find an offshore lobster boat pitching out used bait and stick around.)

On the cetacean front, we had a group of 15-20 Bottlenose Dolphins and one Finback. Mike Gooley

9/29/2001 Bar Harbor Maine

Maine Audubon Society's annual Fall Gulf of Maine Pelagic trip from 6am-1pm out of Bar Harbor, Maine aboard the Friendship V jet-powered catamaran visited the waters around Mt. Desert Rock (~25 miles offshore) and the southern Grand Manan banks (~ 70 miles east of Bar Harbor) and recorded the following: Red-thr. Loon: 1 Co. Loon: several Northern Fulmar: ~ 65, including group of ~50 foraging in same area near MD Rock, including 2 dark morph Sooty Shearwater: 2 Greater Shearwater: ~130 Wilson's Storm-Petrel: ~350, most in area w/Fulmars near MD Rock Leach's S-Petrel: 2 seen by very few No. Gannet: ~86, mostly imm. Gr. Corm: ~10 on MD Rock D-c. Corm: ++ Co. Eider: +1000+ small #'s of all 3 scoters Peregine: 1 w/prey Merlin: 1 Kestrel: 1 male Sharp-shinned Hawk: 7, including 3 on MD Rock Sanderling: 1 MD Rock Red Phalarope: ~ 300, most in same area west of GM banks Red-necked Phalarpe: ~35, most near MD Rock unid. Phalarope: ~75 Great Skua: 1 ad-type (i.e. non-juv.), 15-20 miles south of Gr. Wass Is.at ~12:00, during cruise back to Bar Harbor, flying in opposite direction, ~ 200 yards away; briefly but well seen by many, missed completely by some...pale-flecked, rich brown upperparts, very bold white flash, molting wing coverts, big. Skuas have been encountered on 5 out of 6 MAS Fall GOM trips. Pomarine Jaeger: 1 imm. (1st or 2nd -year type) visited chum slick, flew by at very close range, pouncing on Gr Sh.'s, GM banks Bonaparte's Gull: 1 ad Ring-billed Gull: 2 juv. Herring Gull: ++ Gr. Black-backed Gull: ++ Lesser Black-backed Gull: 1 juv., seen by very few Glaucous Gull: 1 imm., seen by very few Black-legged Kittiwake: 1 ad-basic near MD Rock At. Puffin: ~ 11, max 2 at one-time Razorbill: 2, fly-bys B. Guillemot: 1 Flicker: 6 Vireo sp.: 1 Cedar Waxwing: 1 D-e Junco: 2 Mammals: Harbor Seal: many @ MD Rock Gray Seal: a few at MD Rock Harbor Porpoise: a few Atlantic White-sided Dolphin: ~20 Humpback Whale: +1 Fin Whale: +1 Weather: ~18-24 kt NE winds for most of trip, ~3-5 ft waveheight Thanks to all that helped out,

9/23/2001 South Stellwagen Wellfleet Audubon .

Firstly, we started out in dense fog, it did clear out well as the morning went on and we approached Stellwagen. The seas were quite calm, which is always pleasant. Minke and Humpbacks were the whale species seen. Humpback- 3 Minke- 25 + Birds: We did see all 4 shearwaters, but only the Greater Shearwaters came very close to the boat. estimated numbers; Being on one side of the boat it’s hard to be exact;

Cory’s Shearwater 2

Manx Shearwater 4

Sooty Shearwater 5

Greater Shearwater 12

Wilson’s Storm Petrels-abundant

N. Gannet 2

Black Tern 1

Common Terns

White-winged Scoters- small flocks BlackPoll Warbler 1 landed on the boat several times As we came back towards Provincetown, there were some remaining fog banks, and some of the Shearwaters were seen in this area relatively close to land. It was an enjoyable trip. Susan Hedman susanhedman@hotmail.com Beverly, MA

9/8/2001 Connecticut Audubon All Day Trips

The trip only made it to the North edge of Block Canyon with building seas and slower than hoped boat speed. BIRDS Greater Shearwater- 3-4 Manx Shearwater- 1 Audubon's Shearwater- 1 Wilson's Storm-Petrel- 200+ Pomarine Jaeger- 2 (1 molting, light morph ad.; 1 light sub ad.) Herring Gull- 100 Lesser Black-backed Gull- 3-4 ad. Great Black-backed Gull- 75 Common Tern- 1 juvenile Ovenbird- 1 (lighted on sea surface, then onboard) MAMMALS Fin Whale- 6-8 Rizzo's dolphin- 4 Offshore Bottle-nosed Dolphin- 6 Common Dolphin- 3 TURTLES, FISH, MISC Loggerhead (Sea) Turtle Mola Mola (Ocean Sunfish) Mahi Mahi (Dorado, Dolphin) Ocean Triggerfish Portuguese Man-o-war Sargasso Crab Sargasso Weed Green Flash at dawn!
Reported by:Andy Andrew Griswold, Director Connecticut Audubon EcoTravel 67 Main Street Essex, CT 06426 860-767-0660 800-996-8747 ctaudubon@aol.com

9/8/2001 BBC Circle Stellwagen Bank

110 participants with Wayne Petersen as leader. See full trip report.

9/7/2001 South Stellwagen from Plymouth

I observed a Sabine's Gull at the southern end of Stellwagen Bank on Septemeber 7 at 1500 hrs while on a whalewatch on Captain John's Boats with my Environmental Science class. I was at the bow when I spotted the gull flying south, parallel to the boat as we headed north. I would estimate that it was 150 yards or more from the boat, though I am not sure about distance. It was flying in a direct line towards tuna boats off of Provincetown with a Common Tern flying in close proximity .The Sabine's Gull gave an immediate tern-like first impression, though it seemed slightly bigger and was clearly different than the Common. Its flight style was more tern-like than the tern --- rapid wing beats (never gliding) with both upstroke and downstroke well above and below the body respectively. The tricolored wing pattern wasobvious. The white wing triangle of the secondaries flashed in flight. The outer primaries and coverts were black. The inner wing coverts and inner secondaries apppeared grayish --- matching the back, mantle, and scapulars, and clearly contrasting with the black and the white. I did not/could not notice any white within the black primaries. The head was light with a dark smudge in the back. The face and underparts were white. The underwing was white except for dark tips. I could not discern tail shape as the angle and distance prevented this. I did not notice black in the tail, which was white, along with the rump. Distance also prevented observation of bill characteristics and bare partsBoth the gull and the tern stopped to feed briefly as we continued to head away. The gull dropped to the water with its feet down and both bill and feet touched the water surface at approximately the same time .Unfortunately, I was the only birder on the boat and we were heading away fast from the bird, just gathering speed when I found it. I assume that the bird was a non-breeding or transition adult, though I suppose that light, angle, and distance could have made the brown of a juvenile appear grayer and the dark end of the tail missable.I also had ~100 Wilson's Storm-Petrels; but no shearwaters, jaegers, or gannets. The whales were spectacular --- multiple breaches by different Humpbacks and a pod of 150-200 Atlantic White-sided Dolphins. We also saw 4-6 Minke Whale .Glenn Williams Norwich, CT gswilly@hotmail.com

9/02/2001 South Stellwagen from Plymouth

: Manx Shearwater - 2
Sooty Shearwater - 3
Greater Shearwater - 1
Cory's Shearwater - 2
Wilson's Storm-petrels - 200 (only a few were in close at the Gurnet) . One Mola mola
. 12 Humpbacks.
2 Minkes. Steve Moore Northboro, Ma

8/30/2001 South Stellwagen from Plymouth

Mike Sylvia and Mike LaBossiere report the sighting of a possible Albatross on south Stellwagen Bank. Also 3 Cory's, 7 Greater Shearwater, 2000+ Wilson's SP, 2 Red and 1 Red-necked Phalorope, 1 Parasitic Jaeger, and 3 Gannet.

8/26/ - 8/27/2001 Hydrographers Canyon from Plymouth

BBC overnight pelagic birding trip to Hydrographers Canyon saw 2 White-faced Storm-petrels. See complete trip report.

8/25/2001 South Stellwan Bank from Gloucester

Linda Ferraresso and 2 others.
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 150+
Sooty Shearwater 2
Greater Shearwater 1
Manx Shearwater 3
Cory's Shearwater
3 Northern Gannett 1
Common Tern 6
Parasitic Jaeger 1

9/8/2001 Stellwagen Bank from Newburyport

BBC trip on the Newburyport Whale Watch with 110 participants.

8/24/2001 South Stellwagen Bank from Gloucester

Rick Heil and his son Justin met me today at the Cape Ann whale watch, and when we boarded we found Emmalee Tarry and Ida Giriunas already on board, so we had us a contingent. We ascertained ahead of time that the boat would be going to southern Stellwagen Bank, which is what we had hoped, since that's where most of the action has been. Sure enough, the sea was like a desert all the way out there, but when we got there, only a few miles off P'town, things happened. Humpbacks were all over the place, with a couple doing a lot of breaching. Needless to say, the landlubbers loved it. I don't think we saw any other species of cetacean. Also, we didn't see any bubble-feeding, and this may have been part of the reason the whales weren't accompanied by hordes of gulls. The only numerous species was Wilson's storm-petrel, which Rick estimated at over 2000, mostly right there in that one area. We could often see hundreds in sight at one time. But everything else was in small numbers. Common terns were next most numerous at 30-40 (well, there may have been a few more large gulls than that), and after that I don't think we saw more than 10 of anything. Here are some rough numbers--rough because it was hard to tell when we were seeing new birds and when we were seeing the same ones over and over when we were standing still watching whales.

Wilson's storm-petrel 2000+

Cory's shearwater 5-10

sooty shearwater 5-10

Manx shearwater 4-8

black tern 1

common tern 30-40

A semi-conscious reader will notice the glaring absence of greater shearwaters in that list. This is the first time I have ever had a 3-shearwater day without any greaters, and may be the only time. But Emmalee has already experienced this very phenomenon this summer. Wherever they were today, it didn't seem to be on Stellwagen. On the way back we found our only gannet of the day, an immature, and Rick spotted two ocean sunfish that we almost ran over. One wonders how many others are around, since they can't be seen very far from a boat. Just outside the breakwater were 7 white-winged scoters. Back in the harbor we saw several Bonaparte's and laughing gulls and the usual rafts of immature common eiders. Jim Jim Berry Ipswich, Mass. jimberry@nii.net

8/19/2001 South Stellwagen Bank from Provincetown Afternoon

I took the late afternoon whalewatch out of Provincetown. Although the diversity was similar to a week ago, the numbers of shearwaters was way down. However, we didn't cover as much ground, barely getting up onto the bank, and the shearwaters were all sitting, making them much harder to detect. From 4:30 - 7:30:
1 Cory's Shearwater
3 Greater Shearwaters (strange how scarce they are so far this year)
15 Sooty Shearwaters
15 Manx Shearwaters
2,000 Wilson's Storm-petrels
2 N. Gannets
3 Parasitic Jaegers
2 Black Terns
75 Common Terns
Blair Nikula -- Jackie Sones odenews@mediaone.net

8/19/2001 South Stellwagen Bank from Boston

Took a whalewatch trip this morning (8/19) out of the New England Aquarium in Boston. The boat went to the southwestern portion of Stellwagon. Although whale sightings were tremendous, the birds were rather disappointing with one exception - a possible Audubon's shearwater (see below). First the bird sightings - o Wilson's Storm Petrel - there were literally thousands in the vicinity of the whales. The surface of the water was alive with them, ranging from ones or twos, up to flocks in excess of 100 sitting together on the water surface. They were also present in small numbers the entire trip out and back with the exception of the Boston harbor area. o 2 gannets - both immatures seen en route to the banks o 1 manx shearwater o 2 sooty shearwaters o 2 greater shearwaters o 8 common eiders - im. along a Harbor island o 2 Oystercatchers - on one of the Harbor islands o Common terns - hundreds where the whales were - very numerous but not nearly as numerous as the petrels. I was quite surprised at the very small number of shearwaters, especially since I think we were in the general area where numerous shearwaters had been reported in earlier e-mails. The "one that got away" was a possible Audubon's shearwater. I first saw the bird sitting on the water at a reasonably close distance - unfortunately the boat was moving along at the time and we passed right by the sitting bird. It was a small two-toned shearwater (generally dark above and light sides), with no apparent capped appearance like greater. In other words, dark head, neck and back of uniform color were seen. Most importantly undertail coverts were dark, with some dark smudges on the flanks back toward the tail. Did not notice if tail extended beyond wings or vice versa (uggh!). View was about 15 seconds long at a distance of about 30-40 ft. Then about 15 minutes later just a short distance away, a small shearwater appeared flying around the feeding whales. It was obviously a manx/audubon's type - pale beneath with no capped appearance and no white at base of the tail. From below, the bird's primaries were considerably darker than the wing linings, and appeared to have dark undertail coverts. It was actively flying around the whale, alternately low to the water and then 10 ft or so above the water. It did not glide at all as I watched it for about 30 seconds at a distance of about 100 ft; it was rapidly flapping the entire time. I did not realize till afterwards that Sibley states for Audubon's - "wingbeats quicker than Manx; flight lower with less gliding". Since I did not have any other shearwaters in the vicinity, this flying bird may well have been the bird I saw a few minutes earlier sitting on the water nearby. Very tantalizing but I can't be sure because - - Couldn't tell if it was smaller than manx with nothing to compare it to - Didn't see shorter wings than manx (again no manx to compare it to) - Didn't see if tail was longer than wings on sitting bird, or whether tail appeared longer than Manx on flying bird. I sure wish there had been several manx in the area to compare it to. There were numerous humpback and minke whales covering a large area of the banks. At any one time 5-10 were visible from our boat, and based on the fact that there were numerous other whale watching boats sitting farther away, there were probably many more in the area. We also had one ocean sun fish (aka "mola mola") - an odd-looking creature. Mike Resch mresch8702@aol.com Pepperell, MA

8/17/2001 South Stellwagen Bank from Gloucester

Took the Cape Ann whale watch afternoon trip. Few Wilson's Storm-petels near shore out of Gloucester unlike previous week. Most impressive whale show with bubble feeding, lobtailing, breaching by 2 calves.

8/17/2001 South Stellwagen Bank from Plymouth

A Connecticut Audubon group took a whale watch on Captain John's Boats out of Plymouth at 2 o'clock this afternoon. The trip had several birds and whales. It was impressive to see 6 or more Manx's in one field of view. The following numbers are estimates, except for the jaeger. 8 Cory's Shearwaters 8 Greater Shearwaters 35 Sooty Shearwaters 40 Manx Shearwaters 1 PARASITIC JAEGER (dark morph adult, came right along side of the boat) hundreds of Wilson's Storm-Petrels Nick Bonomo Orange, CT birderct@notredame.org

8/13/ Stellwagen from Provincetown - Peter Flood

Cory's Shearwater (3)
Greater Shearwater (15)
Sooty Shearwater (50+)
Manx Shearwater (30+)
Wilson's Storm Petrel (1200++)
Double-crested Cormorant (2) flying south
Common Tern (100+)
Humpbacks (17)
Minke (11-14)

8/12/2001 South Stellwagen Bank

A trip from Provincetown out to Stellwagen Bank this morning (0900 - 1200 hrs.) produced an assortment of birds similar to what others have been seeing out there lately: 6 Cory's Shearwaters 40 Greater Shearwaters 300 Sooty Shearwaters 60 Manx Shearwaters 1500 Wilson's Storm-petrels 3 jaeger sp. (at least one or two probably Pomarine) 75 Common Terns Blair Nikula -- 2 Gilbert Lane, Harwich Port, MA 02646 mailto:odenews@mediaone.net

8/11/2001 South Stellwagen Bank

Trip on 11 AM Captn'John from Plymouth. Humpback Whales bubblefeeding.

8/9/ Stellwagen Bank - South Yankee Fleet

I took both the morning and afternoon whale watches out of Gloucester on the Yankee Fleet. The afternoon trip was the better one with
Greater Shearwater 50
Sooty Shearwater 100
Manx Shearwater 10
Cory's Shearwater 3
Wilson's Storm-petrel 600
The trip down takes 2 hours and your time watching the whales is very limited. The bubble feeding whale show is also spectacular.
Emmalee Tarry

8/7/2001 Stellwagen Bank - South

Noel Mann and I took a slow Seven Seas Wharf boat out of Gloucester today @ 1:30 pm to escape the heat. The boat was not crowded and very comfortable. The captain took us to the southern end of Stellwagon Bank. The birds which have been reported from there for the past few days are still there namely: 4 Cory's Shearwaters 15 Greater Shearwaters 50 Manx Shearwaters 100 Sooty Shearwaters 150 Wilson's Storm Petrels 3 Foster's Terns 20 Common Terns 1 Gannet We did not get back to Gloucester until 7:30 PM but we were cool the whole time. A wonderful way to deal with this heat wave.... Ida Giriunas Reading, MA

8/5/2001 Stellwagen Bank from Barnstable

On a 10:30 AM trip out of Barnstable on foggy, overcast Sunday (8/5) with little wind we saw at SW corner Stellwagen, west of the anchored tuna fleet: cory's shearwater 5 greater shearwater 63 sooty shearwater 113 manx shearwater 16 wilson's storm-petrel 151 Leach's Storm-petrel 4 gannet 1 GB Heron 1 Grackle 1 C. Tern 25 The birds were in the area of a large number of (at least 15) bubble feeding humpback whales. Leach's Storm-Petrel seen on return to Barnstable Harbor about 1/2 hour out @ 1:30 PM.. John Hoye & Audrey McCarthy,audrey@us.ibm.com

8/54/2001 Stellwagen Bank from Plymouth Afternoon

We took the 2pm boat from Plymouth to Stellwagen Bank today after debating whether to go while at dockside because of heavy fog. We made the right decision as the fog lifted at 3:30pm as we arrived on the Bank. Actually we steamed out for about an hour in ever clearing fog and then ran into pea soup style fog. However, we came out of it in the southwest corner of the Bank where all the tuna boats and whalewatch boats were located. Highlights included the following (larger numbers are best estimates): Wilson's Storm-petrel - 600+ (they started at the end of Plymouth Beach with about 100 just off Gurnet Point and were with us all the way - actually all both ways). Sooty Shearwater - 320 (all in the same place in the sw corner of the Bank) Greater Shearwater - 225 (same place) Manx Shearwater - 20 (same place) Cory's Shearwater - 3 (same place - or could have been 1 bird that passed by the boat 3 separate times) Northern Fulmar - 1 (same place - light phase). This was one of the best whale shows we've ever seen. There were about 20 Humpbacks (along with several Minkes) in the same spot - with 4 - 5 spots where bubble feeding was going on! The birds rushed in whenever they realized fish and whales were coming to the surface. All this frenetic activity took place as the fog and glare gradually burned off, allowing better and better views of all the whales and birds around us. The Storm-petrels are certainly in close to shore as mentioned by others. From Gurnet Point all the way in to the end of Plymouth Beach one could see dozens from the northerly shore - near where the Red-necked Stint was located a few years ago. The Fulmar may be no more. I last saw it landing near the bubbles when the whale mouth came out of the water at the very spot. It was countable if only for a moment and we could not relocate it. There are a significant number of small shearwaters at this spot. Some had very little dark under the wings or tail, but a few had significant dark borders underwing extending as much as an inch in from the edge of the wings. The light was difficult as there was mixed fog and sunlight and Manx seem to fly very close to the water without a lot of banking to show off the undersides. However, if you are going out there, I'd study Audubon's Shearwater carefully. It may be that the amount of darkness in from the edge of the wings is variable in Manx and I never got a good look under the tail, but it's worth a thought Steve Moore Northboro, MA

8/5/2001 Stellwagen Bank from Plymouth Morning

In the company of 4 other birders I took the morning whale watch from Plymouth. We experienced dense fog which limited visibility throughout the trip. Sooty Shearwater 75, Greater Shearwater 30, Manx 2, Wilson's Storm-petrels 500 (including numberous birds off Plymouth Beach). We had several Humpback Whales feeding and using a bubble net and 2 Minke Whales. Emmalee Tarry

8/4/2001 Stellwagen Bank

On Saturday, 8/4, my family and I took the Captain John whale watch boat out of Plymouth Harbor. The day started out overcast and ended up with 2-1/2 hours of driving rain. However, The whale watching and birding were great. birds: Wilson's Storm-Petrel approx 300, great pattering on water show, 25-30 birds at once together, like butterflies over flowers Manx Shearwater 10-15 (many sitting on water) Greater Shearwater 2 Cory's Shearwater 1 Sooty shearwater approx 75 (many sitting on water) Northern Fulmar 1-2 (1 sitting on water 1 flying) BB Plover 15 Semi Plover 5 Ruddy Turnstone 30 Semi Sandpiper 150 (All shorebirds at Plymouth Beach) Common Tern 150 Laughing Gull 10 whales: Minke 2 - 3 Humpback at least 6 (at least 2 mother/child pairs), lots of feeding/diving activity, accompanied by diving shearwaters etc, bubble feeding, all very close to boat other: Naturalist on boat saw a tuna jumping out of the water. The birds couldn't decide where to hang out for the best fish scraps, with the whale or the tuna. They kept flying back and forth between the two activity sites. Many butterflies, including monarch, over the water. As there were no other birders on board, and the torrential rain kept fogging my glasses and optics, I probably missed some other good stuff. The fulmars really got me going though--they were the first I remember seeing in the summer in MA waters. Are other people seeing them now? Soheil Zendeh szendeh@gis.net

8/2/2001 Jeffreys Ledge

Yesterday at about 7:45 am Davis Finch and I boarded the Gulf Challenger research vessel at the Portsmouth fish pier, joining the UNH research team in their continued quest for hagfish at Jeffries Ledge.Our interest during the trip was to document all the birdlife within our view. It turned out to be the best birding trip so far in the hagfish trip series. Much of our success in seeing as many birds as we did was due to a large number of private and commercial fishing boats, tuna fishing boats, and whale watching boats that were anchored near the area of research. The sea state was reasonably calm, and the visibility to the horizon clear, allowing us to see birds at long distances. Cory's Shearwater, 1; seen about half way between Jeffries and Isles of Shoals. Sooty Shearwater, 1; sitting on the water with a small group of Greaters. Manx Shearwater, 2; both in flight and widely separated. Greater Shearwater, 125; many in small groups around fishing boats. Wilson's Storm-Petrel, 250; seen from mouth of the Piscataqua River to Jeffries. Northern Gannet, 3; all juvs. D-c Cormorant, 80; mostly at the Isles of Shoals. Great Egret, 7; flying quite high over the Piscataqua River by the naval prison. Snowy Egret, 1; flying with the Great Egrets. Semipalmated Plover, 1; in flight with two Sanderlings beyond the Shoals. Sanderling, 2 Bonepartes Gull, 4; all molting adults at the mouth of the river. Ring-billed Gull, 1; in the river at Whaleback. Herring gull; many around the fishing boats. Great Black-backed Gull; many around the fishing boats. Common Tern; many at and near Seavey Island. Arctic Tern, 2; one on Jeffries and another on the return trip. Cliff Swallow; two visible nests on the light house at Fort Constitution were deserted. At perhaps 4 to 5 miles east of the Isles of Shoals one sharp eyed observer saw, very briefly, the flukes of a Humpback Whale as it started a terminal dive, never to be seen again. In the same vicinity at least 3 Minke Whales, perhaps more, were encountered. A slow moving Ocean Sunfish was seen closeup and photographed along with a Harbor Seal near by. Denny Abbott 58 River Road Stratham, NH 03885 603-772-4464 abbott99@mediaone.net

8/1/2001 Stellwagen

Yesterday, Sheila and I took a Dolphin Fleet whale-watch out of Provincetown at 8:30AM. The boat headed south of Stellwagen Bank till we were several miles off Highland Light, Truro. Weather was good with some periods of deep and long rollers. Total trip time: 3.5 hours. Shearwater numbers weren't as spectacular as Jeremiah's numbers reported earlier, but there was still a good variety and views were excellent. Numbers of Shearwaters were NOT seen till we were off Highland Light, though petrels were seen right in P'Town Harbor and very close to shore at places like Herring Cove Beach. Greater Shearwater (15+) Sooty Shearwater (60+) Manx Shearwater (5: interestingly, every time we spotted one of these birds, initially it was resting on the water) Cory's Shearwater (3+ all seen closely. Always they seemed to materialize out of nowhere and only found as they approached the boat to "photo" distance.) Wilson's Storm Petrel (220++) N. Gannet (2) Double-crested Cormorant (213) Black-crowned Night Heron (1ad on jetty) Common Eider (20) Laughing Gull ( ~40+) Common Tern (~150+) Least Tern (10) An interesting note: I am always concerned about double-counting tube-noses while on pelagics...they are zooming all over after all. Early on this trip, after we had gotten to our main destination, we spotted a Sooty Shearwater with a damaged leg that hung down very noticeably when it flew. I kept my eye out to see how many times we saw this bird, but we saw it only that first time as it passed right in front of the boat, despite active searching for it for the rest of the trip. RE: whales. There are LOTS of whales out there this year doing all sorts of stuff. We spotted (2) Fin (together), (6+) Minke and (8+) Humpbacks. These latter included 2 adult/calf pairs. One youngster was described by the person from the Center For Coastal Studies as "just goofin' around". This entertaining youngster continued to roll over, lay on it's back, leap out of the water and weirdly wave it's flipper...seemingly at the boat. Eliciting all sorts of "awwwws" from the other folks on board. The Center person reminded us that dispite the fact that this calf weighed several tons, it was still a "baby" animal and acted like so many other young mammals do. The afternoon before (7/31) from the ocean overlook at Highland Light in Truro, with scopes, we had been able to pick out 10+ whales of two species actively feeding et and 3 species of shearwater in what must have been very close to the same area the boat went to. We even ended up showing the whales to many tourists...which gives you an idea how close they were to land. We ended up talking to many folks while on the Cape (you set up a scope and before you know it, people are asking you stuff). EVERYONE who had taken a whalewatch had had a spectacular trip, including the "sunset" cruises. So there are lots of whales and shearwaters out there to be seen. Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll molaynch@aol.com

7/29/2001 Jeffreys Ledge

Trip on Newburyport Whale Watch to Jeffrey's Ledge. Spectacular view of terns in Merrimack River on the way back in with 4 species: Common, Roseate, Least, Forsters. Bonapart's Gull in river.

7/29/2001 South Stellwagen Bank

Cory's Shearwater - 6 Greater Shearwater - 225 Sooty Shearwater - 350 Manx Shearwater - 60 Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 850+ Leach's Storm-Petrel - 6 (all within 1/2 hour of Sandy Neck) Northern Gannet - 6 (imm) Humpback Whale - 15+ (including tight pod of 8 breaching, lobtailing and synchronized fluking right next to the boat) Minke Whale - 10 Monarch - 2 Jeremiah Trimble Cambridge, MA

7/28 Stellwagen Bank - SE Glenn d'Entremont BBC Trip

A very nice day put the exclamation point on a very nice trip out of Plymouth on the Cap't John to the SE corner of Stellwagen Bank National Wildlife Refuge. Wilson's Storm-Petrel 200 Greater Shearwater 133 Sooty Shearwater 31 Manx Shearwater 2 Cory's Shearwater 4 Northern Gannet 1 imm Bonaparte's Gull 2 Common Tern 8 Yellow Warbler 1

7/25/2001 New London to Orient Point Ferry

From Andy Griswold: Wilson's Storm Petrels - The birds were seen in the area of Bell 4 (Connecticut waters) and to the south towards New York waters. Viewers note: In past years at this time, Wilson's Storm Petrels have been seen from shore in southeastern Connecticut. One of the best bets for viewing is at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point Campus in Groton.

7/23/2001 Stellwagen Bank

To all: Yesterday I took the 9:30 AM whale watching tour out to Stellwagen banks. We took the Boston Steamship Co. boat the " Massachusett". It took us 11/2 hours to the banks. (too slow). It would be better to take the NE Aquarium' boat from Long Wharf. Both the same price. We saw the following species: 35 Wilson"s Storm-petrel 30 Greater shearwater (20 in a flock sitting on the water) 1 Manx shearwater 6 Gannet the weather was sunny and the sea had a slight roll to it. We saw a mother and calf Humpback whale. Herman D'Entremont hermand@juno.com Somerville, MA

7/21/2001 Jeffrey's Ledge- Jim Wallius Fishing Trip

I went fishing today about 13 miles ESE of Rockport on southern Jefferies Ledge saw noted these approximate number of birds while fishing the area. 15 G Shearwaters 3 S Shearwaters 6 Sanderlings 2 Forster's Terns 80 WS Petrels 20 GBB Gulls 8 H Gulls 1 Humpback 1 Finback 1 Minke Jim Wallius Rockport, MA jaw@escape.com

7/21/2001 Stellwagen Bank

On an excellent whale watch trip on John's boats out of Plymouth on this beautiful, sunny summer morning we spent most of the time on the south end of Stellwagon and saw: cory's shearwater 1 greater shearwater 16 sooty shearwater 7 manx shearwater 4 wilson's storm petrel 192 no gannet 3 humpbacks 10 minke 1 finback 1 1 humpback calf was doing it all - tail breach, full breach, flipper flapping, while mom was deep dive feeding. John Hoye & Audrey McCarthy, Wayland audrey@us.ibm.com

7/21/2001 Cox's Ledge Fishing Trip

Results from my July 21 trip to Cox Ledge aboard a Frances Fleet boat from Point Judith, RI, 6:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.: GREATER SHEARWATER: 9 (on W and central portion of the ledge) WILSON'S STORM-PETREL: 50+ (30+ of these birds were seen following the boat on the trip back to dock, as the mates cleaned the catch) HERRING GULL: 6 GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL: 25+ TERN SPECIES?: 5 (distant birds in poor light; Roseates?) DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT: 1 I was the only birder on board, and had the opportunity to speak at length with the captain, Rich DeLuca. He said the NE and E winds had produced large numbers of birds earlier in the week; numbers peaked on Thursday with shearwaters appearing as soon as the boat left the Point Judith breakwater, but had dropped off by Friday. He also said that water temperature becomes more important than wind direction in predicting the presence of birds on Cox Ledge later in the summer. He said that they had water temperatures in the 70s for a few days in late June, but that waters had been cold since that time. Lawrence Dahl

7/17/2001 Core Great South Channel Trip

This overnight trip advertised to go to the Great South Channel did go to the northern part of the channel, but finding few whales ended up on Stellwagen Bank. Birders aboard reported large numbers of birds in the Great South Channel and were disappointed that the trip did not continue with the advertised plan. Birds seen: Greater Shearwater 800-1000+ ,Sooty Shearwater 200+ ,Manx Shearwater 2 ,Cory's Shearwater 2 ,Wilson's Storm Petrels 2000 +/- ,Pomarine Jaeger 1,Jaeger sp. 1, Two Great Blue Herons well offshore - I really felt sorry for them, they seemed lost. A couple of sandpiper sp. offshore No terns at all--we thought a bit odd Gulls we didn't count, but saw nothing unusual.

7/16/2001 South Stellwagen Bank from Provincetown

The 1:30 PM Dolphin Fleet boat went to the very southeast corner of Stellwagen. Most of the other in-sight whalewatches were there as well, or a mile or so north. No wind, sea almost perfectly calm. Here are my numbers: Greater Shearwater 5 scattered Sooty Shearwater 8 scattered Wilson's Storm-Petrel 500 in rafts of 20-50, mostly enroute Northern Gannet 3 subadults Humpback Whale 5 Minke Whale 1 The naturalist (first name Todd) told me he had noticed a Cory's Shearwater also. The highlight was awesome views of two Humpback Whales (one a real biggy named Sundog) that spent half an hour immediately under and beside our boat, apparently investigating it. They would pass from the surface on one side, go under, and emerge slowly from the murk to the surface on the other side, sometimes rolling gradually onto their sides or backs and swishing their flukes at the surface. The smoothness of the water surface allowed closeup full-length views of these animals better than any I've ever had before. The captain came out of the wheelhouse to watch for himself. One could pick out every tubercle, scar, and barnacle. Also notable were the extensive grayish abrasion areas on the animal's jaws, apparent evidence of digging into the gravelly bottom for sand lance. At one point Sundog seemed to be nudging the bottom of the boat, possibly self-administering a backscratch! The on-board videographer, celebrating her birthday, was delighted with the brisk order business that ensued for the trip video. My wife and I topped off this memorable trip with dinner at the Dancing Lobster, the finest dining experience we've ever had anywhere on the Cape. It's a bit expensive but worth it for its richly varied menu, relaxed setting looking out to Macmillan Wharf from the beach, and sincerely attentive personal service (our waiter, anyway; one might get such service in Europe, virtually never in Boston). Apologies for this non-birding plug, but I know quite a few of you who would be very pleased by following my recommendation to try this place some time. It's another incentive to endure the long drive to P'town for one's pelagic adventures. Chris Floyd Lexington chrisf@mitre.org

7/13 Jeffreys Ledge

Don Green and I headed offshore with a group of students on a University of New Hampshire Research boat in hopes of trapping some Hagfish and seeing some birds. We headed out past the Isles of Shoals to a spot on Jeffrey's Ledge just into MA waters. We spent about 2 hours on the ledge in a small area. The list of birds was unimpressive, but we did have a little bit to look at: Greater Shearwater - 4 (all on ledge) Manx Shearwater - 1 (on ledge) Northern Gannet - 2 (near Isles of Shoals) Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 40 (50% near or inside Isles of Shoals) Minke Whale - 2 (near Isles of Shoals) Red Admiral - 3 (flew by while on Jeffrey's Ledge) Hagfish - 200+ (One in first trap. 200+ in second trap) And 6 or so visible Herring Gulls chicks on ROOFTOP of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Building. Steve Mirick Newmarket, NH

7/11/2001 WSP in Gloucester Harbor

Donna Jacques reports Wilson's Storm-petrels in the inner harbor in Gloucester and around the offshore islands. She also reports a pair of Black Guillemots near the Tres Salvages just off Rockport Harbor.

7/8/2001 Cox's Ledge Fishing Trip

Chris Nunes from Galilee,RI: CORY'S SHEARWATER-2 GREATER SHEARWATER-10-15 SOOTY SHEARWATER-5 MANX SHEARWATER-2 WILSON'S STORM-PETREL-100+ (some birds very close in towards the breakwater) NORTHERN GANNET-1 That was about it. The weather was okayish, a little cold with on and off drizzle, but it was bearable.

7/7/2001 Stellwagen Bank South Shore Bird Club from Plymouth

The South Shore Bird Club went on a whale watch boat trip Saturday morning out of Plymouth. Highlights include: 8-10 Humpback Whale (1 of which was putting on a nice show, breaching, tail lobbing etc.) 2 Minke Whale 1 Finback Whale 3 or 4 Manx Shearwater 32 Sooty Shearwater 12 Greater Shearwater 71+ Wilson's Storm-Petrel 12 Northern Gannet 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull 23 Laughing Gull 1 Bonaparte's Gull 1 Piping Plover Mike Emmons emmons@mediaone.net Wilmington, MA

7/4 Gulf of Maine on Scotia Prince from Nova Scotia to Maine

Rob Lambert & I spent the 4th on the Scotia Prince. Viewing conditions were excellent for most of 11-hr Gulf of Maine crossing from NS to Maine. In addition to a lot of half/whole-drunk gamblers and seemingly empty ocean, we managed to observe the following: Northern Fulmar: 20 including 1 group of 8 feeding on a large dead sea creature, possibly an Ocean Sunfish (mola mola) Sooty Shearwater: 16 Greater Shearwater: 242 (many in active wing molt) Manx Shearwater: 4 Wilson's Storm-Petrel: 520 (many/most in active wing molt) Leach's Storm-Petrel: 33 No. Gannet: 32 (all imm., mostly 1st & 2nd year types) Jaeger Species: 1, prob. Pomarine Laughing Gull: 2 Arctic tern: 8 Common Tern: 1 Atlantic Puffin: 6 plus Herr. & GB-b Gulls, and some distant unid. terns, alcids, tubenoses, etc Other: R-t Loon-1 imm. fly-by; Co. Loon -1; Dowitcher species-1; Co. Eider many whale blow spouts, a few whale sightings (Fin, Hump, Minke), Harbor Porp.'s, Harbor Seals The Scotia Prince departs Portland, Maine at 9pm, arrives in Yarmouth Nova Scotia @ 8am, then departs Yarmouth at 9am and arrives in Portland @ 8pm...the ~200 mile crossing (one-way) takes ~ 11 hours. Lysle Brinker Cumberland, ME

7/4/Jeffreys Ledge out of Rye, NH

I went on a Whale Watching tour yesterday from Rye Harbor out to Jeffrey's Ledge hoping to see whales and plenty of birds, which I did. Wilson's Stormpetrel 250+, Gannet 20+, Greater Shearwater 5,Sooty Shearwater 3 ,Com. Tern 30+, Also Mink Whale 2-3,Fin Whale 2 ,Stefan Stürup Hanover, NH

6/27 North Stellwagen Bank

Joppa Flats Massachusetts Audubon Trip with Nancy Soulette on Newburyport Whale Watch

6/25 -6/28 Continental Shelf Edge - Gilberts, Oceanographer, Hydrographer, Great South Channel

CORE 3 day trip on Yankee Capts. Actually a Cetancean trip with bird naturalist Mike Gooley. Other animals seen include: 10 Cuvier's Beaked Whales, 935 Common Dolphin, 120 Striped Dolphin, 150 Risso's Dolphin. Warm, blue gulf stream water with flying fish and sargassum weed in Gilbert and Oceanographer's Canyon. Laughing Gulls were seen near Cape Cod.

6/22 Jeffreys Ledge

Fished about 11 miles east of Rockport today on southern Jefferies Ledge. Visibility was about 1/4 mile in fog. Noted the following around the boat during fishing: 15 GBB Gulls 25 WS Petrels (attached 1 photo) 1 Long-finned pilot whale (my first offshore mammal of the year) Jim Wallius Rockport, MA jaw@escape.com

6/10 Jeffrey's Ledge

Went fishing today about 16 miles east of Rockport on southern Jeffery's Ledge. Here is what I noticed around the fishing area: 1 S Shearwater 1 G Shearwater 2 WS Petrels 7 N Gannets 40 GBB Gulls 2 H Gulls No mammals Jim Wallius Rockport, MA jaw@escape.com

6/10/2001 and 6/11/2001 Eastern Side of Cape Cod

The Wellfleet Audubon Whale of a Seabird Cruise with Wayne Peterson on Sunday June 10 left from Provincetown at 8 AM and sailed along Provincetown and down the east side of Cape Cod where a pod of very active Humpback Whales were bubble and lunge feeding. There were 2 Sooty Shearwater and about 5 Northern Gannets. One Common Loon was seen flying north. Of course good numbers of Greater Black-backed and Herring Gulls. Mark Gilmore of the Center for Coastal Studies was whale naturalist and he gave an enthusiastic and interesting presentation on whale rescue.

This report from Pete Flood who took the same trip on Monday June 11: Went on a whale watch today with the dolphin fleet out of Provincetown and did not go to stellwagon bank. We ended up roughly 2 miles off the eastern shore of Wellfleet by newcomb hollow beach. Apparently, stellwagon bank is not happening at all. The last couple of days, at least 12-15 humpback whales have shown up just east of cape cod and have continued to feed within the above mentioned area. Better yet, the whales have brought a few birds with them. Although, nothing spectacular, this was far more impressive than the trip I took last monday! Here is what I saw: Sooty shearwater 120+ (many diving from a couple of feet above the surface) Greater shearwater 1 (only!) Wilson's storm petrel 3 Common loon 1 (in breeding plumage flying north) Northern gannet 12 (all immature) There were fairly impressive groups of gulls and gannets further out (3 miles?) which were all feeding on the surface. My guess is that there are good numbers of sand launce beginning to show up. These groups of gulls were scattered form just off of race point in provincetown down to the eastern shore of wellfleet and perhaps further. Hopefully things are beginning to pick up on the pelagic scene. In provincetown harbor I managed to count 22 Double-crested cormorant nests on the breakwater. There may even be a few more. A flock of 15 common eider (all males) flew over and another 12 were resting on the breakwater. Peter Flood West Dennis Peteflood6@aol.com

6/7 Jeffrey's Ledge

Davis Finch and I acompanied the hagfish research group from UNH aboard the M/V Gulf Challenger to observe pelagic birds enroute and in the area at Jeffries Ledge. Measured with a GPS unit we arrived at a point on the edge of Jeffries Ledge about 30.13 miles, and at a bearing of 120 degrees, from Whaleback Light at the mouth of the Piscataqua River mid-afternoon. While the researchers were quite successful in their quest for hagfish the birding was extremely slow. The bird list (?) follows: Wilson's Storm-Petrel, 8; Northern Gannet, 70; Great Black-backed Gull, 40; Herring Gull, 8; In the river: Common Tern, 90; Boneparte's Gull, 2; Laughing Gull, 1 adult; The usual complement of eiders, D-c Cormorants, etc. Unusual this far at sea, a few American Ladies and possibly one Red Admiral passed the boat at the trap site. A half dozen or so Harbor Porpoise and one Minke Whale in the distance were the only marine mammals seen. Denny Abbott 58 River Road Stratham,NH 03885 603-772-4464 abbott99@mediaone.net

6/3/2001 Cox's Ledge

This post from Chris Nunes about today's pelagic to Cox's Ledge from Galilee: NORTHERN FULMAR-2 light morphs,Greater Shearwater-50+, constantly present offshore. Sooty Shearwater-12-15, A few around, mostly near Cox's ledge. Wilson's Storm-petrel-50+, all over the place. POMARINE JAEGER-7(!!) 5 together in a flock of G. Shearwaters and gulls on Cox's Ledge, another 2 on the way in. Varied from sub adults changing to adults to Adult breeding plumages. Most seemed to be paired off. SOUTH POLAR SKUA-1 unbelievable bird at Cox's ledge. Materialized out of the fog like a dream, sat in the water in front of us, circled the boat twice, put on a show, chased some G. Shearwaters. Unbelievable.Adult bird. From Jan St. Jean

5/15/2001 - 5/17/2001 Karsten Hartel

A note fromabout pelagics last week! Pelagics off New England. I spent two nights (3 viewing days during fish work) on a 83 foot commercial fishing boat over the 600 to 1000 meter contour line in the vicinity of Veatch and Atlantis canyons (ca. 70°N 40°W) due south of Nantucket. Weather was bad on 15 and 16 but better on the 17th . At sea during the two days (16-17 May), maximum counts are given for 45 minute to one hour observation periods are as follows. Common Loon (5; almost all inside the 200 meter line) Norther Fulmar (12; 3 to 4 with us at all times) Greater Shearwater (15) Sooty Shearwater (2) Wilson’s Storm Petrel (24; but usually only 5-6) Leach’s Storm Petrel (1 at Veatch Canyon 16 May) Northern Gannet (3; rare off shore) Red Phalarope (13) Phalarope sp. (50) Pomarine Jeager (5 adults at one time on 17th; 2 usually) Great Skua (one dark bird showing chocolate brown tones on 17th ) Herring Gull (15) Great Black-backed Gull (20) Common Tern (60) Small Sterna sp. (174) As a side note the numbers of White-winged Scoter off No Man's Land as we headed south on 15 May were impressive… I estimate at least 2- 3,000 with only 3 Surf Scoter identified. Karsten E. Hartel, Curatorial Associate, Ichthyology Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University Cambridge, MA, USA 02138 (617)495-2477 or hartel@oeb.harvard.edu SEE our NEW home page and SEARCH at http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/fish

5/20/2001 Jim Wallius Fishing Trip

Went fishing today about 15 miles east of Rockport on southern Jeffery's Ledge. Here is what I noticed around the fishing area: 2 N Fulmars The captain indicated that there were 4 next to the boat on Friday and that they were readily taking scraps and there were none yesterday. Today's pair flew within a few of the boat, but didn't land. 60 N Gannets 1 RT Hummingbird 1 T Swallow 1 Laughing Gull 4 RT Loons 40 GBB Gulls 7 H Gulls No mammals Jim Wallius Rockport, MA

5/19/2001 Jeffreys Ledge

Emmalee Tarry had about 100 Gannets (some mature with golden heads) , Black-backed Gull and Herring Gulls on the Newbureyport Whale Watch. 5 Finback Whales and about 10 Atlantic White-sided Dolphin.

5/6/2001 Jeffrey Ledge Jim Wallius

Fished about 12 miles east of Rockport on southern Jeffery's Ledge today. The birds I'm noting here are an estimate of what I saw within about a 1/2 mile of the boat during fishing. Visibility was almost unlimited and wind was east northeast at 15 to 20 accompanied by 2 to 3 foot whitecaps. Lots more birds flying close to the water beyond my estimated counting distance, but with attention to holding on and fishing, there was no way I could pay much heed to these with my 10Xs. 1 N Fulmar 3 DC Cormorants 15 RT Loons 25 N Gannets (about 5 non-adult) 25 H Gulls Hundreds of GBB Gulls (flying easterly and northerly singly or in groups of up to nine during the first 3 or so hours of fishing. Maybe 45 around the boat during the day) No mammals

5/3/200` Jeffrey Ledge - Steve Mirick

Once again, Denny Abbott and I travelled with University of New Hampshire research students aboard the UNH research vessel, "The Gulf Challenger" in search of Hagfish to a point offshore probably in Mass. waters, approximately 20 miles northeast of Cape Ann near the middle of "Jeffrey's Ledge". The boat was on the ledge for about 1 1/2 hours covering only a small area on the ledge. The landbirds were more interesting than the seabirds: ON Jeffrey's Ledge 25 miles east of Portsmouth, NH ------------------------------------------------------ Common Loon - 5 (flying north on ledge, many more in inshore waters) Red-throated Loon - 2 (unusual this far offshore?) Northern Gannet - 65 (total trip count. Several ages represented) Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2 Savannah Sparrow - 1 White-throated Sparrow - 1 Red-winged Blackbird - 1 NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD - 1 (Seems like a very unusual sighting for the ledge!) Bonaparte's Gull - 8 adults in breeding plumage (Unusual so far offshore?) Alcids - 0 Kittiwakes - 0 Elsewhere on the trip ---------------------- ICELAND GULL - 2 (1st year birds continuing in Portsmouth Harbor) Many other land birds going out to and in from the ledge. Marine Mammals ------------------ Fin Whale - 3 or 4 Minke Whale - 1 Atlantic White-Sided (?) Dolphin - ~6 HARBOR PORPOISE - 1 young porpoise very near the dock in Portsmouth Harbor A couple of butterflys were noted well off-shore, but not positively ID'd. Perhaps American Ladys?

4/28/2001 Jeffrey's Ledge Fishing Trips - Jim Wallius

Went fishing today about 13 miles east of Rockport on southern Jeffery's Ledge. Here's an approximate list of what I noticed while on the fishing grounds. 30 gannet 20 GBB gull 2 black scoter 1 rusty blackbird 1 great cormorant no mammals

4/03/2001 Fishing Trip out of Portsmouth NH to Jeffrey's Ledge

Davis Finch, Denny Abbott and Steve Mirick hitched a ride with University of New Hampshire research students aboard the UNH research vessel, "The Gulf Challenger". The research trip was in search of Hagfish, a rather unique bottom scavenging fish, found in offshore waters. The boat left Portsmouth, NH and travelled past the Isles of Shoals to a point (arguably) in Mass. waters, approximately 20 miles northeast of Cape Ann near the middle of "Jeffrey's Ledge". The boat was on the ledge for about 2 1/2 hours at a slow cruise with stops to drop and pull up fish traps. The trip was more noteworthy for the lack of birds, but here is the list: ON Jeffrey's Ledge 25 miles east of Portsmouth, NH. Common Eider - 1 Razorbill - 2 Unidentified large alcid - 1 NORTHERN HARRIER - 1 (most unusual sighting of the day!) Northern Gannet - 30 (all adults) Herring and Black-backed Gulls in small numbers Black-legged Kittiwakes - NONE!?!?! HAGFISH - 800+ (At least the UNH students were successful!) At various other parts of the voyage .Brant - 35 (around Isles of Shoals) Canada Goose - 125 (migrating flock about 10 miles offshore) Unidentified large alcid - 6 (just past the Isles of Shoals) Razorbill - 1 (close to NH shore) Thick-billed Murre (near Star Island) Black Guillemot - 12 (a couple in breeding plumage) Purple Sandpipers - 103 (most at Smuttynose Island) Iceland Gull - 2 (both 1st year birds in Portsmouth Harbor)

2/19/2001 Fishing Trip Galilee, RI

Seven birders went out on the cod fishing trip out of Galilee on Monday, February 19. It was a bit rough coming home and our numbers of birds not quite as impressive as Shai's list from the 4th. Again, there were no Fulmars! 1 GLAUCOUS GULL 25 Black-legged Kittiwake 30 Northern Gannets 85 Razorbills 1 COMMON MURRE in breeding plumage 1 lg. murre sp., also in breeding (this one got away too fast for a positive ID) Reported by:Jan St.Jean DLSaint@aol.com Chepachet, RI

2/4/2001 Fishing TripGalilee, RI
Shai Mitra and Dan Finizia went out on the cod fishing trip on Sunday. 18 Northern Gannets 3 Iceland Gulls 44 BL Kittiwakes 2 Dovekies 7 COMMON MURRES 91 Razorbills 2 ATLANTIC PUFFINS 120 Lg. alcid spp. 3 Harbor Porpoises (including one dead) 20 Atlantic White-sided Dolphins. Report from Jan St. Jean

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