Subject: seawatching from N. Truro 12/27
From: "Mark Lynch" <moa.lynch(AT)verizon.net>
Date: 28 Dec 2006 9:55am

Just to compare what another part of the Cape had on Wednesday with Blair's
report, Sheila Carroll and I were doing the TRURO CBC Wednesday the 27th and
our sector included the HEAD OF THE MEADOW ocean overlook. We dedicated
three hours there to seawatching, as well as watching from two other vantage
points, including the lighthouse. But we got very little "bang for the buck"
and had in fact, one of the worst alcid shows I have ever had during the
Truro CBC! It would have been positively delightful to have seen one of
those jaegers that Blair saw, and we certainly searched,  but it was not to
be. Our totals for our sector for all day included:
N Gannet (998: decent show in first half of AM, they almost vanished by
mid-morning as did all alcids)
Razorbill (11)
Thick-billed Murre (2)
Dovekie (1)
Black Guillemot (1)
Black-legged Kittiwake (27)
But we did have one highlight: a FORSTER'S TERN, trying to fly east/south
but being constantly bombed by two kittiwakes.
BTW: We bumped into another birder not doing the count who had spent the
morning at Race Point, Provincetown and had also had extremely few birds.
Landbirds were also way off in our sector which includes the typically
productive bike path and High Head. The bike path had almost NO birds what
so ever. Robins were almost a "no show", which is unusual, and we dipped on
catbird and towhee, typically aorund somewhere in our sector. That said,
chickadee numbers were high, as were numbers of GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS. We
were also also a wee bit surprised to find (8) Red-breasted Nuthatches,
which have been scarce inland. Yellow-rumped numbers were also LOW. But it
was not all gloom despite the less than ideal weather (rain, wet snow AM,
ice pellets by dusk, cloudy and windy in between) and we also managed to
tally a Wilson's Snipe, (2) Virginia Rails, a Marsh Wren and a Northern
Shrike in the marsh at the base of High Head. TOM LIPSKY will post the
entire count circle totals later.
Mark Lynch
moa.lynch(AT)verizon.net

Subject: First Encounter Bch. - 12/27
From: Blair Nikula <odenews(AT)odenews.org>
Date: 27 Dec 2006 3:46pm

I headed to First Encounter Beach in Eastham first thing this
morning, not really expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised to
see a good jaeger show for such a late date.  The wind was NW
@15-30mph and visibility was fair to poor in rain and drizzle.  In
three hours (0700-1000), I recorded the following:

2 Red-throated Loons
3 Common Loons
370 N. Gannets (80+% adult)
35 Com. Eider
2 White-winged Scoters
3 Long-tailed Ducks
12 Bufflehead
1 Com. Goldeneye
45 Red-breasted Mergansers
1 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Red Knot
225 Dunlin
32 Pomarine Jaegers (many of which sat on the flats on the outgoing
tide, including at one point a flock of 16 birds; a photo of 13 of
these birds flying up the beach is at:
http://www.capecodbirds.org/POJAflockEastham122706.htm)
12 jaeger sp.
90 Bonaparte's Gulls (90+% adult)
75 Black-legged Kittiwakes (all adult)
4 Dovekies (all singles)
1 (only) large alcid sp.

There wasn't much going on at either Head of the Meadow Beach in
Truro or the Race Point parking lot later in the morning.  At Herring
Cove Beach in P'town:

50 N. Gannets
500+ Red-breasted Mergansers
3 Black-legged Kittiwakes
8 large alcid sp.
3+ Iceland Gulls (2 ad., 1-1W)

In Provincetown Harbor the Thayer's-type gull was still present and
readily studied/photographed at point-blank range.  I'm an agnostic
on Thayer's gulls (I remain unconvinced there is such a thing), so
I'll leave the identity of this bird to others, though this certainly
looks like as good a candidate as I've seen in recent years.

Wellfleet Harbor:
15+ Red-throated Loons
4 Common Loons
1 Harlequin Duck (f.)
20 Bonaparte's Gulls

Blair Nikula

2 Gilbert Lane
Harwich Port, MA 02646
USA
mailto:odenews(AT)odenews.org
web site: http://www.odenews.org/

Subject: Andrew's Point, Rockport Seawatch; 26 Dec. 2006.
From: "rsheil" <rsheil(AT)juno.com>
Date: 26 Dec 2006 2:22pm

TUESDAY, 26 DECEMBER 2006:
ANDREW'S POINT, ROCKPORT Seawatch (0725-1215 hrs.)
Weather:  Overcast, light to moderate fog, drizzle, E-NE winds 15-20 mph
until 1100, then N-NW 10-15 mph, 44-46 F.
Seas: 3-6 feet ; Visibility: At times poor, but mostly fair, 3/4 mile to 2
miles (late).
Richard S. Heil
All birds moving NW to SE unless noted otherwise.

American Black Duck (3)
Common Eider (26)
Harlequin Duck (15): Resident, along the shore.
Surf Scoter (1m.)
White-winged Scoter (14)
Black Scoter (1f.)
Oldsquaw (2)
Common Goldeneye (1f.)
Red-breasted Merganser (4)
Red-throated Loon (3 juvs.)
Common Loon (2)
Red-necked Grebe (3)
Northern Gannet (257): Mostly adults, one juv.
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT (1-1W): Latest record.
Great Cormorant (8)
Purple Sandpiper (35): Foraging on the rocky shoreline.
POMARINE JAEGER (2): One adult/near adult light morph with 'adult tail',
plus a second light morph.
Bonaparte's Gull (11 ads.)
Ring-billed Gull (3)
Herring Gull (60)
Great Black-backed Gull (30)
Black-legged Kittiwake (16): 15 ads., 1-1W.
Dovekie (4): a single, then a flock of three; close to shore, all before
0820.
Common Murre (8)
Thick-billed Murre (2)
Razorbill (99)
large alcid sp. (2)
Black Guillemot (10)

Richard Heil
S. Peabody, MA
rsheil(AT)juno.com
 

Subject: Andrew's Point, Rockport Seawatch; 22 Dec. 2006:
         Pom. Jaegers & 5 alcids.
From: "rsheil" <rsheil(AT)juno.com>
Date: 22 Dec 2006 5:26pm

FRIDAY, 22 DECEMBER 2006:
ANDREW'S POINT, ROCKPORT Seawatch (0850-1400 hrs.)
Weather: A.M. partly cloudy, P.M. mostly cloudy, ENE becoming ESE late,
10-15 mph, 36-41 F.
Seas: 2-4 feet ; Visibility: Very good although some glare and temperature
distortion.
All birds except the 'resident' Harlequins flying past NW to SE.
Richard S. Heil

'Pale-bellied' Brant (2): ad.+ 1W.: Latest record.
Am. Black Duck (2)
Common Eider (148)
Harlequin Duck (25)
White-winged Scoter (9)
Black Scoter (9)
Oldsquaw (2)
Red-breasted Merganser (1)
Red-throated Loon (10): 5 ads., 5-1W.
Common Loon (5)
Red-necked Grebe (12)
Northern Gannet (137): Mostly ads., only one juv.
Great Cormorant (6)
Dunlin (55): Sum of two flocks.
POMARINE JAEGER (4): One light morph close enough to age as adult by all
dark underwing coverts; one other light, plus two dark morphs.  My second
latest record here.  Latest, of one on 12 Jan. 2005.
Bonaparte's Gull (16)
Ring-billed Gull (7)
Herring Gull (120)
GLAUCOUS GULL (1-1W): Only my 4th record here.
Great Black-backed Gull (40)
Black-legged Kittiwake (53 ads.)
Dovekie (1): Comparatively few recent records.  My personal high count on
this seawatch is thirty years old, of only 140 on 24 Dec. 1976.  Before my
time, J. Kieran estimated 18,000 passing by in just two hours on 30 Nov.
1957.  Such flights in MA have long been a thing of the past.
Common Murre (2)
Thick-billed Murre (2)
Razorbill (165)
large alcid sp. (136)
Black Guillemot (9)

Harbor Seal (2)
Gray Seal (1)

Richard Heil
S. Peabody, MA
rsheil(AT)juno.com
 

Subject: Dovekies, Plum Is
From: <birdwsg(AT)verizon.net>
Date: 19 Dec 2006 3:22pm

There was a dovekie 20 ft. off the Plum Island beach at Lot 3 this morning, one
that Oakes alerted me to, and I found another off Emerson Rocks this morning
along with a pair of razorbills.

Steve Grinley
Bird Watcher's Supply & Gift
Route 1 Traffic Cir
Newburyport, MA 01950
BirdWSG(AT)Verizon.net
978-462-0775
 

Kurt Dorsey Dec 24

I took a quick afternoon trip to Ogunquit, Maine to look for the dovekies that had been reported earlier in the week.  I got my first one ever at the Cliff House resort, just south of the hotel in a cove.  I had decided earlier that they are mythical, so I'm feeling much better now.

Other species of note:
a black guillemot
2 razorbills
2 kittiwakes (or more?)
half a zillion harlequins (note: that's an estimate)
almost as many long-tailed ducks
surf and ww scoters
red-breasted mergs
a few gannets

 

Mike Harvey
 Flavoviridis@aol.com
 

I did a short seawatch from the southern end of Odiorne Point State Park today
(0700-0930). Fair numbers of birds were moving past. While the rate of passage
of alcids slowed after 0830, gannet passage seemed to be picking up and they
were still moving through steadily when I left. Highlights:
 
 Common Eider (75+ flying south)
 Northern Gannet (52 flying south, all adults)
 Razorbill (22 flying in both directions, plus one in close on water)
 large Alcid sp. (14 flying in both directions)
 Black Guillemot (19! including 17 flying south)
 small Alcid sp. (1 flying south)
 Glaucous Gull (1 1st-winter headed upriver from offshore)
 Pine Siskin (1 overhead at dawn)
 
 
 

October 2

As always, Rick Heil's sea watch posts are certainly one of the highlights of the evening after these strong storms, although I often cringe when he finds some extraordinary storm bird and I wish I had been down there to see it as well.

Jane and I still love to sea watch from the NH coast.  Like Cape Ann, there are locations where you can stay warm, sheltered from the wind and relatively dry in your car while you scope for migrating sea birds.  After that the similarities fall away, as Andrew's Point juts well out into the Atlantic and the numbers of most species (particularly pelagics) surpasses anything you can find in NH.  Still.....NH is my state to keep track of, and the results of yesterday's sea watch we conducted were somewhat interesting to compare with Rick's numbers.

Of most interest are the species that we found MORE of then Rick.  These include most gulls, dabbling ducks, Caspian Terns, and Double-crested Cormorants, suggesting that these birds "cut the corner" at Cape Ann and may pass south past Plum Island and perhaps cut across the Annisquam River.  Here is a map:

http://home.comcast.net/~smirick/photos/seawatchmap.jpg

Below is a comparison of our watch from Little Boar's Head and Ragged Neck with Rick's watch at Andrew's Point.  Rick's numbers are presented in parenthesis followed by our numbers.

Select list:

Hours watching (10.5) - We spent 7 hours.

Am. Black Duck (1) - We had at more than16.
Northern Pintail (0) - We had 14 birds.
Green-winged Teal (9) - We had 29 birds.
Common Eider (109) - We had 13 in one flock.
Surf Scoter (1030) - We had 278
White-winged Scoter (1285) - We had 284
Black Scoter (40) - We had 2
dark winged Scoter sp. (0) - We had 79
Red-throated Loon (6) - We had 4
Common Loon (78) - We had 28
Greater Shearwater (495) - We had 0.
Northern Gannet (435) - We had 143
Double-crested Cormorant (450) - We had 1,764.  We probably missed a few flocks which flew to our west.
Laughing Gull (240, record site total) - We had record high 191.  Not quite as many as Rick, but probably comparable if we spent a few more hours watching.
Bonaparte's Gull (12), Ring-billed Gull (8), Herring Gull (90+) - Unfortunately, we didn't count these species, but it became apparent, there was a modest sized migration of gulls along the shore, and we had much higher numbers of Bonaparte's, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls moving south than Rick recorded.
Caspian Tern (5) - We had 14.  I've found this species to be a regular migrant along the immediate shoreline.  The birds we had yesterday were all less than 200' offshore and some nearly overhead.  Flock sizes of 3,4,2,1,2,2.

Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA

 

September 2
Jane and I covered the coast today hoping for some storm blown vagrants. We were relatively successful, but apparently the big shearwater show was a few miles to the south where several hundred Greater Shearwaters were reported off Plum Island. Nevertheless, a few highlights: Common Loon - 16 migrating south. Pied-billed Grebe - 1 off Brackett's Road in Rye. Double-crested Cormorant - 373 migrating south in flocks up to 50 in size. Northern Gannet - 3 (surprisingly few) GREATER SHEARWATER - 15 distant birds heading north from Little Boar's Head in morning MANX SHEARWATER - 3 very close views looking down on birds flying together, heading north from Little Boar's Head in afternoon. White-winged Scoter - 5 heading south and 3 heading north. Merlin - 1 at Meadow Pond and 1 in Exeter at wastewater plant RED-NECKED GREBE - At least 2 continue off Odiorne Point from Science Center. Laughing Gull - 50 migrating south. Plus 8 on Rye Ledge and another 15+ feeding in Hampton/Seabrook area. Roughly 50/50 adults and juveniles. LITTLE GULL - 1 juvenile/1st winter off Seabrook Beach with feeding flock. I had thoughts of Sabine's Gull when I first saw it! Bonaparte's Gull - Very few bonies and terns! Perhaps 10 terns and 10 bonies scattered for the day. JAEGER SP. - 3 flying north together from Little Boar's Head. All adult/sub-adults. Not far out, but they had passed by us by the time we saw them. Whimbrel - 2 in Little River Salt marsh in N. Hampton. Unusual location. PURPLE MARTIN - 1 adult female off Bracket's Road in Rye. Always a treat to find one away from nesting areas. Tree Swallow - Several hundred+ at Exeter WWTP with a good number of Barns and a small number of Banks. Meadow Pond in Hampton was hopping with birds in the morning at high tide, although viewing was difficult through the phragmites. Green-winged Teal - 85 (high number for date) Blue-winged Teal - 20 Hooded Merganser - 2 Greater Yellowlegs - 200 (A new high for me in NH) Lesser Yellowlegs - 25 STILT SANDPIPER - 5 (all juveniles) Pectoral Sandpiper - 1 (adult) Lots of Semipalmated Sandpipers and a handful of Leasts, mostly/all juveniles. Short-billed Dowitcher - 4 juveniles Steve & Jane Mirick Bradford, MA



June 6 Yellow-Nosed Albatross sighted Massachusetts and New Hampshire Coast
Of course, I have been up and down the coast a million times since first seeing the albatross on Tuesday with on luck finding it again. As Steve said "It's probably in Maine by now". Does anyone have any info they can share with me on this species. Web sites, state records, ect. Info I have been able to pull up is scarce... I also want to apologize for not getting word out sooner. I never realized the signifigance of what I had seen until I returned home late that day. JoAnn O'Shaughnessy Hampton

Hummm, posted my view of the nesting Plovers yesterday and the huge raft of Canada Geese at Hampton, but didn't mentioning what I thought was a large Great Black-backed Gull with a large wing span. We were watching about 18 sail boats up near Odiorne Point when the gull was vaguely noticed flying north and disappeared from view. Could it have been the same bird? Star Snyder Durham

Last night, my son Eric, asked how uncommon it would be to see an > albatross. > Around 2 P.M. yesterday, 6 June, he was walking his dog on the beach > between > Plaice Cove and Little Boars Head when he saw a large, dark-backed, > extremely > long-winged bird,with color (as far as he could tell it was yellow) on its > bill heading north about 20 feet over the water. He didn't have binoculars > but, having taken an ornithology course, knew this was an unusual bird. > > We called Davis Finch with the description and I spoke with Denny Abbott > this > morning about the sighting. He told me about Rick Heil's sighting in > Rockport > and both thought this was an albatross. Having read JoAnn's sighting, I am > now > sure that is the same bird Eric saw. Pretty cool! > > Rich Aaronian

Subject: yes...a YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS in Cameron
 > From: "James W. Beck" <bayouinsect AT WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
> Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 19:07:38 -0500
>
> Hi all,
>
> To follow-up David's forward to Van, which was then forwarded to
> LABIRD....
>
> Mike Musumeche and I found a Yellow-nosed Albatross off Holly Beach
> today
> at ca. 1010 this morning.  This is very exciting on many levels.  For
> those
> who don't know, the first Louisiana record for YNAL was also found
> off
> Holly Beach, in 1970 by Joe Kennedy, et al.  Unlike the former
> mentioned
> however, we were not able to obtain photographic evidence.  The
> circumstances speak for themselves:
 >
> We were in Cameron on work related business (well, I was....Mike is
> retired...) to start off with; this was not a "birding" trip.  I was
> collecting more bird foraging data and insects for nutrition studies
> on the
> west side of Cameron Parish.  Migrants were hard to come by in the
> cheniers
> this morning, and with the impending storm system with strong and
> steady
> south winds of ca. 20-25 mph, threatening to come ashore any minute,
> we
> decided to kick it east to another study site before the storm
> reached there.
>
> Along the way, Mike was complaining that he needed Reddish Egret and
> Piping
> Plover, etc. for year birds, so he asked me if we could pull over and
> scan
> a few flocks of birds along Holly Beach.  We looked through four
> flocks
> before deciding that there was little time to spare before the storm
> (s)
> continued east.  You must understand that our other study site is not
> easily accessible after a rain without 4-wheel drive.  So....with
> that
> statement, it should be clear that we didn't have that
> luxury.  Anyway.....we came across a very long-stretched flock of
> gulls and
> terns close to where the community of Holly Beach was before Rita.
> Mike
> suggested that we take one last scan.  When I pulled over, Mike began
> scanning the flock along the beach.  You must understand that Mike
> has a
> very large head, and I couldn't see the flock very well with that in
> the
> way.  After deciding to scan the gulf for frigatebirds, I saw a large
> flash
> of black and white.  When I realized what I was seeing, it hit like a
> ton
> of bricks.  This was a VERY long-winged bird (appeared to be 8' in
> span to
> me...), with a dark back and upper wings, complimented with a white
> head
> and dark bill, white rump and a slightly darker tail than the
> rump....but
> not quite entirely dark as the upper wings appeared.  The bird was at
> a
> varying distance of ca. 200-300 yards out.  It did accommodate by
> banking a
> couple of times, showing off quite well the clean white underparts
> with a
> stark white underwing pattern, outlined with black, being thickest at
> the
> outer primaries.  This bird was essentially coursing over the waves,
> never
> taking a single flap.  There were also Laughing Gulls, Caspian &
> Royal
> Terns flying in close proximity of the bird, and this monster DWARFED
> them.
>
> As I spastically shouted expletives and incoherent messages to Mike
> (who
> for some reason couldn't comprehend what I was trying to say), it
> began to
> rain.  Mike DID find the bird, and before he could grab his camera,
> it
> began to rain so hard that it was difficult to see much past     6-8'
> outside the truck.  It continued this way for close to 30 minutes,
> and
> after the weather had cleared, the bird was not to be found.  We
> theorized
> that the bird was probably adrift with the storm system, and was
> perhaps
> riding it further east, as the system worked that way.  We spent more
> time
> trying to relocate the bird from Holly Beach to Rutherford Beach,
> with no
> success.  I made some sketchings and notes, but am not holding my
> breath
> for this record to be accepted without further documentation.
> Hopefully
> someone else will be able to relocate this great bird along our gulf
> coast.
>
> James
>
>
> James W. Beck
> Broussard, LA
>  www.basinblogger.blogspot.com
> www.bugmudatriangle.blogspot.com
>