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I live about twenty miles inland on the coast of Maine, Bar Harbor area to be exact, this last two weeks I have noticed a large gathering of birds flying circles and erratic flight over my house, dipping and swooping very fast, perhaps eating bugs although the altitude is some what high I have never seen these birds before, they look like ocean birds, the size of a common gull. They are all black or perhaps grey with two white stripes under the tips of their wings running from front to back of the wing close together.

I tried to follow them with binoculars but the bird is very fast and I could not identify the bird in an Audubon North American bird reference. I have also spent time online to find out more however I’m stumped. I have looked at the Wilson’s storm petrel, the leaches petrel, and black turn “no match” I am positive that the two stripes are at the bottom to identification…can you help me…..going nuts.

David Jonathan Ball

How lucky you are to live in Maine near Bar Harbor. Acadia National Park is one of my favorites.
I am certain that your birds are not seabirds. They are most likely the Common Nighthawk which you can read about on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Nighthawk

Hi Emmalee,

I was curious as to why all of the local Gloucester/Cape Ann whale watches are listed in your "whale watching and fishing boats" page except for mine (7 Seas Whale Watch). Is there a reason? I mean, I admit that my 26-years of being a birder in Massachusetts have made me a lot of friend and a handful of "enemies" so if there is something I have done in the past that has caused you to exclude my company from your list I would believe you... but I would also be curious to know what it is.

Of all the whale watches around (including Newburyport BTW) I KNOW that we are and should be "the birder's whale watch". No other whale watch has an avid birder as a captain and I always go out of my way to point out birds (to birders and non-birders alike) and will also divert course to pass through a raft of shearwaters, make a slow bell around a dragger/gill-netter returning to port so as to be able to pick through the throng of birds that are inevitably following close behind the vessel, etc, etc. If you doubt my interest and dedication to birds please feel free to read through my detailed bird section that I built for our website at : http://www.7seas-whalewatch.com/birds-and-birdwatching.html

I love pelagic birding and have personally led trips to Patagonia, Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, and the Caribbean to find them. Heck, while not exactly a pelagic, Jeremiah Trimble is haunting me for details about the Yellow-crowned Night Heron we saw and photographed last week... and I haven't even mentioned to him the photos I took of a Band-rumped on Jeffrey's Ledge in July!!!

It seems strange that of all the local whale watches mine would be the only one not mentioned. Any comments/thoughts you have on why this is would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jay

I actually removed the page that listed all the whale watching boats from New England ports because it was hard to keep it current. I can tell you that the Seven Seas is a fine whale watch and I have been on it myself. I also checked out their web page and was amazed at the information and pictures including one of a Wilson's Storm-petrel showing the yellow webs between the toes and a picture of a tall columnar fin whale blow that I don't have on New England Seabirds. We are indeed fortunate in New England to have such access to the ocean and the various banks due to the whale watching boats. Perhaps I should reconsider and add the whale watch boat page back to the site. Thanks for the email.

While surfing up info about Gannet breeding colonies, I came across your website. It is a gem. It is very helpful and informative. Thank you so much for providing it! I saw that you say June-July is the best time to visit the Gannet colony on Bonaventure, so I am planning my trip to be there during that time frame. Tentatively, I plan on being there the second week of July. Might that be about peak time? If not, when would be the absolute best time to visit?

I have long dreamed of witnessing the Gannet colony. I live in Texas now, but lived in the east most of my life. I have visited the Puffin colony on Machias Seal Island, which was fantastic. However, I never made it to Gaspe for the Gannets. It turns out that I have to go to Massachusetts for non-birding reasons, so I decided to take advantage of the fact that I will be closer to the Gannets then I will ever be in the future.

Also, I will be camping, traveling with my little pop-up, so if you can recommend any good campgrounds, that would be great. And, if you have any suggestions for good birding in that general area, I would appreciate your advice on that as well.

And, one more thing. I noticed on your website that you were at the El Cielo Butterfly Festival in 2/06. Did you also attend that festival in 2007? I was on the 2007 trip and I am CERTAIN that I remember you. If I am remembering correctly, you were finishing up your RV life and moving back home in order to be closer to your daughter. My daughter Rachel was with me and when I mentioned you to her, she remembered you too. She even remembered that you were from Maine.

A small world or really a hobby with a great network. Have a great time in the Gaspe. It is one of my favorite places. The web page badly needs an update.

Well this is a very interesting e-mail. I was unaware of the 1991 sighting of Sperm Whale on Stellwagen Bank. In 1991 there were lots of birds on Stellwagen Bank and I wasn't so into whales. Further correspondence from Frank contained a pictures and more details on the sighting which I have added to the Sperm Whale page. Interestingly the Sperm Whales sighted on the August 23, 2008 BBC Extreme Pelagic were spotted in relatively shallow water near Nantucket Shoals. Thanks for sharing your experience, excitement, and the great picture.

If you are interested, we found one of these birds ( Greater Shearwater ) and handed it over to a rehabilitation expert. Here is the interesting part: We live near the border of North and South Carolina, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The rehab person contacted the Audubon Society. This is the first reported sighting/rescue of one of these birds this far south and this far inland. I just thought you might find this story interesting…..my daughter takes horseback lessons out in the country, where we saw this bird land (in a large, open, grassy area).
Rachel Teague

June 2000 - Visiting Birder from England

Hi, I've just returned home to England after spending a week in New England for the first time. We took the oppoutunity to go out on Whale boats on two occasions, my interest being as much in the seabird potential as seeing the Whales. I thought you may be interested in my sightings which were as follows:-

May 31st 2pm-6pm Plymouth to South Stellwaggen Bank on Capt John Whale Boat Gannet c6 (imm) Herring Gull 300+ GBB 100+ Wilson's Petrel 100+ Sooty Shearwater 30+ Common Tern 5 Humpback 1 Fin Whale 4 Minke 1 Basking Shark 1 Tuna/Bluefish/Bass lots casing the sand eels. A fantastic first time trip with feeding whales round the boat most of the time. The weather was calming down after a couple of days of moderate easterlies and I would put the wind at south east 10 mph and the sea state slight.

June 3rd Gloucester to Stellwaggen Bank on Cape Ann whale watch Wilson's Petrel 500+ Gannet 30 (imm) Sooty Shearwater 1 Great Shearwater 2 Herring gull c100 Humpback 1 Fin whale 2 Minke whale 1 There was far less going on this time, fish, whales and birds but there were huge numbers of Petrels which were around in good numbers from about a mile out. The weather was bright, wind calm with just a slight swell on the sea. Hope this is of interest.

Darran Rickards

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