Seawatch 2001 - 2002 Sep-Aug

Andrews Point from behind the Emerson Inn.

8/31 Andrew's Pt., Rockport
Report from Richard Heil
Weather: Overcast to 0800, then clear; E-NE winds 15-25 mph, 55-60F, seas 4-6'.
All morning there were tremendous foraging congregations of shearwaters and terns very close to shore, at times there were several rafts of the former in close proximity to the point totaling several hundred individuals. Given all these feeding frenzies I was amazed not to observe any jaegers today. Common Loon (7), Cory’s Shearwater (1), Greater Shearwater (820): New August high count, Sooty Shearwater (8), Manx Shearwater (26), Wilson’s Storm-Petrel (25), Northern Gannet (41): All sub-adults, no juvs, Double-crested Cormorant (7), Green-winged Teal (12), Common Eider (11), Surf Scoter (5), White-winged Scoter (4), Red-breasted Merganser (1): early record, Red-necked Phalarope (69): Slightly less than half of this total were close enough to be confidently identified to species. I am assuming that the more distant birds were also likely Red-necked, particularly given the August date, Laughing Gull (6 juvs.), Ring-billed Gull (8), Black-legged Kittiwake (4; 3 ads., 1 juv.), SABINE’S GULL (1 alternate adult): This beautiful, fully hooded bird was watched for a full ten minutes as in foraged with a tern flock only about 500-600 meters off the point. Only my second record for A.P.!, Common Tern (560), Atlantic Puffin (1), Also: Minke Whale (1-2)

8/30 - Wellfleet shearwaters
Report from Mark Faherty
It was a pleasure yesterday to have a leisurely, land-based lesson on shearwater identification from Lecount's Hollow in Wellfleet. I watched from 4:15-5:00 PM in calm weather, and birds were heading north not too far from shore in good light. Mixed flocks of terns and Laughing Gulls anchored the pockets of feeding activity. I'll soon miss these days when "pelagic birding" often means walking across the street and setting up scope at the top of the dune. Common Loon (1), Cory's Shearwater (7), Greater Shearwater (490), Sooty Shearwater (6), Manx Shearwater (4), Wilson's Storm-Petrel (400), Northern Gannet (1), Red-necked Phalarope (42), non-birds: 1 humpback breaching.

8/30 Andrew's Pt., Rockport
Report from Richard Heil
FRIDAY, 30 AUGUST 2002 (0645-1000 hrs.) ANDREW’S POINT, ROCKPORT Weather: Overcast, NNE 8-20 mph, occasional mist, 60 F, seas 2-4'.
Common Loon (3), Cory’s Shearwater (1), Greater Shearwater (42), Manx Shearwater (8), Wilson’s Storm-Petrel (40), Northern Gannet (31): All sub-ads; no ads, no juvs, Double-crested Cormorant (3), Common Eider (25): all juvs. or females, White-winged Scoter (6), Pomarine Jaeger (2): 1-3S with full tail, 1 dark juvenile, Laughing Gull (7 juvs.), Bonaparte’s Gull (2), Ring-billed Gull (10), Black-legged Kittiwake (1 juv.), Common Tern (395,) Also: Tuna (1)-large fish, repeatedly jumping clear of the water.

8/24 -Cape Cod
Report from Blair Nikula
Nauset Light Beach, Eastham (0715 - 0800)
15 Cory's Shearwaters, 100 Greater Shearwaters, 125 Sooty Shearwaters, 5 Manx Shearwaters, 20 Wilson's Storm-Petrels, 2 Parasitic Jaegers.
Marconi Beach, Wellfleet (0830 - 0850):
5 Cory's Shearwaters, 20 Greater Shearwaters, 40 Sooty Shearwaters, 1 N. Gannet.
South Beach:
20 Cory's Shearwaters (once again, some not much more than 50 yards off the beach - some of the best views I've ever had of this species, from land or sea), 2 Greater Shearwaters, 150+ Wilson's Storm-Petrels, 1 N. Gannet, 15+ Parasitic Jaegers (wreaking havoc, as usual; they hardly seem like a serious threat to shorebirds, but they sure scatter them as wildly as any falcon does).

8/24/02 - Andrew's Pt., Rockport
Report from Richard Heil
Weather: Mostly cloudy, E-NE 8-15 mph, 60-65 F; excellent visibility. Light easterly winds nevertheless produced a few seabirds today, including a couple of Cory's which seem to be well distributed in the Gulf of Maine this summer in response to the very warm water temperatures. WISP's continue their show in inshore waters, and I had the usual and expected late summer puffin (only one today!), a species that no longer warrants boldfacing here. Common Loon (2), Cory’s Shearwater (2), Greater Shearwater (260), Sooty Shearwater (2), Manx Shearwater (15), Wilson’s Storm-Petrel (350), Northern Gannet (21): all sub-adults, Double-crested Cormorant (30), Black Duck (2), Common Eider (7), Black Scoter (1m.), Spotted Sandpiper (1 juv.), Ruddy Turnstone (2 ads.), Semipalmated Sandpiper (1), Red-necked Phalarope (17), jaeger sp. (1, sub-ad.), Laughing Gull (2 juvs.), Bonaparte’s Gull (3; 1ad., 2 juvs.), Common Tern (26), Atlantic Puffin (1),
LANDS END, ROCKPORT to BRACE'S COVE, GLOUCESTER (1130-1330):
Greater Shearwater (11), Sooty Shearwater (1), Wilson's Storm-Petrel (800).

8/22 - Plum Island
Report from Steve Grinley
I had an imm. red-necked phalarope at Stage Is. Pool this morning.

8/21 - South Beach
Report from Blair Nikula
Peter Trimble, Bill Loughran, and I made an evening (low tide) run to South Beach. From 1700 - 1945 hrs.: 5 Common Loons, 20 Cory's Shearwaters (most in close in beautiful light), 2 Sooty Shearwaters, 150 Wilson's Storm-Petrels, 5+ Parasitic Jaegers.

8/20 Marconi Beach
Report from Peter Flood
I made a brief stop this evening at the Marconi site in Wellfleet in order to scope the ocean for pelagics. What has seemingly been a poor year (for me anyways) for viewing shearwaters in any significant concentrations from shore was somewhat put to rest this evening. I was only able to spend 20 minutes or so watching the ocean but I hit on a very long line of primarily Greater Shearwaters moving north perhaps a mile or more off shore. From (1740-1800) this is what I came up with: Cory's Shearwater (1), Greater Shearwater (500+), Sooty Shearwater (35), Manx Shearwater (4), Wilson's Storm Petrel (10). It's scary to think about the numbers I may have come up with if I had been able to spend a couple of hours or more. They were still coming when I left.

8/1/02 - South Beach
Report from Rick heil
Common Loon (4) Cory's Shearwater (1) Greater Shearwater (5) Sooty Shearwater (1) Wilson's Storm-Petrel (2500), Parasitic Jaeger (1-3S/ad.) jaeger sp (1)

7/27/02 - Plum Island
Report from Tom Wetmore
This afternoon around 4:30 pm, I finally caught up with two Manx Shearwaters almost directly off lot seven, way, way out. At 60 power I was able to get the black and white patterns, though even at 20 the distinctive flight was obvious.

7/20/02 - Plum Island
Report From Richard Heil
A.M.: Overcast, P.M.: Mostly clear; N-NE winds 5-15 mph; 60-75 F. Manx Shearwater (1): Off refuge lot 1 at 0700. Wilson’s Storm-Petrel (29) Northern Gannet (8 imms.) Double-crested Cormorant (175+) ) ATLANTIC PUFFIN (1): Large bill, pale gray face patch, and dark underwings all noted on close flyby off the beach from refuge lot one at 0700. Late July and August is actually the best time to watch for puffins on the North Shore, being far more regular then, than they are during the winter. These birds likely emanate from the re-introduction colonies further north in the Gulf of Maine.

7/6/02 - South Beach, Chatham
Report from Richard Heil
Weather: Mostly clear, light variable winds, 75-80 F.
Common Loon (4): basic. Greater Shearwater (35) Sooty Shearwater (4) shearwater sp. (200+) Wilson’s Storm-Petrel (5000+): Many in close, but absolute masses 1/2 mile and more off the shore. Northern Gannet (2-1S) Double-crested Cormorant (380+) jaeger sp. (1 imm.): Probable PAJA. Laughing Gull (1000+) Ring-billed Gull (40) Herring Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull (1-2S) Great Black-backed Gull Roseate Tern (60) Common Tern (10,000+): 5+ roosting were 1S Arctic Tern (12+)-All 1S. Forster’s Tern (2-1S) Least Tern (14)

6/30/02 Storm Petrels-Gloucester
Report from Susan Hedman
I walked out the dogbar breakwater in East Gloucester today with my niece. Wilson's Storm Petrels were flying close to the breakwater affording killer looks at a bird not easily seen from land. In one quick count I had a dozen along the water churned up by a passing fishing boat. Additional birds were in the harbor and further out.

6/15/2002 Andrew's Point - Rockport
Report from: Richard Heil
Weather: Overcast, rain, NE winds 10-20 mph (to 0900), then 15-30 mph, 50-55 F.
A day for many “firsts” and “highest” for me on this seawatch.
Common Loon (3), Northern Fulmar (1 lt. morph): My first here in June, Greater Shearwater (10), Sooty Shearwater (89): Remarkably, this is my all time high count here; Not normally common here as in the waters around Cape Cod, Manx Shearwater (13), shearwater sp. (5), Wilson’s Storm-Petrel (430): New June high count,. Northern Gannet (1410): No adults, vast majority 1S and 2S birds; More than 6X the previous June high count!, Common Eider (8 imm. males), Ruddy Turnstone (1), LONG-TAILED JAEGER (2 ads., or near adults, 3S/4S): One winged past at 0900, another (or possibly the same bird) at 1300 hrs.; My first for A.P., Laughing Gull (1ad.), LITTLE GULL (1-1S): 4th record., Black-legged Kittiwake (3; 2 “ads”, 1-1S), Roseate Tern (4 ads.), Common Tern (10), “Commic (Common/Arctic) Tern” (35): In several small flocks; Some of these were suspected of being Arctic but distance precluded satisfactory I.D. Arctic Tern (1-1S “portlandica“): Passed by very closely; My first certain record here for this tern., Least Tern (1ad.), Black Guillemot (2; 1 alt. adult, 1-1S)

6/15/2002 Provincetown
Report from Blair Nikula
Today's lovely weather produced a nice seabird show in Provincetown this morning, though nothing particularly unusual. Although most of the birds were in quite close, heavy rain for most of the morning reduced visibility to almost zilch at times, making viewing difficult. Winds were E-NE at 20-30+ mph when I arrived but had diminished to about half that by late morning, though there was still a steady trickle of birds going when I left at noon.
From 7:45 - 12:00 I recorded the following: 1 Common Loon, 3600 Greater Shearwaters, 2000 Sooty Shearwaters, 18 Manx Shearwaters, 1600 Wilson's Storm-Petrels, 160 Laughing Gulls (95+% 1st summer), 3 Black-legged Kittiwakes (2 ad., 1 imm.), 40 Common Terns, 1 Roseate Tern, (no jaegers)

6/15/2002 Corporation Beach Dennis
Report From Peter Flood
I spent 1000-1140 this morning scoping for seabirds at Corporation Beach. Wind was north/northeast 15-25 mph. I had some nice birds. Sooty Shearwater (1) Manx Shearwater (5) all in one group Wilson's Storm Petrel (9) Storm Petrel sp. (20) guess I can't rule out Leach's given the sightings last year at Sandy Neck Northern Gannet (500+) all immature Parasitic Jaeger (1) sub-adult (put on a good show) Laughing Gull (135+) almost all immature Black-legged Kittiwake (3) these looked like adults to me (very clean) Roseate tern (4) Common Tern (225) Least Tern (12)

6/12/2002 Rockport
Report from Jerry Soucy
In a brief visit to Andrew's Point this afternoon I saw 22 gannets, all immatures.

6/12/2002 Cohasset
Report from Russ Titus
This afternoon I had 15 Wilson's Storm-Petrels as well as 5 Gannets from Sandy Beach parking lot, Cohasset

6/7/2002 Rockport - Common Murre
From Jerry Soucy
Two trips to Andrew's Point today produced
4 Wilson's petrels, 1 laughing gull and 1 common murre. 5 more petrels were seen from Gap Cove. All birds were fairly close to shore and seen well. I was both surprised and disappointed to find no shearwaters.

5/30/2002 North Carolina
Reported by Brian Patterson's trip from Cape Hatteras over Memorial Day weekend: 1 Herald Petrel, 2 Fea's Petrels, and a stunning 2 Bermuda Petrels, as well as 140+ Black-capped Petrels.

5/20/2002 Revere Beach Manx Shearwaters
Eric Nielson and Ted Raymond had 2 Manx Shearwaters from Revere Beach:

4/26/2002 Storm-petrel Migration from Plum Island
Report from: Rich Frechette, Frances Doyle, and Scott SpangenbergStorm-petrels at around 2PM from the platform at the end of the boardwalk at parking lot 1. They flew into scope view from the south, on a path roughly parallel with the shore. They were well out, probably four times the distance of the Western Grebe, but still close enough in that I could see the white rumps and dangling legs as they danced their magic. We could also see that their beaks faced down toward the water, not straight ahead like peeps in flight.

We could not see them well enough to say whether whether the tails were forked, the feet extended beyond the tail, they were more blackish or brownish, or whether the white on the rumps wrapped around underneath. We did see that the white on the rump was definitely split on some birds. While I could not say whether they were Wilson's or Leach's Storm-Petrels from detailed field marks (except for those with the split white rumps), the behavior was generally consistent with that of Leach's in that they were all very bouyant in their flight, and only a small percentage of them pattered on the surface. (I'm judging from behavior I've observed on feeding grounds; I don't know whether migrating Wilson's Storm Petrels patter about on the surface at the same rate as they do the rest of the year.) When the whole flock was in the air, it was hundreds of yards long, but moving slowly enough that we could see that they were not peeps, and it wasn't too troublesome to count groups of tens. I counted 600 each of the three times that counted while they were in the air. When they would settle, they mostly settled into a single raft, but you could only see (at most) a couple hundred in the raft.
Scott Spangenberg Amherst, NH scottspangenberg@mindspring.com

3/15/2002 Andrews Point - Rick Heil
(0715-1015 hrs.)
WEATHER: Overcast, ESE 10-25 mph, 45 F, no precipitation, very good visibility.
Red-throated Loon (1)
Red-necked Grebe (3)
Northern Fulmar (40+): Fifteen to twenty were in view continuously for the entire three hours, milling and foraging in one area about a mile north of the point. Remarkably, ten of about twenty close enough to distinguish morphs were dark. Although a relatively small sample, this is an unusually high percentage of these generally more northerly high arctic breeders.
Northern Gannet (94 ads.)
Great Cormorant (12)
Canada Goose (550): Total of six separate flocks passing overhead and off to the NNW. Likely coming from Cape Cod.
Am. Black Duck (6)
Common Eider (82)
Harlequin Duck (9)
White-winged Scoter (7)
Black Scoter (28)
Oldsquaw (11)
Common Goldeneye (2)
Red-breasted Merganser (6)
Common Merganser (2): Very uncommon migrant here.
Black-legged Kittiwake (3; 2ads,1-1W)
large alcid sp. (2)
Razorbill (4-WP)
Black Guillemot (1-BP)
Rick Heil S.Peabody,MA rsheil@juno.com

 

2/25/2002 Race Point - Mark and Joyce Halloran
Tuesday morning Joyce and I made the long trek out the beach from the parking lot to Race Point and on to Hatches Harbor in Provincetown. The weather was perfect, almost too warm. About a mile down the beach we came across a Pacific Loon not more than 100 feet from shore. We studied it intently for a long time through the scope. We immediately could see that it was smaller with a shorter, thinner bill than a Common Loon. There was no color contrast between the back of the neck and the back. The black came down to the eye and there was no white above. The black and white were sharply defined at the side of the neck not ragged as in a Common Loon. And this bird had an easily viewed, well defined chin strap. This was the best view I ever had of this species in Massachusetts. Also there was no white flank patch, ruling out Artic Loon. Later we had three Common Murres and on the trek back three Thick-billed Murres. Gannets, Red-breasted Mergansers, Greater Cormorants and Eiders were plentiful. What was unusual was that there were no Razorbills, no White-winged Gulls, no Kittiwakes and no Red-throated Loons and just 5 Common Loons and one flock of 50+ Sanderlings. Mark and Joyce Halloran Newburyport

2/24/2002 Race Point - Erik Nielsen
I spent 5 hours (11-4) at Race Point today. The wind was relatively light (10mph or so) out of the N.E. early on and by 3p.m. there was almost no wind. The visibility was great with a light cloud cover. The Pacific Loon was visible right at the point for most of the time I was there. There was a period between 1 and 2.30 I lost track of it while it was diving a lot. It stayed several hundred yards out (I am bad at estimating distances at sea), but it still was relatively easy to pick out. The Common Murres were mostly in close. There was a good mix of "breeding" and "winter" plumaged birds plus several that were somewhere in between. Most of the birds that I saw were right off the beach between Race Point and Hatches Harbor. Red-throated Loon 16 PACIFIC LOON 1 Common Loon 9 Northern Gannet 18 Great Cormorant 70 Common Eider 80 Black Scoter 6 White-winged Scoter 20 Red-breasted Merganser 250 Sanderling 1 Bonaparte's Gull 3 Herring Gull 350 Iceland Gull 13 Great Black-backed Gull 150 Black-legged Kittiwake 2 COMMON MURRE 21 Thick-billed Murre 4 Razorbill 36 Unidentified Alcid 32
setherik@hotmail.com (Erik Nielsen)

 

1/05/2002 Southern Maine Coast Andy Aldrich
At Nubble Light the SNOWY OWL was still there on the rocks just north of the parking lot. at the cliff house was 1 THICK-BILLED MURRE, 1 BLACK GULLEMOT, 1 KING EIDER, and 1 ARCTIC LOON. This LOON was watched for about 2 hours, at about 12:45 it flew by very near and headed south to nubble lite. It clearly showed a lot of white above the water line with white flanks. Top of head and all the back of the neck was the same color as the back of the bird. One of the birders was a lady that just two months ago was watching PACIFIC LOONS in calif. Her first reaction to seeing the bird was that it was not a PAC. LOON because the bill and head were to big, as well as the over all size of the bird, also it had way to much white on it to be a PAC. LOON to her. We had Sibley's book with us and ruled out all the the other LOONS. Three of us concluded that it was a ARCTIC LOON.
andy aldrich north berwick

 

10/28/2001 Andrews Point Rick Heil
SUNDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2001 (0615-0915) ANDREW’S POINT, ROCKPORT-SEAWATCH WEATHER: Partly cloudy, NNW 15-25 mph, 39-45F Another day with no shearwaters or jaegers, no kittiwakes, very few loons, and only a modest seaduck flight given the date. Where are the storms? Red-throated Loon (3) Common Loon (15) Red-necked Grebe (2) Northern Gannet (220) Great Cormorant (10) Double-crested Cormorant (335): All flocks passing over Cape Ann to the west of A.P. Canada Goose (25) Am. Black Duck (20) Green-winged Teal (2) Greater Scaup (3) Common Eider (1090) Harlequin Duck (9) Surf Scoter (249) White-winged Scoter (275) Black Scoter (192) Oldsquaw (394) Bufflehead (6) Red-breasted Merganser (16) Purple Sandpiper (5) Laughing Gull (1ad.) Bonaparte’s Gull (16) lg. alcid sp. (1) Razorbill (5) Black Guillemot (7) Making landfall: Northern Harrier (1) Golden-crowned Kinglet (1) Palm Warbler (2) Lapland Longspur (2) Snow Bunting (1) Rick Heil S.Peabody,MA rsheil@juno.com

 

10/26/2001 Andrews Point Rick Heil
FRIDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2001 (0720-1000 hrs) ANDREW’S POINT, ROCKPORT-SEAWATCH WEATHER: Clear, WSW winds 10-15 mph, 50F Red-throated Loon (6) Common Loon (56) Northern Gannet (550) Great Cormorant (13) Double-crested Cormorant (3) Brant (3) Am. Black Duck (4) Green-winged Teal (6) Greater Scaup (1) Common Eider (685) Harlequin Duck (1m) Surf Scoter (253) White-winged Scoter (131) Black Scoter (139) Oldsquaw (15) Red-breasted Merganser (13) Bonaparte’s Gull (17) Black-legged Kittiwake (2ads.) Razorbill (3) Black Guillemot (3) Also, observed flying in off the water, most from the N or NE : Merlin (2) Peregrine Falcon (2) Mourning Dove (1) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1): Pursued for 5 minutes offshore by a Merlin before it finally found sanctuary in a bush near me. Hermit Thrush (1) Yellow-rumped Warbler (2) Palm Warbler (1) Dark-eyed Junco (1) Eastern Meadowlark (1) Pine Siskin (6) American Goldfinch (1): Narrowly escaped the 2nd Merlin and made it to shore. Rick Heil S.Peabody,MA rsheil@juno.com

9/30/2001 Andrews Point Eric Nielson
10:30 - 3:30 today 4 Red-throated Loon
8 Common Loon
1 Red-necked Grebe
1 Northern Fulmar
1 Manx Shearwater
57 Leach's Storm-Petrel
120 Northern Gannet
1 Green-winged Teal
3 American Black Duck
450 Common Eider
2 Harlequin Duck
135 Black Scoter
280 Surf Scoter
31 White-winged Scoter
11 Laughing Gull
1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
Erik Nielsen Westwood, MA

 

9/29/2001 Andrews Point - Rick Heil
(0650-1130 hrs) WEATHER: Mostly cloudy, then clearing, NNE winds 20-30 mph, 55-60 F; excellent visibility; seas 6-8’.
Red-throated Loon (2)
Common Loon (27)
Northern Fulmar (3 lt. morph)
Cory’s Shearwater (3)
Greater Shearwater (20)
shearwater sp. (5+)
Leach’s Storm-Petrel (14)
Northern Gannet (110)
Great Cormorant (3)
Double-crested Cormorant (150)
Brant (1)
Green-winged Teal (7)
seaduck sp (200+)-distant.
Common Eider (1410)
Surf Scoter (820)
White-winged Scoter (225)
Black Scoter (120)
Oldsquaw (2): Record early arrival date for this seawatch.
Red-breasted Merganser (4)
Peregrine Falcon (4): Individual migrants coming in off the sea from the N.
Red Phalarope (6): Close view of flock flying past.
Parasitic Jaeger (1 ad.)
Laughing Gull (6; 4ads, 2juvs)
Ring-billed Gull (4)
Herring Gull (50)
Great Black-backed Gull (30)
Black-legged Kittiwake (12; 11ads, 1juv)
Common Tern (26)
Atlantic Puffin (1)
Rick Heil S.Peabody,MA rsheil@juno.com

 

9/28/2001 Andrews Point Rick Heil
0700-0930 and 1140-1340 hrs. Nearly calm conditions and a placid sea during the morning segment revealed the presence of some interesting marine life including an Ocean Sunfish lolling at the surface just 100 feet off the rocks, one or two Minke Whales offshore, along with several pods of Harbor Porpoises totalling about 25 individuals. Winds really picked up after about 1000 hrs, and blew from the NNE at about 15-25 mph. Unfortunately, torrential downpours soon followed, beginning about 1245 hrs. Common Loon (38) Leach's Storm-Petrel (1) Northern Gannet (37) Double-crested Cormorant (120) Great Cormorant (7; 5ads, 2-1W) Brant (1juv) Blue-winged Teal (1)-Migrating w/scoters. Green-winged Teal (1)- " " Common Eider (47) dark scoter sp (155) Surf Scoter (660) White-winged Scoter (305) Black Scoter (220) Note: These are my highest September one day counts for all three species of scoter! Only slightly so for Black Scoter, but dramatically higher than previous September highs for Surf and White-winged. Red-breasted Merganser (1) Peregrine Falcon (1 imm.) Black-bellied Plover (1) Am. Golden-Plover (1) Killdeer (1) Laughing Gull (34; 23 "ads", 11juvs.) Ring-billed Gull (5) Herring Gull (70) Great Black-backed Gull (30) Common Tern (1) Forster's Tern (3) Rick Heil S.Peabody,MA rsheil@juno.com

 

9/22/2001 Race Point Blair Nikula
There was a surprisingly nice shearwater show off the Race Point parking lot this morning. There has been a dearth of reports from Stellwagen lately, but based upon what was visible from shore this morning (under virtually calm conditions), I wonder if things haven't picked up out there. From 0830 - 0945: 1 Cory's Shearwater 12 Greater Shearwaters 1 Sooty Shearwater 45+ Manx Shearwaters (small rafts sitting on the water and flocks of as many as 25 flying by - some in fairly close; hard to get a good number as there was much milling about). 16 N. Gannets 4+ jaeger sp.

 

9/19/2001 Race Point Russ Titus
Race Point, Provincetown (1530-1705 hrs). near high tide, No wind detectable, visability excellent, few clouds, lighting excellent-->v.good

C. Loon (1)

Cory's Shearwater (1) quite close

Greater Shearwater (3)

N. Gannet (18)

Common Eider (8)

Sanderling (30)

Parasitic Jaeger (5)

LONG-TAILED JAEGER (1 ad. Gray-toned secondary coverts, darker outer wing. White bases to outermost primaries less extensive than in nearby Parasitics. Flight more bouyant and graceful than Parasitics, which appeared to have more force in their flight. Body more slender than all Parasitics present. Central tail feathers not breeding-season length but remainder of tail relatively long and narrow. Observed for about 5 min. at 1540 and again at 1700, once involved in a chase with two Parasitics and in comparison to these the narrower wing and build were especially noticeable).

Jaeger sp. (2)

Laughing Gull (200)

Common Tern (300+-)

Forster's Tern (7)

Least Tern (4)

Razorbill (1 dead - not freshly)

Russ Titus rct6@cornell.edu

 

9/14/2001 Andrew's Point Rick Heil

Weather: N winds 10-20 mph; overcast, rain showers from about 0830 on; good to excellent visibility.

Common Loon (19)

Greater Shearwater (2)

Sooty Shearwater (1)

Manx Shearwater (2)

Northern Gannet (89): All juveniles and sub-adults.

Double-crested Cormorant (70)

Great Cormorant (4; 2ads, 2 juvs.)

EURASIAN WIGEON (2 ads.): Pair; flew closely past SE to NW. Am. Black Duck (2)

Common Eider (24): no ad. males.

Surf Scoter (20)

White-winged Scoter (16)

Black Scoter (57): This scoter, on average, migrates earlier than the others. Records here indicate consistently much higher September high counts(max. 210 on 25 Sep. 1977) than either Surf or White-winged, and earlier peak season counts (max to date: 1950 on 4 Oct. 1999).

Ruddy Turnstone (1)

Parasitic Jaeger (4; 2 sub-adults, 2 juvs) jaeger sp. (1)

Laughing Gull (61): About 90% juvs; This count is more than twice the previous high. Bonaparte's Gull (1 juv.)

Ring-billed Gull (12)

Herring Gull (110+)

Great Black-backed Gull (60+)

Black-legged Kittiwake (1 juv.) Common Tern (1740): All flying NW to SE, as other birds; More than five times the previous high. Also a large bat spotted about a mile offshore to the NNE, flew directly in to Andrew's Pt. Wonder where he was coming from? Rick Heil S.Peabody,MA rsheil@juno.com