New England Seabirds Site Map Search | Help | Comments Chapter Contents Entrance Purpose of the web site, general topics, webmaster information , site visitors counter, Copyright. News Upcoming trips, Results from recent trips and other announcements regarding pelagic birding. About the newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter by E-mail. Seabirds What Birds Can I See? A list of the seabirds you can expect to see on a pelagic trip in New England waters with notes on expected frequency. Print Check List Two page, white, no graphics list of birds and animals for you to print and take on your trip. What Is A Seabird? General characteristics of seabirds. Species accounts with information on breeding, distribution, and identification. Shearwaters Greater Shearwater   Breeds on - Tristan daCunha, Gough Sooty Shearwater Manx Shearwater Cory's Shearwater Audubon's Shearwater-   Northern Fulmar Flies like a shearwater, looks like a gull. Not an easy bird to see in our area. Storm-petrels Wilson's Storm-petrel Leach's Storm-petrel White-faced Storm-petrel Band-rumped Storm-petrel European Storm-petrel Jaegers and Skuas Long-tailed Jaeger, Pomarine Jaeger Parasitic Jaeger South Polar Skua Great Skua Armchair Pelagic Birding Quiz - Jaeger or Skua Gulls Sabine's Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Northern Gannet Gannets are seen on almost every trip. Alcids Atlantic Puffin Razorbill, Common, Thick-billed Murres Black Guillemot - wip Dovekie Phalaropes Red and Red-necked Phalaropes Other Sea Animals Whales, dolphins, seals, sharks, fish. you may see on pelagic trips in the area. Humpback Whales Humpback whales are the best whale to watch.This page has photographs of some the surface activities you may see and photograph.. Identifying Humpback Whales Humpback Whale indifiduals can be identified by the marking on the underside of the flukes. Bubble Feeding How do whales feed with some excellent pictures of whales bubblefeeding. Breaching Whales Whales sometimes jump completely out of the water. Lucky is the photographer who is ready when they do. This page has some excellent photographs of breaching Humpback Whales. Entanglements The sad story of Humpback Whale calf entangled in a fishing line. Shipping Loses Whales are sometimes hit by large boats in the busy shipping lanes near Boston. Right Whale hit by a ship. Photograph of carcas. Other Whales Minke, Finback, Cuvier's Beaked Whales, Pilot Dolphins Atlantic White-sided Dolphins and other dolphins sometimes add excitement to pelagic trips. Sharks The large Basking Shark is a plankton feeder. Ocean Sunfish A strange fish you may see in New England waters. Sea Turtles Leatherback and Loggerhead Sea Turtles Where To Find SeaBirds By New England state, the lookout points from land where seabirds can be seen and the pelagic banks, canyons, and other sea bottom areas where upwelling attract seabirds. Stellwagen Bank Shallow area close to Boston and between Provincetown and Cape Ann that is a popular whale watching and pelagic birding site. York to Ogunquit, ME Seawatch loop that includes Nubble Light, Cliff House, and Marginal Way in York and Ogunquit, Maine. The Continental Shelf Edge Hydrographers, Oceanographers, and other canyons of the continental shelf edge south of Nantucket. Pelagic Trips Trips sponsored by local bird clubs and how to bird from commercial whale watching boats. Help for prospective trip sponsors including boats available for charter, hints on running a trip on a whale watch or fishing boat, and hints for organizing a dedicated birding trip. Sponsored Trips List of trips sponsored by local bird clubs. Dedicated trips and trips on whale watch boats. Whale Watch/Fishing Boats If your trip to Boston does not coincide with a sponsored trip, you can take your own trip on a whale watch boat. Birding On Whale Watch Boats Joining a whale watch can be a very good way to see pelagic birds, but you need to aware of the other participants. How to be a good ambassador for birding. Commercial Ferries Opportunities to watch birds from commerical ferries such as the Scotia Prince from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Chumming The Art of Chumming Reports The best indicator of what you may see is a list of what has been seen in the past. Pelagic Trips - Trip Reports - Before you sign up for a trip, read a trip report to set proper expectations. Trip Reports - New England 2001 September Gulf of Maine 2001 September BBC Circle Stellwagen Bank 2001 August BBC Hydrographers Canyon Overnight Pelagic Birding 2001 June CORE Pelagic for Cetaceans and Birds to Continental Shelf Edge 2000 August BBC Cashes Ledge 1997 September BBC Pelagic to Hydrographer's Canyon 1996 August BBC Pelagic to Cashes Ledge Trip Reports - Outside New England 2001 FONT Brielle, NJ December 2001 September Barnegat Light FONT Pelagic Christmas Bird Count Reports 2001 Isle of Shoals Sea Conditions Link to the NOA weather buoy data. This opens a frameset that makes it easy to return to New England Seabirds. Breeding Colonies You can visit seabird breeding colonies in Maine, Nova Scotia, Gaspe Peninsula, and Newfoundland. Descriptions of accessible areas to help you plan your vacations. Machias Seal Island Island in the Bay of Fundy that can be reached from ports in northern Maine or Grand Manan. Visiting Photographs of landing on the island, blinds and some discussion of how to be a good visitor. Puffins, Razorbills, and Murres Photographs taken on the island and photography hints. Terns Photographs of Arctic and Common Terns taken on the island. Map Graphical map showing the island and the three departure points. Bird Island Island off Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia between Cabot Trail and North Sydney departure point for Newfoundland Ferry. Map Map of section of Cape Breton Nova Scotia showing Bird Island and Big Bras d'Or the tows from which the boats depart. Bonaventure Island Island off of the Gaspé Peninsula which has the largest Northern Gannet colony in North America. Describes a visit by the author and her daughter with pictures showing how close you can get to the birds. Map shows the location of the island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Witless Bay Wildlife refuge in Newfoundland visited only by boat. Cape St. Mary Wildlife refuge in Newfoundland that is the second largest Gannetry in North American and the southern most breeding location of Thick-billed Murres. Also Black-legged Kittiwakes and Common Murres. Conservation Threats to seabirds including oil spills with emphasis on the Atlantic Ocean. Mailbox Letters from readers. Links Links to related New England web sites about : Stellwagen Bank, Jeffreys Ledge, and Organizations doing whale research. Pelagic birding trips in other areas of the United States and around the world. General Pelagic birding information. Getting Started If you are new to pelagic birding this page will give you some suggestions on taking your first trip. Giving Directions At Sea Giving and following directions to birds. Identification Tips What is "Shearwater Flight", Kleptoparisitism, and other tips to pelagic bird behavior. Be A Good Sailor How to dress, prevent motion sickness and stay safe on a boat. Overnight Trips Setting expectations for overnight trips usually on party fishing boats. Wandering Birder Once you learn to enjoy pelagic birding in New England you turn to trips in other areas. New Englanders share their experiences abroad. Antarctica Midway Atoll References Authors - Biographical information about the authors of articles. Photographers WIP- Biographical information about photographers. Books and Articles cited as references on this site. Book reviews of new pelagic birding books. Help Using This Site A good friend once complained to the webmaster that nobody every told you how to read a web site. If you are new at surfing the web, this short tutorial will give you some hints for reading this site and other sites. Electronic Book A book has a table of contents. Use links to navigate from page to page and within a page. Navigation How to know where you are and how to move to another page. Research A Topic How to use site map and search to find information on a specific topic. Graphics &Printing How to deal with slow loading graphics and printer friendly pages.