Pelagics

  

 Atlantic puffin   

       During our birding trip with "Road Scholar" (formerly known as Elderhostel), we were treated to two wonderful pelagic birding excursions on board the Elsie Menota and Day's Catch which far exceded out expectations regarding both whale and pelagic bird sightings.  Along with Right, Minke, Fin and Humpback whales, we had too many shearwaters to count (both sooty and Great), puffins galore, both Wilson's and Leach's Storm-petrels, common murres, Northern gannets, a great close-up view of a Northern fulmar, and many more.  It was difficult to make the decision to train the camera on a breeching humpback or a flyby by a trio of Atlantic puffins.

Northern fulmar

  Oh, if all our decisions could be so trying!  By the end of the trip, we had a total of 105 birds which included 9 new "lifers" for Sharon and me.  If you ever have the time and the inclination, by all means visit Grand Manan Island off the coast of New Brunswick.  We strongly recommend a stay at the Marathon Inn.  The Inn is over 100 years old, so expect rustic.  But, it is clean, comfortable, and the food was outstanding!  Innkeeper Jim Leslie is also a great birder and historian and can help you in your birding endeavors.  If possible, ask him to hook you up with our birding guide Roger Burroughs, author of many field guides for the northeast.

    Great shearwater

      As if this trip wasn't enough, we did manage a stop at Stratford, CT on the way home where a White-tailed kite has been repeated seen lately.  We had tried to find the bird unsuccessfully prior to leaving for Canada, but with the help of the folks at Coastal Connecticut Audubon Center and some local birders, this time we struck paydirt and landed our 10th lifer for the trip.....a bird which has not been seen in Connecticut in over 100 years!  All-in-all, it just doesn't get any better than this.

White-tailed kite

"Sharp-tailed sparrows"

       Sharon and I are off and running again, this time to Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada. On the way to our destination, we stopped at Scarborough Marsh in Maine to revisit the sites first detailed to us last year by Alan and Della Wells. We had a wonderful albeit abbreviated visit with the top birds being the Marbled godwit with a Whimbrel in the same field of view in the scope, a nice look at a Virginia rail, and a wonderful view of several Saltmarsh (sharp-tailed) sparrows.  (See photo above).  Although we know that the term "sharp-tailed" has officially been dropped from this group of sparrows, some old habits are hard to break, and we keep referring to the birds in the older terms.

     We are now on our first full day of our trip on Grand Manan and have managed to get decent photos of the second of the "sharp-tailed" sparrows, the Nelson's. (Photo below)  We've also had a number of fine sea birds including Greater and Sooty shearwaters, Black guillemots, and Razorbills. All of these sightings have been from shore. We will be out at sea at least two and hopefully three days this week in an attempt to get even more pelagics and get decent shots of some of these birds. We'll keep you posted!    

Back to the Brig

    

     We've been spending the week with my son's family in Long Beach Island.  While most of our time has been devoted to the beach and fishing with grandson Riley,  Sharon and I decided to make our way to Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge this morning.  The day promised heat and green flies and we were not shortchanged on either account.  Nonetheless, we managed to be on site by 8:00 AM and were well rewarded for our efforts.  We were pleased to be able to introduce "the Brig" to a new birder, Eugene, whom we met at a birding outing yesterday at Holgate refuge on the south end of LBI.  As we entered the refuge, we immediately came upon three new "lifers" for our friend....the White-eyed vireo, a fine Clapper rail, and great looks at the normally elusive Marsh wren.

     Shortly after our initial walk down the Eco-trail with little interference from our green-headed nemeses,  we faced the harsh reality of the Brig in summer and found ourselves confined to our vehicle with the windows tightly closed and the AC pumping out at full blast.

    
      I fortunately had taken several shots with my Nikon at ambient temperature  (including the chance meeting of a Snowy egret and an immature Little blue heron seen above), for after riding around in the comfort of the air conditioned car, I found that the lens of my camera quickly fogged up each time I stuck it out into the hot humid outside air.  All the same, we had a great day with a tally of 45 birds and a chance encounter with one of our Birding Club members along the way.  It just would not be right to be in south Jersey and not visit Brigantine.