One of the bucket list trips for North American birders is a pelagic trip on the Stormy Petrel II with captain Brian Patterson. The trip is based on Hatteras Island near the south end of the outer banks of North Carolina. This is the point where the continental shelf is closest to shore. A shorter trip to the gulf stream means more time for seeing birds and less time in transit.
It was still a long ride out - 35 miles in rough seas. We had a good day birding. i was thankful for the skill of the captain and the four spotters. Many of these birds look very similar and are best distinguished by flight patterns and relative size. Experience really helps.
We had about 20 people on board and many were good photographers who were kind enough to share their photos on eBird. All of the pictures below are from my fellow passengers.
Fea's Petrel, photo by Kate Sutherland
Pomarine Jaeger, photo by Kate Sutherland
Arctic Tern, Photo by Henrey Deese
Wilson's Storm Petrel, photo by Kate Sutherland
European Storm-Petrel. mega rarity! Photo by Kate Sutherland
Leach's Storm-petrel, photo by Kate Sutherland
Band-rumped Storm-petrel, photo by Kate Sutherland
See what I mean about the differences between species being subtle!
Black-capped Petrel, Photo by Kate Sutherland
Cory's Shearwater, Photo by Kate Sutherland
Audubon's Shearwater, Photo by Bob Fogg
I returned home on May 16 and got to do some after-dinner birding with my grandson Peter at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, I added Forster's Tern to my list. We saw a Northern Bobwhite that was out of its range and very tame - most likely not a truly wild bird.
Northern Bobwhite
May 17 started with an early morning trip to Magee Marsh in Ohio. The area was hit hard by a major storm last summer. Part of the boardwalk is closed, the tower is gone, the warbler sign is gone, and many tall trees were toppled. It is still a great place for spring migrants. I saw 18 species of warblers including three new one's for my year-list.
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Eastern Screech-Owl
I ended the day at 527 birds.