Brookline Bird Club Extreme Pelagic 22 - 23 August 2015 by Luke Seitz and Jeremiah Trimble [all photos by J. Trimble unless noted] Map of trip – 22 – 23 August 2015 Complete checklists will be included at the end of the narrative. This report would not have been possible without the combined efforts of all leaders on board! Thank you Nick Bonomo, Julian Hough, Luke Seitz and Doug Gochfeld! Here can be found a narrative of the Brookline Bird Club Extreme Pelagic that took place this past weekend (August 22-13). As has already been publicly advertised, it was a hugely successful trip and will go down as one of, if not the, best trip we have ever run. The trip began in a moderate downpour at the docks in Hyannis Harbor. This did not dampen the excitement of those on board and before long we were underway under clearing skies. Hyannis Harbor revealed a good diversity of terns including Black, Forster's, and Roseate Terns. The crossing of Nantucket Sound was uneventful, as was much of Nantucket Shoals. The Shoals did provide us with some of our first true pelagics including Cory's Shearwaters, Great Shearwaters, and Red- necked Phalaropes. There were surely many more birds but the Shoals, as can often be the case, were shrouded in a thick fog for almost our entire passage of this shallow area. Red-necked Phalarope Our first major excitement occurred in that fog near the southern edge of Nantucket Shoals, when a South Polar Skua was spotted sitting on the water directly ahead of the Helen H. The bird lifted off the water as we approached and turned towards us cruising down the ship's starboard side before disappearing into the fog. Despite being a rather brief view, the bird was fairly close and good views were had and many photos of this rare species were obtained. South Polar Skua – by Peter Flood Departing the fog of Nantucket Shoals. We continued on our way towards Hydrographer Canyon. During a close pass of a weather station buoy we noted an Ocean Sunfish while we mused about what might have been sitting on the buoy earlier in the day. Could there have been a Bridled Tern? Well, as we continued south, before long Peter Flood spotted a large tern flying rapidly away from us at our 2 o'clock. We were able to get decent initial views and were quickly able to determine that it was a first summer Bridled Tern! Captain Joe kept us on this rare southern tern for many minutes and the bird eventually gave everyone on board excellent views. Our first Pomarine Jaeger of the trip buzzed the boat about this time as well. Bridled Tern – first summer Bridled Tern – first summer Just before our arrival to the head of Hydrographyer Canyon, we began to notice our first Audubon's Shearwaters, a good sign of warm water and an indicator of the trip ahead and the record success we had with this species. The northern tip of Hydrographer has proved to be an excellent spot for White-faced Storm-Petrel and as we neared that area we were alert. Sure enough, we lucked upon our first of this much sought after species. We were able to get incredible views of this bird and the other 27 (!!!) we had on the trip. There is something so exciting about witnessing this bird (especially if its your first time) kangarooing across the surface of the ocean with hardly a wingbeat. White-faced Storm-Petrel White-faced Storm-Petrel As we headed further into Hydrographer Canyon, we stopped for a Hammerhead Shark before starting our first extended chumming session. Within a few minutes of dropping some menhaden oil and bits of suet, we had an entourage of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels coming in quite close. After a short wait, we spotted our first Leach’s and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels. These larger species are usually quite shy, staying near the back of the chum slick and rarely passing close to the boat. Not on this trip! We were treated to exceptionally close passes and great photo opportunities, some of the best we’ve ever experienced on these trips. It was hard to break ourselves away from such an enjoyable chumming stint, but we headed onwards, traveling generally westward along the shelf edge. Quite quickly, the shout of “BLACK- CAPPED PETREL!!!” was heard from the upper deck, and sure enough, out ahead of us, one of these rare birds was flying low to the water. It was moving quite slowly for a Pterodroma, and Captain Joe did a fantastic job keeping pace with it, allowing everyone on board great views. There are only around ten records of this species in Massachusetts waters, and our ten-minute view must have been the longest ever! Like all others that we’ve seen, this bird appeared to be a white-faced individual, which could indicate a separate population from the dark-faced individuals that are seen more frequently in the Gulf Stream further south. ‘White-faced’ Black-capped Petrel Birders just after the ‘White-faced’ Black-capped Petrel provided excellent views We worked our way further west, heading through Dogbody Canyon and on towards Welker Canyon. Along the way, we were quickly racking up an exceptional number of White-faced Storm-Petrels. By the end of the day, our total climbed to a whopping FIFTEEN individuals – the second highest single- day total that we’ve ever recorded! We also came upon an exceptional number of Audubon’s Shearwaters, especially in an area that held a good amount of Sargassum weed. During all this constant excitement, another yell was heard from somewhere on the boat: “TROPICBIRD!!!” This must be one of the most electrifying words on any east coast pelagic. Rare and beautiful, tropicbirds are often attracted to boats on the open ocean. They tend to appear quite suddenly directly overhead, and seem quite curious, often circling several times and peering down at all the excited passengers. This particular tropicbird, our first of the trip, was a juvenile Red-billed – our third August trip in a row when we’ve recorded one of these mega-rarities! Amazingly, just a short while later, an adult White-tailed Tropicbird was spotted as well! Both of these birds gave fantastic views, and we were giddy with excitement as we settled into our dusk chumming spot in Welker Canyon. Red-billed Tropicbird – immature White-tailed Tropicbird – adult The last hour of daylight was spent enjoying a large gathering of storm-petrels that were attracted to our chum: Wilson’s, Leach’s, and Band-rumped all gave great views, coming in close and allowing for great photographs. A rather shabby-looking Long-tailed Jaeger, apparently a second-year bird, soon appeared and fed on bits of suet and fish just off the stern. All this activity also brought in a Pomarine Jaeger, which was equally cooperative in the beautiful evening light. This truly was a trip of amazing photography conditions! The two jaegers interacted a few times, allowing excellent comparisons between the two species. Band-rumped Storm-Petrel Band-rumped Storm-Petrel Wilson’s Storm-Petrel Leach’s Storm-Petrel Long-tailed Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger Pomarine Jaeger Pomarine Jaeger sunset aboard the Helen H – Welker Canyon sunset aboard the Helen H – Welker Canyon The nighttime hours were punctuated by a few rain showers, squid and schools of fish coming into our lights, and a 12-foot-long Tiger Shark seen by the crew. A few participants enjoyed rare nocturnal views of Band-rumped and Leach’s Storm-Petrels coming into the stern, and a remarkable flock of 8 Spotted Sandpipers flew overhead. As dawn broke among the clouds, hundreds of storm-petrels were revealed fluttering over our chum slick. Remarkably, a couple of White-faced Storm-Petrels were spotted hopping across the surface of the water – these birds never come into our chum, but seemed to just be passing nearby. Before we had even pulled the anchor, “TROPICBIRD!!!” was screamed again, continuing our wonderful start to the second day! However, this time was extra special, with TWO individuals circling over the boat – both juvenile White-tailed Tropicbirds! This is a rarely-seen plumage, and of course, we were all ecstatic as our tropicbird tally for the trip increased to four. White-tailed Tropicbird – juvenile – Welker Canyon White-tailed Tropicbird – juvenile – Welker Canyon We pulled the anchor and headed back west towards Hydrographer Canyon, and our FIFTH tropicbird appeared overhead – this time, an adult White-tailed. This bird was perhaps the most confiding of them all; it made several low passes in beautiful morning light. There have only been around 10 previous records of White-tailed Tropicbird in Massachusetts, and now we had seen four on this trip alone. “Wow” does not begin to cover it. What a day, and it was barely 8:00am! Although our journey west along the shelf edge did not produce any new species for the trip, it was hard to complain about adding NINE more White-faced Storm-Petrels to our tally, for a two-day total of twenty-eight – a new North American record! We also saw a remarkable number of Pomarine Jaegers, including four birds at once that were coming into our chumming in Dogbody Canyon – some of the friendliest jaegers we’ve ever seen! A couple Fin Whales gave brief views, but before too long, we had to break free from the productive canyons and head back north towards Hyannis. Pomarine Jaeger Pomarine Jaeger Pomarine Jaeger The transit back over the Nantucket Shoals was punctuated by periods of fog, but we did enjoy good looks at several flocks of Red-necked Phalaropes with a few Red Phalaropes sprinkled in.