Searching for Seabirds off Hatteras, North Carolina

with Brian Patteson and the Stormy Petrel II

31 May & 1 June 2018

Long-tailed Jaeger (non-breeding adult) 

At long last, I decided to time a camping and birding trip to North Carolina to align with Brian Patteson’s famous seasonal boat trips in search of rare pelagic seabirds. I signed up for back-to-back days on the Stormy Petrel II, captained by Patteson, and crewed by the three regular crew, Kate Sutherland, Peter Flood, and Ed Corey, plus a surprise visiting expert, Steve N. G. Howell, based in Bolinas, California, but regularly a member of the Stormy Petrel crew during the “high season.” Having these five seabirding super-experts on the boat meant that the birding customers would have a chance to see every rarity that came within binocular-range of the boat. These folks know their seabirds!

Long-tailed Jaeger chasing a Laughing Gull

I arrived at my Cape Woods Campground at Buxton, a few miles from Hatteras, on the afternoon of 30^th May, just two days after the team on the boat had recorded a Tahiti Petrel for the first time in the Atlantic Ocean, creating much excitement throughout the North American birding community. Guesses were that this tropical Pacific-dweller had been drawn across the Isthmus of Panama by the recent passing of tropical storm Alberto. Otherwise, how does this Pacific Ocean resident get into the Atlantic? It was a life bird for most who saw it. Anyway, this momentous achievement excited our two cohorts of daily participants, getting them thinking of the possibilities.

Long-tailed Jaeger (dark morph juvenile)

Each morning, pre-dawn, we arrived at the boat in the darkness and boarded at 5:15 AM. The boat crossed the Hatteras bar and then motored for two hours to get out to the Gulf Stream waters some 38 miles from the shore. Here we set a chum line of fish-bits and fish-oil and motored slowly through the sea to draw in foraging birds that crossed our chum line and  followed it upstream to the boat.

The Gulf Stream water is quite distinct from the cool and dull green nearshore water. The Stream water is clear and a deep sapphire blue and is 81 degrees warm. It carries with it bits of Sargassum—floating yellow-orange seaweed.

Blue Gulf Stream waters

Pilot Whales

Day One (31 May) started with a close encounter with a small pod of Pilot Whales (probably Short-finned), plus an offshore Bottle-nosed Dolphin that happily spent several minutes riding just under our bow wave in the clear Gulf Stream waters. That was it for cetaceans. Not another individual marine mammal was observed over the two days out on the water.

Birding from the Stormy Petrel II

Now to the birdlife. Most common among the pelagic birds was Wilson's Storm-Petrel. We recorded 85 on Day One and 100+ on Day Two. From here on, I present the day-counts in parentheses [for Wilson’s it is (85, 100+)]... These were often in numbers right behind the boat, picking food off the surface.

Wilson's Storm-Petrels (2 images above)

Cory's Shearwater

Cory’s Shearwater (above) was second in abundance, a big brownish languid flyer with a thick yellowish bill. Our counts were (41, 27).

Scopoli's Shearwater

Similar but slightly smaller and slimmer-billed was Scopoli’s Shearwater, which breeds in the Mediterranean (considered a full species by Howard & Moore but not the AOS Checklist Committee). Our counts were (6, 2).

Black-capped Petrel

Black-capped Petrel, a Caribbean breeder, is the bread-and-butter species for this boat-trip—a core species that is difficult to see any place else except off the coast of Florida. These days we got (22, 36).

Black-capped Petrels

Audubon’s Shearwater (22, 20) was common but unfriendly, and I got no images of this tiny species. It did not take to the chum line.

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel

The rare Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (10, 9) is another core species for this Hatteras boat that birders come from near and far to see.  It is longer-winged and more graceful than the similar Wilson’s S-P.

Great Shearwater

The Great Shearwater was present in fair numbers (6, 10), and often hung out at the back of the boat, allowing good photography. This and the Cory’s are the two most common western Atlantic shearwaters, but this is not their high season.

Long-tailed Jaeger (dark morph juvenile)

Long-tailed Jaeger is another bird best seen from this boat (1, 1). The bird on Day One was a nonbreeding adult, whereas the Day Two bird was a very dark juvenile. The Day Two bird followed us for an hour. This species was my favorite of the trip. The bird chased gulls and storm-petrels and also foraged in the chum line.

Sooty Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater (1, 1) was rare, as this is the wrong season for this commonplace species. And Leach’s Storm-Petrel (1, 1) was also rare, it being breeding season for this northern  Maritimes and New England breeder.

Common Tern

Common Tern (0, 1) was the only tern seen out in the pelagic zone. I include an image because of the bird’s beauty. Laughing Gull (1, 0) was the only gull we encountered at sea.

Fea's Petrel

Fea’s Petrel (0, 1) was one of two super-rarities that are seen a few time a year on this boat (an nowhere else in the US). We had a single bird on Day Two that allowed a brief look before disappearing. It is identified by the plain gray tail and the dark underside of the wings.

Fea's Petrel

Finally, and our last surprise of Day Two was the European Storm-Petrel (0, 1), a gorgeous little sprite of a bird, flying like a bumble bee. It is very dark above and show a white linear stripe under the wing.

European Storm-Petrel (two images above)

Spending time in 1,000-fathom Gulf Stream waters is definitely worth doing in late May and early June. It is our forgotten wilderness just off the East Coast. One never knows what one will see during a day far out at sea!

Steve N.G. Howell on the bowsprit