The 3 best days of my Birding life - NC Pelagic (16 Lifers)

7/1/2023

I didn't get as much birding in as I planned, as I've spent the past 10 days trying to get through this allergy/cold mess. The furnace may have been turned down this year in NC, but there was some other stuff in the air apparently.
We started the trip on the 27th with a quick ~2 mile walk at a favorite hotspot on the way. This was to get my dog some exercise so he would sleep for a while on the drive. Nothing much exciting there, but it worked. The morning of the 28th the highlight was a couple Black-crowned Night-Herons flying over as we prepared our 2nd day of travel after stopping in VA.
On the 29th we drove down Governor's Road in Winnabow, NC. In the swampy/river area I was able to hear a distant Bobwhite, and a couple of Barred Owls (NC Lifer) calling back and forth. A Red-shouldered Hawk screamed a few times also to mix in. A Yellow-throated Warbler (NC Lifer) surprised me as it sang there also. The biggest surprise was a screaming Red Junglefowl (domestic) right near the road. Ended up being two of them just wandering around. Further down into the Pine barrens on Governor's Road I managed Lifer Bachman's Sparrow (audio only), and NC lifers Wild Turkey and Hairy Woodpecker. I managed photo lifer Prairie Warbler, and an absolutely horrible photo lifer of a Bobwhite. Plenty of Yellow-breasted Chats and White-eyed Vireos, along with numerouns Pine Warblers overpowered the Praire Warblers.
Photo lifer Prairie Warbler

May 30th we managed to get over to Fort Fisher and Federal Point. I was hoping for lifer Least Terns and Gull-billed Terns, but was only met by Caspian, Royal and Sandwich Terns. A flagged Surf Scoter (NC Lifer) was hanging out at Federal Point, and I managed some nice shots of a cooperative Semipalmated Sandpiper. A young, singing Painted Bunting added to the noise from a juvenile Northern Mockingbird. On the way back we stopped again on Governor's Road for a quick look and caught a quick glimpse of a Swallow-tailed Kite over the treetops.
Young singing Painted Bunting and a banded Royal Tern

Various Fort Fisher and Governor's Road birds.

The 31st started the trek up to Hatteras for 3 days of Pelagics, with hopes that none of the days would be cancelled. Heavy winds and rain had cancelled at least 3 prior days. I scooped up NC Lifer (Eastern Kingbird and Lesser Black-backed Gull). The gulls along the bridges were tempting fate as they hovered where the wind hit the edge of the bridge. Several carcasses of birds unlucky enough to vear into traffic lined the way.

June 1st didn't look good. Heavy winds and a thick fog blanketed the marina. We all gathered up at the dock, and the crew was getting all prepared to head out. As we stood there a couple of guys walked up to the boat, and hopped on board. One of them stood out to me immediately...Steve "freaking" Howell was going to be one of the guides on the boat!! Later I would find out that Bob Flood was also on the boat, another prominent author of Seabird books. As we got the safety spiel from the Captain, Brian Patteson, he talked about how rough the seas were. He said "If you aren't sure about being out in rough water, this isn't the day to find out". I think at least 2 people decided to not risk it. He punctuated this by letting us all know "You all suck!". At least the day was starting with some humor. We headed out and, well it was quite choppy. I was thankful for my Bonine and pressure bracelet. Several people ended up sick, including one of the guides, before the end of the day.
Thus begins Day 1 of the best biding days of my life. I say this despite having more lifers on other trips. The motion of the ocean, the amazing blue color and just being away from the craziness of life magnified how amazing it is to do a pelagice birding trip. It didn't take long before I got a brief glimpse of Lifers Wilson's Storm-Petrel, and a Sooty Shearwater. The Sooty was somewhat of a nemesis since I missed one reported on a whale-watching tour in San Diego years ago.
Once out to the gulf stream it didn't take long before lifers started getting ticked off. The Wilson's Storm-Petrels came within feet of the boat. Great Shearwaters (Lifer) showed up in good numbers. I got my first glimpses of Lifer Leach's Storm-Petrel and Band-rumped Storm-Petrel. Very quick looks to try and figure out how to pick them out from the Wilson's. This would take multiple days and viewings to really be able to pick out on my own. Cory's Shearwaters, both borealis and the European split Scopoli's Shearwaters, gave excellent views. This allowed me to easily see the differences in the whites of the primary and slightly smaller shape and head. Black-capped Petrel (Lifer) also gave some great looks as they passed by. An initially identified Audubon's Shearwater, was quickly changed to ID as a Manx Shearwater (lifer). Audubon's did eventually make an appearance to add to the Lifer total for me.
About 1/2 way through the day one of the guides screams out "Trindade Petrel!!!!!!". I was able to get very quick looks of it as it flew past the stern of the boat, and were able to watch it on the bow in the distance as it flew off. I knew this bird was a possibility, but I didn't count on it. I was thankful for the guides, as I likely would have dismissed it as a Sooty Shearwater, having not really gotten comortable distinguishing these families of birds.
As we headed back in the Captain said it was going to be very wet and anyone with a camera should be inside. So I headed in, not wanting to mess with trying to pack it up. I am so glad I did, as we were on our way in we hear "Skua!!!!" yelled out. The boat immediately stops and we all try to pile out...emphasis on "try". The captain had to get on the speaker and another person had to literlly tap on someone who stopped in the doorway of the cabin blocking others from getting outside to look at it. Luckily it wheeled around for a bit, and were able to get good looks at another lifer South Polar Skua. Unmistakeable bird that even at 500 feet away you could ID with the naked eye.
I ended up with 11 lifers on this first day. I honestly only thought I would get a total of 12 lifers during these pelagics, and I still had 2 more days.

Yikes, sorry for the wordiness of the first day of the Pelagic. Day 2 was much, much calmer seas. Despite that there were several people I would see on Day 1, that wouldn't show back up until Day 3. My description to them was "Day 1 was Gilligan's Island, Day 2 was The Love Boat".
Day 2 started off with a bang, as on our way out to the Gulf Stream the words I wanted to hear on this trip were yelled out...."Tropicbird!!!!". Above the boat was a juvenile Tropicbird, unfortunately lacking the long streamers, which turned out to be a freaking Red-billed Tropicbird (lifer), ABA Code 4 bird!!!

A few Lifer Roseate Terns flashed by, with two in the distance by the third giving better looks.

Once out on the Gulf Stream we again had great looks at Wilson's, Leach's and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels. Cory's, Great, Sooty and Audubon's Shearwaters also were present, albeit in smaller numbers than Day 1.
Wilson's Storm-Petrels

Leach's Storm-Petrel - note the short legs, longer forked tail, partially split rump, long wings and wing bars that extend out to edge of the wings.

Cory's Shearwater

Great Shearwater (L) and my one decent shot of an Audubon's Shearwater (R)

Black-capped Petrel

Another word I wanted to hear yelled out was "Jaeger!!!". Well I got it twice, with some great looks at two juvenile Pomarine Jaegers (Lifer). Very cooperative birds that gave great looks near the boat

On the way back in this Common Tern gave some close up looks of it.....getting rid of something it didn't want.

Thus ended Day 2 with a nice smooth ride back in the marina, and 2 more lifers added to the list. I did miss the European Storm-Petrel that was briefly sighted. I dipped on this bird, even going through a bunch of spray and pray photos I couldn't locate the bird. I was up towards the bow, and unable to get back to the crowded stern once it was called out. Not exactly the easiest bird to now have as a nemesis considering how rare it is. But definitely a reason to get back out on the boat in the future.

Day 3 was another calm day as we started. I found out that the first day we went out, only one other boat went out. Today we were followed by a parade of fishing boats heading out. A good sign the seas were somewhat calm. We were warned that the wind was expected to pick up out there on the Gulf Stream, and we could have some fun coming back in. This turned out to be true as I ended up thouroghly soaked by the time we got back to the dock. I was trying to keep a sick guy at least not wet though, so there was that.
It wasn't long into our ride when Kate Sutherland turned to tell some of us some ID information and she looks up and yells "Tropicbird!!!!". We had the most unbelievable looks at a White-tailed Tropicbird, complete with the long streaming tail feathers. This bird was unbelievably cooperative as it circled back to the boat at least 4 times. Kate even clapped at the bird, thanking it for the great views. It got so close it was tough to get in the frame, even at 100mm zoomed out. Needless to say a Lifer, and for me the highlight bird of this trip. This was a bucket list bird for me. Truly one of the greatest birding memories I'll have.

Yes, it looked right into my Soul.

Shortly after one of the leaders, Liam, yells out "Trindade Petrel!!!!". My second look at this ABA Code 3 bird!!

As the day winded-down out on the Gulf Stream we were treated to an adult Pomarine Jaeger giving great looks. Sort of an added "lifer" bonus for me having only seen the juveniles on Day 1.

As I was talking with another birder how I really hoped to see 1 of the other 2 Jaegers I didn't have, this lady next to me says "What's that?!?". I look over and at that very moment Kate yells out "Long-tailed Jaeger". My 17th lifer of the trip, with still another week in N.C.!! Unfortunately this allergy/cold would kick up on the drive back to Wilmington and basically cut all my birding short for the rest of the trip. I was able to attend the family outings I was going down there for, but definitely not as enjoyable as it could have been. I was hoping to get back out for the Least Tern, Gull-billed Tern and a Loggerhead Shrike seen at the airport. All in all though, this still was the most fun days I have had birding. I thought about nothing but birds, and not falling overboard, while out on the water. It was almost meditative out on the water.
Lifer Long-tailed Jaeger.

Cory's Shearwater, Black-capped Petrel, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (note the shorter legs on the left bird) and Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Black-capped Petrel and Great Shearwater