Posted by Paul Bithorn on July 28, 2003 at 19:10:50:
In Reply to: Pelagic trip with Larry Manfredi posted by Alex on July 27, 2003 at 18:33:05:
A Pelagic birding trip out of Key Largo led by Larry Manfredi on Sunday, July 27, 2003, continued to produce a bounty of pelagic species that are being reported all the way up the east-coast of Florida north to Jacksonville. The cooler water temperatures (I was wondering why I was catching Bluefish in July), reported by Bob Wallace, are probably responsible for such uncommon species as Manx Shearwaters, Black-capped Petrels and Band-rumped Storm Petrels showing up.
We departed from the Mandalay Marina at Mile Marker 97.5 at 8:00 a.m. and returned at 4:00 p.m. on a 30 ft. plus catamaran hull boat with twin Yamaha 225’s (counter-rotation). Designed as a dive boat, it comfortably accommodated seven birders, including Alex and his dad Steve, John Boyd, Mark Birney, Steve Siegel, Larry and yours truly. The boat’s speed allowed us to run to birds and get great looks at most of the species seen. Three to five foot seas made for some rocking, rolling and human chumming but the boat’s hull threw the water outward, keeping us fairly dry.Our low proximity to the water was ideal for scanning the horizon.
The Key Largo Hump produced Black, Bridled and Sooty Terns, Brown Noddies, along with a Cory’s Shearwater, but the mother lode would be the 409 Hump, where a pair of juvenile Brown Boobies, an Audubon’s Shearwater, a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel and the prized Band-rumped Storm-Petrel all stayed around the boat for a good hour, as we drifted with two chum bags filled with Mendhaden and bottles of fish oil, creating a large chum slick. Larry took my advice on using chum, based on my experience the week before and the two storm-petrels flew in tandem within twenty feet of the boat for excellent comparisons. The Band-rumped was noticeably larger, darker, longer winged (pointed) and the feet did not extend beyond the tail. It glided shearwater-like as it fed. Larry got great video of the two storm-petrels as well as the Bridled Terns and should be posting video grabs in the near future. I pointed out the translucence of the Bridled Terns underwing, which is not evident on the Sooty Terns. This field mark was useful from a fairly large distance in differentiating between the two species.
Two flocks of Glossy Ibis (where are they going?), Osprey, Least and Royal Tern, Barn Swallow, peep species, and Magnificent Frigatebird were also seen. A celebratory libation of Red Stripe Lager slaked our thirsts as we reminisced about our good fortune. Life is good…………………….seeing a 14-year old (Alex) grinning from ear-to ear with 9 pelagic lifers, one of which took me twenty years of birding to see.