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Posted by Toe on 16:53:34 06/26/11
Sorry for taking so long, but I've been too busy to download the photos. On Wednesday, I ventured out with Larry and Phillip Manfredi, and John Vanderpoel. John is doing a big ABA year, and there were some pelagics he needed. After making a huge throw on live bait, we headed out towards Fowey Rocks lighthouse, checking every channel marker in hopes of getting John the Red-footed Booby seen on the previous two trips. Alas, it was not meant to be. The Booby eluded us both on the way out and on the way back in. At Fowey there were only a handful of Brown Booby and some Royal Terns and cormorants.
As we headed for the deep water, it quickly became apparent that birding was going to be slow. Despite strong current on the edge, the water was green way into the area where it should have been deep blue. We passed a Wilson's Storm-Petrel, then a Band-rumped, and at 15 miles out we found a small feeding flock that included a Sooty Tern, some Bridled Terns, a very late juvie Northern Gannet, a Brown Booby, Wilson s Storm-Petrels and a Sooty Tern. Here we set up a chum slick and had 8 Wilson's Storm-Petrels feeding at once, plus a quick pass by a Band-rumped. We also chummed with some live baits and had a school of decent-sized dolphin (mahi-mahi) around the boat. We got 13, and could have caught many more is we'd wanted. By the time we headed in, the breeze had died considerably, and we only added a couple of Audubon's shearwaters, some Brideld Terns, and a Wilson's Storm-Petrel in 15 feet of water. I think this is the shallowest I've seen this species. Although this was a slow day by June pelagic standards, we added 3 birds to our June Challenge list, and John picked up 2 year birds. Any day on the water is a good day. As always, Phillip Manfredi proved he's got the sea legs of a true sailor.
The day's list:
Audubon's Shearwater (3, June Challenge addition)
Brown Booby (6-7)
Northern Gannet (1, June Challenge addition)
Wilson's Storm-Petrel (10, year bird for John)
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (2, year bird for John)
Magnificent Frigatebird (only 1, what is the deal with that?)
Bridled Tern (15)
Sooty Tern (only 2, what is the deal with that?)
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