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Posted by Toe on 13:07:52 10/25/12
In Reply to: no seabirds (yet?) posted by steve siegel
Since 2005 I've done about two dozen sea watches in the Miami area, and only had pelagic birds on four of those, and usually only when the winds were extremely strong. The topography off our coast keeps the birds out in deep water. With any amount of wind, you can go to beaches up north and see pelagic terns, storm-petrels, jaegers, and even shearwaters. Mike Brothers photographed a Sabine's Gull and Long-tailed Jaeger at Ponce Inlet yesterday in just a little while in the afternoon. Off here, you need to get past the outer reef before you see these, regardless of winds. The water is only 10' deep at Fowey Rocks lighthouse, then it quickly drops off. For whatever reason, pelagic birds stay out past this drop and only with gale force winds will they get pushed close to shore down here. There's always the chance, but the conditions are much more favorable farther north in the state. The closest spot that may have some good potential is Boynton Inlet. The deep water comes closer to shore there than in any other spot along the east coast.
I the last few pelagic trips I've done off Miami, most of the pelagic bird activity wasn't encountered until we passed 1,000 feet of water 10 miles offshore.
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