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Posted by Toe on 20:46:23 11/06/13
In Reply to: SeaWatch in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Black-capped Petrels posted by Barry Heimlich
Sorry to be doubtful, but your description of their flight "skimming buoyantly low to waves" is not indicative of Black-capped Petrel, which have a VERY distinctive flight like no other bird you will see off here. Not sure what you saw, but if they were flying as you say they weren't BCPEs. Also, BCPEs don't fly in tight flocks, and although you can see several in an area in the right region, they will usually keep a lot of distance between individuals unless they are attracted to a chum line. Additionally, In 8 years I've done 47 dedicated pelagic trips off the coast of South Florida, plus several fishing trips. In all that time I've seen, and photographed a total of 1 BCPE. I don't know of anyone that has seen one from shore anywhere outside of during hurricane conditions.
If what you saw are indeed BCPEs, then that is truly a remarkable observation.
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