Bermuda Petrel!! (20April through 07Jun2024)

I have been on loads of Hatteras pelagics over the years and Bermuda Petrel is probably my biggest pelagic nemesis along with White-faced Storm-Petrel.  So needless to say that was the target I had in mind when I scheduled myself for an end of May pelagic trip out of Hatteras.  But before I get to that, here are some other random photos from before that trip.

Prothonotary Warblers are always the first neotropical migrant we see in good numbers down here in coastal North Carolina and we couldn't have picked a better one!  What an amazing bird with it's crazy yellow hues and large bill, not to mention the neat white under tail coverts.  It is altogether a very handsome bird.  This one was on Lee Buck Rd in Brunswick county which is still one of the better breeding warbler spots near me.

Red-eyed Vireos are usually not as confiding being heard more often than seen.

My boys finished another track season, and once again Hoggard won the regional/county championships title.  George improved his mile time to within 1 second of Luke's best with a time of 4:22!  

In May, I led a local Audubon chapter bird walk at Fort Fisher along the Basin Trail.

We had most of the usual suspects including this Painted Bunting.

During all the reports of sun storm activity allowing for amazing views of Northern Lights, I pulled the trigger one day too late when I decided to head out in the middle of Holly Shelter Gamelands to try and see them.

Nothing was visible to the naked eye but I had a handful of Whip-poor-wills calling the whole time I was there.

With my iPhone I was able to pick up some of the lights, but it was a little underwhelming.  This photo was taken at 10:30 pm so what you see here is definitely not any lingering sunset.  

Great Blue Skimmer - of course as things heat up on the coast, the focus will eventually shift to Odes and Butterflies.

I forget what this picture was for, but as you can see I am blessed with a good looking family!

May 18 was the day of the fateful pelagic.  There was a line of boats heading out to sea this day because of a fishing tourney.

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel - We had good activity early on with Storm-Petrels.

Another view of a Band-rumped.  

Black-capped Petrel 

Sooty Shearwater

Sooties are one of the most confiding of the Shearwaters often coming close to the wake of the boat.

They look so friendly!  Almost like they are smiling.

A darker morph of the Black-capped.

Sooty

A Borealis Cory's Shearwater - note the extensively dark primary tips.

Black-capped

Leach's Storm-Petrel - note the notched tail.

Cuvier's Beaked Whale!  These bad boys/girls can dive up to 3 hours and 45 minutes!  They have gone almost 3 thousands meters deep!  The deepest of all the whales or cetaceans.

I failed to get a decent pic of the mouth with the eruptive teeth that stick out that males use for fighting but I thin that's where these marks come from on the back of this one.

"BERDUMA PETREL!!" Kate shouted while I was standing next to her.  

First off, let me set the scene.  Here is some text from Wikipedia:

The Bermuda petrel (Pterodroma cahow) is a gadfly petrel. Commonly known in Bermuda as the cahow, a name derived from its eerie cries, this nocturnal ground-nesting seabird is the national bird of Bermuda and can be found pictured on Bermudian currency. The Bermuda petrel is the second rarest seabird on the planet. They have medium-sized body and long wings, a greyish-black crown and collar, dark grey upper-wings and tail, white upper-tail coverts and white under-wings edged with black, and the underparts are completely white.

For 300 years, it was thought to be extinct. The dramatic rediscovery in 1951 of eighteen nesting pairs made this a "Lazarus species", that is, a species found to be alive after having been considered extinct. This has inspired a book and two documentary films. A national programme to preserve the bird and restore the species has helped increase its numbers, but scientists are still working to enlarge its nesting habitat on the restored Nonsuch Island.

So if you want to see one you really have to go to Bermuda or you can try your luck on one of Patteson's Pelagics.  I have been out on something like 30 pelagics and never seen one.  Usually they only get one every other year.

Unfortunately I had the wrong camera settings on when this bird showed up, specifically I had it on spot focus and most of my photos are sub-optimal compared to some of the amazing images others obtained.

When you see one in person, the concerns you have about ID problems seem to fade away.  I supposed it just gives a different feeling and you immediately know you have something special.

Probably my best shot.

I won't make that mistake again, now I know to have my settings better set on pelagics as you typically don't get second chances.

I am still on a high from this sighting from over 2 weeks ago!  

On the way back into Hatteras we happened upon some phalaropes.

Red-necked Phalaropes

I was completely exhausted from being out in the sun and wind so I decided to spend the night.  In the morning I did some birding at Cape Point and the surrounding area.

Bonaparte's Gull - this late bird made me do a double-take.

Ruddy Turnstone at the Old Coast Guard Station.

A fully decked out Common Loon!

Later the next week I went up to Raleigh to treat Melissa to a stay at the Umstead Hotel and Spa.  On the way home we stopped at Mal Plantation Rd for a walk on the Neuse River Greenway.

Cliff Swallows nest under the bridge and feed in the fields next to the river.

Indigo Buntings never get old!

Cliff Swallow peeking out from the nest.

Back at home I have been birding sparingly but I did get out to Fort Fisher once or twice.

Cabbage White Butterfly

Brown-headed Cowbird

Luke has graduated High School!  He is set to attend UNC Chapel Hill in August, I will miss him being around the house.

I am toying with the idea of finally chasing the Black-whiskered Vireo in Nags Head this weekend so stay tuned.