Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 21:54:31 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Phil Davis Subject: Re: Pelagic Opportunity this Weekend In-Reply-To: <389F7EF1.87959BC4@erols.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Hi Paul - Been outta town for a few days ... Yes, got the Skua and the Albatross !!! (3 miles off shore, to boot!). It was windy in when we left, but the seas turned out to be fine. Very cold, however! Phil At 09:26 PM 02/07/2000 -0500, you wrote: >Hi Phil, > >Just wondering, did you go, and more importantly, did you see the >Yellow-nosed Albatross? Hope you had the luck (though it sounds like >the water was really rough - guess you have to pay a price for such good >birds). > >Later, >Paul P. >cheep@erols.com > >Phil Davis wrote: > > > > Hope this isn't a breech of MD_Osprey netiquette ... however, I just > > checked and the forecast for Hatteras for Saturday includes a high of 63 > > degrees! This is almost unheard of for a winter pelagic. > > > > Gonna do it ... and try for my Great Skua! > > > > Note that this weekend's departure is from Wanchese, NC which is right next > > to Nags Head ... you don't have to drive the extra hour down to Hatteras. > > > > Thought you all might be interested. > > > > Phil > > > > >Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 17:14:19 -0500 > > >From: Brian > > >Organization: Brian Patteson, Inc. > > >Subject: URGENT- Participants NEEDED For Feb. 5(6) Oregon Inlet, Feb. > > >19(20) Hatteras Trips > > > > > >Dear Seabirders, > > > > > >Please pass this along to anyone you think might be interested in these > > >trips. We are in dire need of participants for this weekend's pelagic > > >trip from Oregon Inlet, NC (departing Wanchese) aboard the Miss > > >Hattteras and also for the Hatteras trip on Feb. 19(20). IF WE DON'T GET > > >SIX MORE PEOPLE FOR THIS WEEKEND'S TRIP BY WEDNESDAY, WE'LL HAVE TO > > >CANCEL THE TRIP. > > > > > >For reasons unknown to me, it seems that most folks would rather ride an > > >extra 4-6 hours on a boat (Va. Beach) than drive a bit farther (2-3 > > >hours each way) to go on a bigger, nicer boat and see the same birds > > >closer to shore in less time and more comfort. Thus, stangely, we seldom > > >have much trouble filling a Virginia Beach pelagic trip in February, but > > >it seems we almost always stuggle to get even enough folks to run our > > >Outer Banks trips at that time. > > > > > >RIGHT NOW there is a band of cold water extending south all the way to > > >Cape Hatteras. The continental shelf is much narrower off the Outer > > >Banks than it is off the Virginia Capes. In the past, we have seen birds > > >like Razorbill, Manx Shearwater, and Great Skua within sight of the > > >beach from Hatteras and Oregon Inlet. On most Va. Beach trips, we steam > > >for hours before we see many seabirds at all. When the water temperature > > >off the Outer Banks is cold like it is now, there is the potential to > > >see even larger numbers of seabirds here than off Virginia because they > > >tend to bunch up at the end of the line (Cape Hatteras- where cold water > > >meets the Gulf Stream). If this sounds far fetched, consider that WE > > >HAVE SEEN MORE Great Skuas and Razorbills in a day off HATTERAS than we > > >have on trips from Maryland or Virginia. > > > > > >On January 29, 2000, we ran a bitterly cold and somewhat rough trip from > > >Virginia Beach. We saw Northern Fulmar(2), Manx Shearwater(1), Red > > >Phalarope (20), Black-legged Kittiwake (276), Razorbill (23) and Dovekie > > >(8) in addition to lots of gulls (including one Glaucous) and 55 or so > > >gannets, which put on a spectacular show behind the boat diving for > > >chum. We didn't see any Great Skuas, but the numbers of large gulls were > > >kind of low, and I did see a skua there three weeks earlier. If we had > > >better weather that day, I feel that the alcid numbers would have been > > >much higher. We were severely hampered in spotting by sea conditions and > > >passenger participation. > > > > > >THIS WEEKEND SHOULD SEE A RETURN TO MORE NORMAL AIR TEMPERATURES. If > > >you've been wanting to take a pelagic trip this winter, but have been > > >deterred thus far by the cold, here's a chance. For those who can't go > > >on Feb. 5(6) or 19(20), there is also the possibility that a SECOND BOAT > > >may go out on Virginia Beach on Feb. 12 (13) if there is enough > > >interest. LET US KNOW ASAP if you are interested in ANY OF THESE TRIPS. > > >Details about these and other upcoming trips can be found on our > > >website- http://www.patteson.com/. If you have any questions or would > > >like to sign up for a trip, you can e-mail me or call me on the > > >telephone(252-986-1363). > > > > > >Brian Patteson > > >Hatteras, NC > > >Brian@Patteson.com > > > > ======================================================= > > Phil Davis Davidsonville, Maryland USA > > > > mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com > > ======================================================= > > > > ======================================================================= > > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > > ======================================================================= > >======================================================================= >To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com >with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey >======================================================================= ======================================================= Phil Davis Davidsonville, Maryland USA mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com ======================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================