July 23rd - 29th

4 PARASITIC JAEGERS

6 WHIMBRELS

First black guillemot chick of the year

Arctic terns

Common terns

Common eider with newly hatched chicks

MANX shearwater

Sooty shearwater

Great shearwater

Atlantic puffins

Common murres

Razorbills

Small number of Northern gannet

Bonaparte’s gull
Black legged kittiwakes w/ chick

Common loons

Small groups of peeps (sp?)

Seabird activity has been increasing on the bay as more herring moves in. Lots of feeding groups of shearwaters, alcids and gulls makes for excellent viewing as they surface feed on large schools of herring in the area around Blacks habour and Whitehorse island. Manx remains as the dominant species of shearwater, with more great shearwaters appearing and a few sooty shearwaters around as well. Northern gannets were fairly scarce with only a few individuals seen. Arctic terns have been abundant as they perch and feed around rafts of rockweed, with a few common terns mixed. 

Gulls feeding on herring

Great shearwater

Large groups of manx shearwater

Northern gannet

On the 23^rd I had 2 PARASITIC JAEGERS harassing gulls off of Casco Island. One bird was a dark morph adult with the other appearing to be a juvenile. These birds were flying amongst large groups of gulls surface feeding on groups of brit (small herring).

On the evening trip of the 26th I had a group of 6 WHIMBRELS flying south past head harbor lighthouse on Campobello. This, along with numerous small groups of peeps seen well offshore indicates the start of early shorebird movement. If anyone has any tips at identifying peeps in flight I would love to hear them. I speculate that the majority of these are semipalmated sandpipers but can’t be sure. 

On the 26th I spotted a common eider female with two newly hatched chicks.

I had a PARASITIC JAEGER on the 26th, and another on the 28th, both birds were dark morph adults. I will try to get some pictures of jaegers for the next post but they tend to stay at quite a distance.

Whitehorse Island

Activity on the island continues as the young gull chicks begin to fledge. I saw many of them testing their wings and have seen a few young birds out on the water. More eagles have moved in to prey on young birds, with up to 8 being seen at one time. 

Herring gull chick

Herring gull adult

Juvenile bald eagle

Adult bald eagle

Black-legged kittiwake pair

Black-legged Kittiwake

On July 26^th I saw my first black guillemot chick of the season swimming in the water around the island

On the 27^th I photographed the young Kittiwake chick that I have been following. He had grown a lot since the previous photos (see previous post)…

Black-legged kittiwake with chick

Today, July 29^th, through the fog, I could see that the chick and adult were nowhere to be found, and the small ledge that held the nest was now but barren rock. A gull or an eagle must have raided the nest with the young bird, still many days away from fledging. I must admit it was a bit disheartening. I had high hopes for this bird, as it was the only kittiwake chick that I could find in the many nests on Whitehorse.

Two days later

On a lighter note, one of my plans for this blog was to use photography to aid in identification challenges, both to hone my own skills and help others who are interested as well. One such challenge lies in differentiating between Arctic and Common terns. The other day I managed to get a couple images that contained the two species and thought it would be a good oppurtunity to look closely at the differences that help set them apart in the field. In this image you can see four terns perched on a floating piece of wood. Can you spot the differences?

Maybe a close-up of the previous image would help....

The bird on the left is an arctic tern, while the bird on the right is a common tern. Note the differences in bill color and shape, as well as the black tip on the common tern which is absent on the arctic tern. When perched, the head of an arctic tern appears much more rounded with a shorter neck then that of the common tern. The legs of an arctic tern are also shorter then those of a common tern.

Now lets look at the two species in flight...

Again, the bird on top is an arctic tern and the lower bird is a common tern. In this image the common tern is in the foreground and slightly out of focus, as the focus was locked onto the arctic tern, but the differences can still be seen. For birds in flight, I find that bill color and the amount of head projection (less in arctic terns) are the two most useful field marks in identifying the two species. The bill color of the arctic tern is a dark red while the common tern is more of a red-orange.  Also note the lesser amount of dark feathering along the undersides of the wingtips as well as the longer tail feathers of the arctic tern.

I hope that this comparison helped. I plan on doing  more such comparisons in the future so if you have any requests let me know! Things have been very exciting out on the bay and it's just going to get better in the weeks to come. Hope to see you on the water!

Cheers
-Nick

July 22nd

Common murre (BRIDLED PHENOTYPE)
First of year PEREGRINE FALCON
First of year SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
Arctic terns with juvenile
Manx shearwater
Sooty shearwater
Razorbill
Atlanic puffin
Black guillemot
Semipalmated sandpiper
Great blue heron
Northern gannet
Bald eagle
Common loon
Black legged kittiwake
Bonapartes gull

The day started out with an adult PEREGRINE FALCON perched atop the power tower on Macmaster Island. This was my first peregrine of the year, I usually see them quite often later in the season.

We then made our way east of Whitehorse island where we were treated to a spectacle of feeding shearwaters and alcids. Lots of MANX shearwater as well as the less numerous sooty shearwater, no great shearwaters today. Puffins, razorbills and murres were diving below the flocks of gulls, not to mention the large adult fin whale that lunged so close to the boat I could have jumped right into his mouth! It was quite a privilege to witness such a display.

There was a notable increase in the number of arctic terns in these feeding groups. Terns only join when the herring is small enough for them; about 3 inches, which is sometimes called "brit". They are very noisy, constantly vocalizing while diving down to pluck the small fish from the waves. I looked for common terns but all the terns seemed to be arctic terns. I even spotted a juvenile perched atop floating piece of wood.

Juvenile arctic tern

Herring gull feeding over a ball of small herring, also known as "brit"

Of particular excitement to me was my first sighting of a common murre that displayed the "bridled" phenotype (morph). I had seen it in my bird guide but before today had never actually spotted a bird in the field. All the murres I have seen have been all black on the head. I did some reading and found out some interesting information about this example of polymorphism, when a single species shows multiple forms or morphs. The "bridled" form is only seen in Atlantic birds and is more common the more north you go, where the breeding range of thick-billed murre and common murre overlap. This may be a way for birds to better recognize members of their own species when breeding in dense colonies that contain both thick-billed murres and common murres (Research "character displacement" for more on this phenomenon). Since thick-billed murres do not breed in the Bay of Fundy, there is less chances of confusion amongst the two species and the bridled morph is less prevalent. Isn't nature incredible? Anyway, enough of the evolutionary gibber y-ju. Here's a pic...

Common murre, "bridled" morph

On the evening trip I had a quick flyby of what I am quite sure was 10-15 semipalmated sandpipers, I managed to pick out one SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, which is my first of season.

Thanks to Beverley and Mark Schneider for coming with us on this mornings trip, it's always nice to have some experienced naturalists out there who enjoy the birds as much as I do!
Cheers,
-Nick

July 13-21st

Bonaparte's Gull
Black legged Kittiwake with first chick of season
Razorbill
ATLANTIC PUFFIN
Northern gannet
Common murre
First of season THICK-BILLED MURRE
Black guillemot
Common loon
Manx shearwater
Great sheartwarter
Sooty shearwater
Wilson's storm petrel
Common tern
Common eider
SOLITARY SANDPIPER
First SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS of the season
Spotted sandpiper
First of season RED-NECKED PHALAROPES
Bald eagle

Summary
We have spent most of our time off of Blacks Harbour, with a few trips out to the wolves banks.We usually visit Whitehorse island after viewing the whales and then make our way up into Head Harbour passage. All three shearwater species have been present on many of our trips, especially when we get offshore near the wolves. Manx shearwaters are still around in good numbers with great shearwaters becoming more abundant. Puffins continue to be sighted on every trip. More bonaparte's gulls, many in breeding plumage, are turning up in the area around head harbour passage and the number of terns is also increasing. Also, Todd Watts recorded the first RED-NECKED PHALAROPES and THICK-BILLED MURRES of the season.

Whitehorse Island
I recorded my first black legged kittiwake chick on July 19th. Some of the nests are too high to see into and I suspect many of the higher nests have chicks in them as well. I will try to follow this particular nest and see how the chick does.

Black-legged kittiwake with chick

Black-legged kittiwake, second year

Lots of black guillemots still around the island, they prefer to nest on the western side away from the gulls. Their preferred prey seems to be Butterfish (Pholis gunnellus), a long, slender, eel-like fish that lives in crevices of rocks and amongst seaweed.

Black guillemot with butterfish

The herring gull chicks are growing fast, and it appears that a few may have fledged. I saw one chick with well developed primaries that had waterlogged itself and was attempting to climb back up the rocks. The number of bald eagles has increased a lot and there is a constant war being fought in the air over the islands as the eagles attempt to catch some of the young birds. The other day Danielle photographed an eagle eating a black guillemot on the island...the bright red legs were all that was left.

Herring gull chicks

Doesn't say anything about eagles...

Being escorted off the island

On the western side of Whitehorse is a ravens nest. I have not seen ravens in it all season, but on the 19th there was a pair in the nest. I do not believe it has been used so far this season.

Raven

Todd Watts recorded a SOLITARY SANDPIPER on Whitehorse on the 17th and on July 18th I had a group of 6 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS on the island as well.


The Wolves
Today, July 21st saw a large increase in activity over the wolves banks. Large groups of alcids (razorbills, murres, puffins) were feeding with all three shearwater species and a few northern gannets were around as well. This was more activity then I have seen all year. I also saw a single Wilson's storm petrel and a few common terns were perched on floating debris. The SW winds helped to push some bird activity closer to shore during our evening trip and we were treated to a spectacle of 20-30 diving gannets feeding alongside puffins, murres and razorbills plus all three shearwater species. Quite a sight too see! We certainly live in a great area for pelagic birds.

Greater shearwater

Cheers
-Nick

July 8th - 12th

LAUGHING GULL
2 adult male SURF SCOTERS
Bonaparte's Gull
Black legged Kittiwake
Razorbill
ATLANTIC PUFFIN
5 Northern gannets
Common murre
Black guillemot
Common loon
MANX SHEARWATER
Sooty shearwater
First ARCTIC TERN of the season
Common eider
Spotted sandpiper
Flock of sandpiper sp.

These last few days we have been spending most of our time in the areas around Head Harbour, Campobello and Whitehorse island. We have not been offshore, as most the whales (and birds) have been in close to the islands.

On July 8th I spotted my first arctic tern of the season, there have been a few groups on terns around but we have not been close enough to identify to species. Both common and arctic terns move through the area in good numbers as the season progresses.

On July 11th there were two LAUGHING GULLS on Whitehorse Island. Both birds were in full breeding plumage.

Laughing gulls on Whitehorse Island

Alcids have been fairly common with lots of guillemots around and smaller numbers of Razorbills and Murres. I photographed this family of razorbills on July 11th.

Razorbills with chicks

Small numbers of puffins continue in the area around Head Harbour, although we see less with each passing day it seems they are moving back to their usual feeding grounds.

Small numbers of sooty and manx shearwaters...no sign of greater sheartwaters in recent days.

Today, July 12th, I spotted a pair of male surf scoters that flew over the boat in a southerly direction. I have not seen any scoter sp. this early in the year before. I also spotted a large (50-100) flock of small shorebirds but was unable to ID them at a distance.

That's it for now, bird activity is picking up everyday with different species and more birds in general. There are more and more gulls feeding in head harbour passage everyday, there must have been at least a few hundred feeding off Cacso island alone. Now that Todd Watts is helping on the boat I am hoping we will pick out some interesting stuff. I will leave off with a few photos from Whitehorse island. Thanks for looking!
-Nick

Black-legged kittiwake (adult)

Black guillemot, bird at right has fish in mouth

Herring gull with chick

July 4th - 7th
Bonaparte's Gull
Black legged Kittiwake
Razorbill
ATLANTIC PUFFIN
Common murre
Black guillemot
Common loon
MANX SHEARWATER
Sooty shearwater
Great shearwater
GREAT CORMARANT
Tern sp.
Common eider
Spotted sandpiper
Belted kingfisher

Bird activity off shore near the Wolves has dropped off a bit from last week. Puffins are still in the area, although in fewer numbers, and same goes for the manx and sooty shearwaters. Today, July 7th, I had another Great shearwater, and I think that more will show up soon as their are reports that they are making their way to this side of the bay. Also seen were one razorbill and two common murre families consisting of one or two parents with a chick. There have also been quite a few common loons in the area, sometimes in large groups like this one below that Danielle took...

Common loons, photo courtesy of Danielle Dion

Breeding activity on Whitehorse island continues. The herring gull chicks are growing fast and more appear everyday. Still no sign of kittiwake chicks, or eggs for that matter although quite a few birds are sitting on nests. Away from the nesting area their are quite a few juvenile and adult kittiwakes roosting on the far ends of the island.

Herring gull chick

Black legged kittiwake

The razorbill was in it's usual spot above what appears to be a burrow on the north eastern side of the island. I find it amazing that any of these smaller birds can have breeding success with so many herring and black backed gulls around.

Razorbill with black backed gull

In the water around the island was a Razorbill with a significant wound on the back of it's head. I imagine that the wound ended up or will end up to be fatal, as the bird was very docile and could barely get out of the way of the boat. I am not sure what could have caused this injury, any ideas?

Wounded razorbill

Also present om Whitehorse island was a great cormorant my first of the season, although I havn't been looking to hard for this species. I will remember to keep an eye out for them from now on.

Bird activity in Head Harbour Passage has picked up. Hundreds of gulls can be seen spread out over the area, mostly herring and black backed gulls with large flocks of bonaparte's and kittiwakes. This is an important staging ground for migrant gull species with activity peaking in late August and Early September when thousands of gulls show up to feed in the tidal currents that bring a steady supply of fish and krill the surface. I am sure that the area holds some rarities among the more common species, Todd Watts and I managed to find little gull their last year.

Also of interest was this common murre that I spotted on the trip this afternoon. This appeared to be an adult bird showing winter plumage while all the other birds in the area are in full breeding plumage. Does anyone have any experience with plumage changes in common murres and can chime in on this?

Common murre

That's it for now
Cheers
-Nick

June 30th - July 1st
Atlantic Puffin
Wilson's storm petrel
MANX SHEARWATER
Sooty shearwater
Northern gannet
Razorbills
Black guillemot
Bonaparte's gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Common eider

July 2nd
SABINE'S GULL
100+ puffins
30+ Wilson's storm petrels
MANX SHEARWATERS
Sooty shearwater
First GREAT SHEARWATER of the season
Northern gannet
Razorbills
Common murre
Black guillemot
Bonaparte's gull
Black-legged Kittiwakes
Common eider
First COMMON TERNS of the season
Herring gull chicks on Whitehorse Island

Things have really started to pick up out on the bay. Alcids are everywhere around the Wolves archipelago (I will post a map soon for those who are not familiar with the area). Atlantic puffins are becoming ever more numerous, far out numbering the razorbills and murres. Tubenoses are also plentiful, with the dominant species being the sooty Shearwater. I spotted the one GREAT SHEARWATER, the first of the season and there is still a good number of MANX SHEARWATER around.

Manx shearwater

Whitehorse island is busy with freshly hatched activity. This is the first day that I recorded gull chicks on the island. All of them appeared to be herring gulls. No sign of chicks yet in the Kittiwake nests, although the adults are still sitting on nests.

Adult herring gulls with chick

Herring gulls on nests

Herring gull chicks

Black-legged kittiwakes

Today, July 2nd I spotted a puffin next to Whitehorse. This is the first puffin I have seen near the island. Both Razorbills and Guillemots appear to be nesting on the island so maybe we will have a puffin nest in the years to come. I believe they have attempted nesting there before(?)


A couple bald eagles have been hanging out on the opposite side of Whitehorse island. They seem to hide on the western side of the island in order to ambush the nesting birds on the eastern side. Their arrival may be in tune with the hatching of the young gulls. This juvenile is perched atop an abandoned raven nest that has not been used in quite a few years.

Juvenile bald eagle atop abandoned raven nest

The highlight of the last few days came this afternoon, July 2nd, in the form of a beautiful SABINE'S GULL. The bird was feeding with young bonaparte's gulls and kittiwakes in a tide line off of South wolf island, over what we call the Wolves banks. I managed some distant and ill angled photos for this, my first SABINE'S.

SABINE"S GULL IDENTIFICATION TIP: the striking wing pattern makes this gull stand out from similar species, this pattern is also seen in the juveniles although the grey is replaced with black. Also note yellow tip to dark bill, although this can be difficult to observe in the field

SABINE'S GULL. Note upperwing pattern. Sabine's gull is about the same size as a bonaparte's gull

On the non-bird front, we saw our first fin whale today, along with numerous minke whales. One minke was friendly enough to spend 20 minutes with us, curiously inspecting the boat and it's passengers. We also came across a massive basking shark!

That is it for now, we are scheduled for a busy week with three tours each day. I'm going to leave off with a question that maybe some of you could answer; Does anyone know if the puffins seen in the observed area would be birds coming all the way from Machias and then returning with food for chicks? If it were then the birds would be doing a 100km round trip flight to bring back food. Or is it that these birds are non-breeders? At first I thought the former but now with so many in the area it has me wondering. I have no idea how far these birds will travel to find a meal for their chicks.
Cheers,
-Nick