Due to the recent wet and windy weather our trips have focused on the West Isles area, rarely venturing much further then Black's Harbour and Campobello island where a good number of Fin and Minke whales have been actively feeding.
Birding aboard the Quoddy Link has been great and many of our trips have been treated with excellent displays of diving NORTHERN GANNETS, numbers of which have increased greatly over the last week. Numbers of RAZORBILLS remain high and the odd COMMON MURRE and ATLANTIC PUFFIN have been sighted. Both POMARINE and PARASITIC JAEGERS have been sighted regularly as well.
Tubenoses are sparse, with only a few MANX SHEARWATER around and the odd WILSON'S and LEACHES STORM PETRELS being seen. We haven't been out near the Wolves lately but last time we checked this area was fairly quiet with only a few GREAT and SOOTY SHEARWATER.
The number of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES has increased and small flocks can be seen feeding throughout the area.
Large numbers of BONAPARTE'S GULLS remain in the area and many juvenile birds have joined. Most of the terns have moved on but a few COMMON TERN are still around. A 1st winter LAUGHING GULL has been seen in the area for close to a week now.
Raptors have been moving through the area steadily, see the "sightings of interest by day" section below for details.
A list of birds seen on most if not all of our trips:
Black Guillemot
Razorbills
Common Murre
Northern Gannet
Herring gull
Red-necked Phalaropes
Parasitic Jaeger
Great black-backed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Bonaparte's Gull
Common Tern
Manx Shearwater
Double-creasted Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Common eider
Common loon
Bald Eagle
Sightings of interest by day:
Sept. 3rd -2 WILSON'S STORM PETRELS and a dark morph PARASITIC JAEGER seen off East Quoddy Head lighthouse
Sept. 4th - COOPER'S HAWK near Splitting Knife Shoal, an immature RED-TAILED HAWK soaring over Campobello and a SHARP SHINNED HAWK at little Passage
Sept. 5th - SHARP SHINNED HAWK crossing Little Letete passage at 2:20pm. One HUMMINGBIRD
Sept. 6th - Two HUMMINGBIRDS
Sept. 7th - COOPER'S HAWK over Little Letete Passage. A 1st winter LAUGHING GULL feeding with other gulls off Black's Harbour
Sept 9th - a NORTHERN HARRIER crossing Letete Passage at 11am. The same LAUGHING GULL as on the 7th. A POMARINE JAEGER off Black's Harbour. 4 HUMMINGBIRDS
Sept. 10th - 2 SHARP - SHINNED HAWKS crossing Little Letete passage at 10:40am and another at 11am near Green's Point lighthouse. Dark morph PARASITIC JAEGER off Black's Harbour. An AMERICAN KESTREL and a SHARP SHINNED HAWK crossing Little Letete at 1pm. One HUMMINGBIRD
Sept. 11th - a LEACH'S STORM PETREL in Passamaquoddy Bay.
Sept. 12th - 2 WHITE WINGED SCOTERS and a PARASITIC JAEGER off East Quoddy lighthouse. A juvenile LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 5 HUMMINBIRDS
Sept. 13th - 5 RUDDY TURNSTONES on Whitehorse Island
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Double-crested Cormorants |
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| Double-crested Cormorants |
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| 1st winter Laughing Gull |
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| 1st winter Laughing Gull |
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| 1st winter Laughing Gull |
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| Juvenile leseer black-backed gull with juvenile herring and great black-backed gulls. Can you find it? |
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| Adult Northern Gannet |
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| Osprey with fish, holding it head first minimizes drag |
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| Osprey with fish |
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| Parasitic Jaeger |
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| Parasitic Jaeger and Kittiwake |
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| Red-necked Phalaropes |
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| Sharp-shinned Hawk |
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| Cooper's Hawk |
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| Cooper's Hawk |
EAGLES!
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| Adult Bald Eagle perched on a herring weir |
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| Adult Bald Eagle perched on a herring weir |
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| Immature bald eagle with Double-crested Cormorant |
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| Immature bald eagle with Double-crested Cormorant |
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| Immature bald eagle |
That's it for now! We still have room on the
Pelagic Birding Cruise coming up on Saturday the 28th. It departs the St. Andrews wharf at 9AM and returns around 1pm and costs $55 per person. Please call the Quoddy Office at (506) 529-2600 to make a reservation.
-Nick
Information on Tropical Birding in Costa Rica:
Some of you may know that I lead bird watching tours in Costa Rica during the winter months. The next tour I am leading begins in January and I have attached some information below. This tour is based out of a beautiful resort on Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, in an area rich with bird life and rarely visited by the usual birding tours. One thing that I think is very cool about this tour is that it offers a birding and leisure option for those with differing interests in the days birding activities. You can bird the diverse habitats around you with me as your guide, or relax under the palms by the pool and beach! If you are interested, please e-mail me with any questions at nickjameshawkins@gmail.com.
