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Hi All, here are the more correct numbers for the Canso Seabird Trip. Blake, your species and number of individuals are off, and paint an inaccurate picture .
Here is the list of pelagic species in the order in which they were encountered on our trip. I was keeping a record of the species as we observed them, Tom may of missed some of the numbers while he was doing an excellent job of chumming. Thanks to his chumming we were ale to get nice close up photos of Northern Fulmar, Black-legged Kittiwake, Pomarine Jaeger, Northern Gannet, and Greater Shearwater.
Northern Gannet - 120+ individuals
Leach’s Storm Petrel - 1 (The evening before fishermen reported small flocks of these birds.)
Northern Fulmar - at least 18 - both dark and light phases
Pomarine Jaeger - at lest 21, 7 of which could be viewed at one time
Red-necked Phalarope - a minimum of 43
Black-legged Kittiwake - a minimum of 37
Sabine’s Gull - 1 immature bird. When I first saw this bird with the naked eye, I thought it was a tern, due to its very tern like flight and small size. As soon as I snapped my binoculars onto the bird it was obviously a small gull and not a tern. It was flying near a Black-legged Kittiwake and both birds could be observed in the same binocular view and it was clear that the gull was much smaller that the kittiwake. The bird was flying at a good clip on an angle away from the boat. Since I spotted the bird I was able to get the best view of it but Tom & Ken also managed to get the bird in their binoculars once it was further away. This meant that while I was able to easily view the large white triangles on the wing they were not. What was visible still was the leading black edge to the wing with no black bar extending back across the wing. The tail had the black band of an immature bird but nape, upper wing coverts and back were gray. It had
a gull like bill that appeared to be entirely black. Its small size in direct comparison to a Black-legged Kittiwake, the lack of bold black “M” and the lack of black neck collar all ruled against kittiwake. As did the fact that the gray from the neck connected directly to the back with no white area separating the two. Given what was seen I would like to know what else this bird could be, if not a Sabine’s.
Red Phalarope a minimum of 12
Parasitic Jaeger - 2 for sure, maybe more, as in the distance there were several jaegers too far away to identify, except by someone with Fulton’s skill and eyesight.
Greater Shearwater 1 (It should be noted that only a couple days before the trip hundreds of unidentified shearwaters were present.)
I commented to Tom that this was one of the craziest seabird trips I have even been on. Most of the birds we saw were quite close to shore and in less than an hour of leaving the dock we had 7 species. The quietest areas were the open water sites which typically produce the most birds, and the last seabird we saw, which was a Greater Shearwater is generally one of the first. We had a very fast tuna boat so we covered a good piece of water but failed to locate the tuna or tuna birds, which is the local name for shearwaters. Fulton believes that this area has great potential and hopes to be off Seal Island in time to join us for the next trip. - All the Best in Birding, Clarence
--- On Tue, 9/23/08, Blake Maybank <maybank@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> From: Blake Maybank <maybank@ns.sympatico.ca>
> Subject: [NatureNS] Report from Tom Kavanaugh re: Canso pelagic tip
> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> Received: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 7:54 AM
> The following is a report from Tom Kavanaugh regarding the
> Canso pelagic trip.
>
> Tom provided me the following information to forward to the
> NS-RBA
> and NatureNS.
>
> There were seven participants on the Canso pelagic trip on
> 20
> September. The vessel was on the water from about 0700 to
> 1430,
> though never more than three or four miles from shore.
> Most
> activity occurred early in the trip, just about a mile from
> Canso Harbour.
>
> Here were the pelagic highlights, in taxonomic order:
>
> - one Greater Shearwater
>
> - one Leach's Storm-Petrel
>
> - lots of Northern Gannets, actively feeding.
>
> - thirty or so phalaropes, both Red-necked and Red.
>
> - small numbers of Black-legged Kittiwakes
>
> - an immature Sabine's Gull. This bird was first
> identified by
> Clarence Stevens, Jr.. Tom only saw the bird as it was
> flying away,
> and though he believes the bird was accurately identified
> he stated
> that he did not see enough details on the bird to feel
> comfortable to
> count it on his own life list. He noted that the bird was
> noticeably
> smaller than a nearby Black-legged Kittiwake, and had a
> very
> different flight style. No photographs were obtained.
> This is a
> very rare bird for Nova Scotia, especially in near-shore
> waters (most
> sightings are from offshore, especially near Sable Island),
> so
> written documentation from Clarence (as the first observer
> of the
> Sabine's Gull) would be welcome, as well as from anyone
> else on board
> who saw the bird well.
>
> - numerous jaegers. Tom stated that there were 21
> sightings of
> jaegers, but given the possibility of repeat sightings of
> specific
> individuals, there were a minimum of 12-15 birds, of which
> two were
> Parasitic Jaegers, and the rest Pomarine. Most were
> immature birds,
> though a few adults were present.
>
> Tom says they are considering another trip out of Canso
> sometime in
> October, and invites anyone interested in being kept
> apprised of the
> details of this trip to contact him at 902-366-3476. It is
> better to
> phone him than sending an e-mail, as he says he is
> "way behind on my e-mails".
>
> Good birding,
>
> Blake Maybank
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Blake Maybank
> maybank@ns.sympatico.ca
>
> Editor, "Nova Scotia Birds"
>
> author, "Birding Sites of Nova Scotia"
> http://maybank.tripod.com/BSNS.htm
>
> White's Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada
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