ovenbird43
Well-known member
This weekend I attended my first overnight pelagic trip, departing from Brooklyn, New York and operated by See Life Paulagics. My husband and I traveled to the city from Syracuse by bus (Adirondack Trailways), which got us there probably faster than we could drive and left me without the hassle of driving and parking in NYC, since we planned a weekend sightseeing trip in addition to the pelagic. We arrived in Brooklyn around 5pm on Oct 23, checked into our Airbnb room, which was by far the cheapest lodging option ($48/night) but staying with strangers always entails some non-monetary price, in this case it meant staying in a suffocatingly smoky apartment - at least the weather was nice enough to allow for an open window all night.
I arrived at the dock at 10pm (non-birding husband was staying behind to do other things), loaded up and departed at 10:30 pm. I managed to secure a bench space for sleeping, unrolled my sleeping pad and bag, put on some shades, and attempted to sleep. The gentle rocking of the waves soon lulled me into a state of semi-unconsciousness, but being an extremely light sleeper I really only got about 2 hours of full, deep sleep before the boat stopped pre-dawn at our furthest destination to begin chumming.
By then the gentle waves had increased in the strong winds to 5-7-foot swells, and the heaving of the boat in the darkness with no visible horizon or reference point had me heaving over the side of the boat in record time. I tried lying back down, since rocking of the boat hadn't been bothering me when I was horizontal, and it seemed to work until I dared to try ingesting some dramamine - apparently my stomach had just been waiting for something to enter it, off I had to dash to promptly puke it back up and then some. Of course, with a rough swell and no horizon to spot, I was far from the only one!
We had stopped at a location some 200 miles offshore (I think? will verify when I get the shared ebird checklist), at a thermal boundary between cooler inshore waters (~68 degrees F) and a warm (~72-74 degrees F) offshore current. After what seemed an eternity the sky began to brighten and the horizon slowly appeared, and along with them our first birds brought in to the chum - Wilson's Storm-Petrel and Herring Gull. A distant Great Shearwater could soon be seen visiting the chum slick. Then there came an excited shout - "Black-capped Petrel!" and over the next few minutes we spotted 4 of these smartly-patterned petrels wheeling and arcing high in the strong wind. Soon the excitement was over, but hoping the chum would draw in more birds we waiting at this spot for a couple hours, periods of sparse activity becoming especially unbearable for us seasick-prone passengers. But things would come by now and then, tantalizing us with possibility - a few more Wilson's Storm-Petrels, and a couple of satisfying close views of Black-capped Petrels. At about 8:30, it was time to move on to the next stop, the boat engines started and off we went.
The next stop was along the Hudson Canyon, still 100 (or more) miles offshore, with a few tuna fishing boats in sight. Here the chum quickly attracted a mob of Herring Gulls, which brought a handful of Great Shearwaters, some of them feeding ridiculously close to the stern! Here was a good chance to study the features of these birds, their tubed nostrils and the bicolored legs (black on the outside, pink on the inside), to watch them fighting off the gulls and occasionally diving down for sinking chum. Two Cory's Shearwaters flew by, giving good views but keeping a bit more distance than the Greats. A Manx Shearwater put in a brief appearance, staying far out and flapping steadily away.
After enjoying the activity for a while, we slowly moved on, drawing the gull mob with us in hopes of attracting other birds as we traveled - mostly it was Great Shearwaters that came by. By now it was 11:30, with wind and waves had calmed down to reasonable and I was feeling quite recovered, enough for a pretty tasty hamburger from the galley. Some time later we passed by another boat that was swarming with gulls, mostly Herring but there was a shout of Black-legged Kittiwake (but I missed it). Another stop brought in more Great Shearwaters, Cory's Shearwater, and the only 2 Northern Fulmars of the trip.
Much of the afternoon was spent making the long journey back to shore, with little activity but something popping up just often enough to keep one glued outside: a Pomarine Jaeger harrying the gulls in our wake, a Black-legged Kittiwake that came right to our stern for chum, a flyover Red-throated Loon, a smattering of Northern Gannets - first-year birds far out, smart-looking adults as we moved further inshore. Soon though I gave in to exhaustion and succumbed to the cabin for a short nap.
Eventually the tallest buildings of Manhattan could just be seen over the horizon, and then slowly the full New York City skyline emerged from the water. Birds became more numerous, many more gulls and now including more Great Black-backed Gulls and the first Laughing Gulls of the trip. A Common Loon flew by, a few Cory's Shearwaters could still be spotted now and then, and a Parasitic Jaeger put in an appearance, chasing the gulls. Close inshore we had a few Bonaparte's Gulls and Forster's Terns, and as we entered the inlet there were a couple of Double-crested Cormorants, Royal Terns, and a flock of Brant. Shadows were growing long as we finished our trip at almost 6pm, with final birds including Mallard, Canada Goose, and Mute Swan among the docks.
I thoroughly enjoyed the trip despite the seasickness, and I look forward to joining their February day trip!
Photos: Great Shearwaters, last photo is Cory's Shearwater
I arrived at the dock at 10pm (non-birding husband was staying behind to do other things), loaded up and departed at 10:30 pm. I managed to secure a bench space for sleeping, unrolled my sleeping pad and bag, put on some shades, and attempted to sleep. The gentle rocking of the waves soon lulled me into a state of semi-unconsciousness, but being an extremely light sleeper I really only got about 2 hours of full, deep sleep before the boat stopped pre-dawn at our furthest destination to begin chumming.
By then the gentle waves had increased in the strong winds to 5-7-foot swells, and the heaving of the boat in the darkness with no visible horizon or reference point had me heaving over the side of the boat in record time. I tried lying back down, since rocking of the boat hadn't been bothering me when I was horizontal, and it seemed to work until I dared to try ingesting some dramamine - apparently my stomach had just been waiting for something to enter it, off I had to dash to promptly puke it back up and then some. Of course, with a rough swell and no horizon to spot, I was far from the only one!
We had stopped at a location some 200 miles offshore (I think? will verify when I get the shared ebird checklist), at a thermal boundary between cooler inshore waters (~68 degrees F) and a warm (~72-74 degrees F) offshore current. After what seemed an eternity the sky began to brighten and the horizon slowly appeared, and along with them our first birds brought in to the chum - Wilson's Storm-Petrel and Herring Gull. A distant Great Shearwater could soon be seen visiting the chum slick. Then there came an excited shout - "Black-capped Petrel!" and over the next few minutes we spotted 4 of these smartly-patterned petrels wheeling and arcing high in the strong wind. Soon the excitement was over, but hoping the chum would draw in more birds we waiting at this spot for a couple hours, periods of sparse activity becoming especially unbearable for us seasick-prone passengers. But things would come by now and then, tantalizing us with possibility - a few more Wilson's Storm-Petrels, and a couple of satisfying close views of Black-capped Petrels. At about 8:30, it was time to move on to the next stop, the boat engines started and off we went.
The next stop was along the Hudson Canyon, still 100 (or more) miles offshore, with a few tuna fishing boats in sight. Here the chum quickly attracted a mob of Herring Gulls, which brought a handful of Great Shearwaters, some of them feeding ridiculously close to the stern! Here was a good chance to study the features of these birds, their tubed nostrils and the bicolored legs (black on the outside, pink on the inside), to watch them fighting off the gulls and occasionally diving down for sinking chum. Two Cory's Shearwaters flew by, giving good views but keeping a bit more distance than the Greats. A Manx Shearwater put in a brief appearance, staying far out and flapping steadily away.
After enjoying the activity for a while, we slowly moved on, drawing the gull mob with us in hopes of attracting other birds as we traveled - mostly it was Great Shearwaters that came by. By now it was 11:30, with wind and waves had calmed down to reasonable and I was feeling quite recovered, enough for a pretty tasty hamburger from the galley. Some time later we passed by another boat that was swarming with gulls, mostly Herring but there was a shout of Black-legged Kittiwake (but I missed it). Another stop brought in more Great Shearwaters, Cory's Shearwater, and the only 2 Northern Fulmars of the trip.
Much of the afternoon was spent making the long journey back to shore, with little activity but something popping up just often enough to keep one glued outside: a Pomarine Jaeger harrying the gulls in our wake, a Black-legged Kittiwake that came right to our stern for chum, a flyover Red-throated Loon, a smattering of Northern Gannets - first-year birds far out, smart-looking adults as we moved further inshore. Soon though I gave in to exhaustion and succumbed to the cabin for a short nap.
Eventually the tallest buildings of Manhattan could just be seen over the horizon, and then slowly the full New York City skyline emerged from the water. Birds became more numerous, many more gulls and now including more Great Black-backed Gulls and the first Laughing Gulls of the trip. A Common Loon flew by, a few Cory's Shearwaters could still be spotted now and then, and a Parasitic Jaeger put in an appearance, chasing the gulls. Close inshore we had a few Bonaparte's Gulls and Forster's Terns, and as we entered the inlet there were a couple of Double-crested Cormorants, Royal Terns, and a flock of Brant. Shadows were growing long as we finished our trip at almost 6pm, with final birds including Mallard, Canada Goose, and Mute Swan among the docks.
I thoroughly enjoyed the trip despite the seasickness, and I look forward to joining their February day trip!
Photos: Great Shearwaters, last photo is Cory's Shearwater
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