Pelagic Trip Report

June 25, 2004

08/02/05

 

Click on any image below to enlarge the picture.

Trip Route:

GA-Pelagic-trip-route-june-25-2004.jpg (46980 bytes)

 

Species encountered:

Black-capped Petrel - 1

Cory's Shearwater -10

Audubon's Shearwater - 2

Sooty Tern  - 1

Bridled Tern - 3

Shearwater sp. - 7

 

 

 

Audubon Shearwater

AUSH-GA-7-26-05-0123-rcz.jpg (58291 bytes)

AUSH-GA-7-26-05-0119-rcz.jpg (27673 bytes)

Cory's  Shearwater

COSH-01-GA-08-23-03.jpg (75791 bytes)

COSH-02-GA-08-23-03.jpg (88908 bytes)

COSH-03-GA-08-23-03.jpg (71688 bytes)

Bridled Tern

BRTE-01-GA-08-23-03.jpg (32121 bytes)

BRTE-02-GA-08-23-03.jpg (62589 bytes)

BRTE-04-GA-08-23-03.jpg (26870 bytes)

 

Royal Tern

ROTE-GA-7-26-05-0081-rcz.jpg (25074 bytes)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pelagic Trip (Tybee I., GA, Departure)
25 June 2004
Data, photos and text provided by Bob Zaremba

Conditions Seas calm in the morning, 3 - 5 feet on return, partly cloudy becoming mostly sunny, 80 - 90F, Winds westerly at 5 Knots
No. of Species 11

On 25 June 2004, a pelagic trip departed from Tybee Island, GA at approximately 5:40AM.  The trip was organized by Russ Wigh, and 16 birders accompanied Captain Steve Amick for a smooth ride out to sea.  The seas were calm most of the morning and the weather was clear and hot.  At approximately 7:30AM, we encountered our first pelagic species.  A CORY'S SHEARWATER was seen cruising by the boat and seen well by all the birders!  Not a bad start to the day, as we were not that far out to sea at this point.  Our plan for the day was to head out as far as possible to reach the gulf stream waters, stopping along the way if we encountered feeding birds or bait fish.   

While we were heading out further to sea, one birder was able to identify two AUDUBON'S SHEARWATERS flying past the boat but most of the other participants were unable to see the birds. Over the next hour, between 8:05AM and 9:00AM, we were located six more Cory's Shearwaters.

The next new pelagic species came at 9:30AM, when a SOOTY TERN was located near the boat and seen well by the participants.  We attempted to draw some birds closer to the boat with a chum slick but were not able to attract any new birds.  We continued further out to sea and added several more Cory's Shearwaters.

At 11:17AM, we located another new species for the day, BRIDLED TERN , which was seen well close to the boat.  Shortly following that encounter, at 11:30AM, a BLACK-CAPPED PETREL came by the boat within 50 yards for some great looks at a rarely seen pelagic species and a life bird for several birders on the boat.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon cruising along the gulf stream and we added several more Cory's Shearwaters and saw some distant large shearwaters which we could not positively identify. Although we did not tally a large total of species, we were able to get good looks at some of the species we did find, something that is not always possible on a pelagic trip.  

On the way in we were able to add a few coastal species to the list for the day, including Brown Pelican, Sandwich Tern, Royal Tern and Least Tern. 

We returned back to the Tybee dock at 5:15PM, after spending almost 12 hours at sea.  The best bird of the day was the Black-capped Petrel.  We ended up with a total of 10 Cory's Shearwaters, 2 Audubon's Shearwater, 1 Sooty Tern and 3 Bridled Terns.  

The results below can also be viewed in PDF format by clicking here; GA-Pelagic-trip-Report-6-25-04.pdf

 

These pictures were taken while on a pelagic trip that left Tybee Island  by Bob Zaremba, unless otherwise noted.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the photograph.

   

June 25, 2004 Pelagic Trip out of Tybee Island, GA      
Departing Tybee dock at 5:40AM      
           
Returning Tybee dock at 5:15PM      
           
Weather: Clear and Warm, 80-90F, Winds Westerly at 5kts, Seas calm in the morning, 3-5 on return  
           
Leader: Russ Wigh        
Participants; Bob Zaremba, Mal Hodges, Bill Blakeslee, Sterling Blanchard, Walt Bowman, Gene Keferl, Dot Freeman,
  Mark Beebe, Leo Virant, Dan Vickers, Bill Lotz, Steve Calver, Sharon Allsup, Nita Wynn, Andy Ward
           
Time Count Species Position County Comments
7:14 1 Large Shearwater sp. Chatham
7:30 1 Cory's Shearwater Chatham .5 miles south of R7
7:40 1 Cory's Shearwater Chatham 1 mile north of R7
8:05 2 Audubon's Shearwater N 31 43.4  W 80 4.7 Chatham Only seen by Mal Hodges
8:05 1 Cory's Shearwater N 31 43.4  W 80 4.7 Chatham
8:18 3 Cory's Shearwater N 31 43.4  W 80 0.3 Chatham 1 mile off WW reef
8:23 1 Cory's Shearwater N 31 43.1  W 79 59.5 Chatham
8:23 1 Large Shearwater sp. N 31 43.1  W 79 59.5 Chatham 1 mile off of boat
8:42 1 Cory's Shearwater N 31 40.8  W 79 57.1 Liberty
9:30 1 Sooty Tern N 31 30.9  W 79 51.0 McIntosh
10:30 1 Cory's Shearwater N 31 26.9  W 79 45.1 McIntosh
11:10 1 Large Shearwater sp. N 31 24.8  W 79 42.1 McIntosh
11:17 1 Bridled Tern N 31 24.8  W 79 42.5 McIntosh Close to boat, great looks
11:30 1 Black-capped Petrel N 31 24.7  W 79 40.0 McIntosh
12:25 2 Bridled Tern N 31 25.9  W 79 44.1 McIntosh
12:33 1 Large Shearwater sp. N 31 26.5  W 79 44.8 McIntosh
12:35 1 Large Shearwater sp. N 31 42.7  W 80 14.4 Chatham
2:45 1 Cory's Shearwater N 31 54.1  W 80 16.6 Chatham
3:52 1 Large Shearwater sp. N 31 54.1  W 80 34.5 Chatham
3:59 1 Large Shearwater sp. N 31 54.9  W 80 36.8 Chatham
24
Totals   Pelagic Species      
  1 Black-capped Petrel      
  7 Large Shearwater Sp.      
  10 Cory's Shearwater      
  2 Audubon's Shearwater      
  1 Sooty Tern      
  3 Bridled Tern      
  24        
           
    Other Species      
    Royal Tern      
    Sandwich Tern      
    Brown Pelican      
    Double-creasted Cormorant      
    Laughing Gull      
           
           
Also seen were ;        
  3 Loggerhead Turtle      
   many Spotted Dolphin      
           
           
Scribe: Sterling Blanchard & Bob Zaremba      

 

 

 

  

 

   

 

    

 

 

 

Unauthorized use of these images is prohibited.

 

Birding Kennesaw Mountain   Georgia Birding   Trip Reports

This site was last updated 08/02/05