It was great to be back on the water for our annual pelagic trip out of Bar Harbor, after not running this trip since 2019. The offshore passage of Hurricane Earl sent some swells towards the Gulf of Maine, and some concerning forecasts leading up to the trip, but the day was absolutely incredible! Long periods (12+ seconds) between the swells (that were closer to 2-4ft, rather than the predicted 6ft) made for a smooth trip aboard the 112 foot a jet-powered catamaran, the Friendship V, with Captain Larry at the helm. 5mph wind from the north (switching to the south) made for very calm seas between the swells, and the sun was out with nearly infinite visibility through the whole day.
Many thanks to Jan Pierson for narrating, and Robby Lambert for chumming throughout the trip!
Trip List
Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) – 60
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) – 5
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) – 2
American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliates) – 1 – rare in Hancock County, one was spotted on Egg Rock
Sanderling (Calidris alba) – 2
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) – 95
Red-necked/Red Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus/fulicarius) – 48
shorebird sp. (Charadriiformes sp.) – 15
South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) – 10 – amazing numbers of these rare birds. We’ll do a photo analysis to try to determine an exact count.
skua sp. (Stercorarius sp. (skua sp.)) – 4
Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) – 45
Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus) – 1
jaeger sp. (Stercorarius sp. (jaeger sp.)) – 1
Common Murre (Uria aalge) – 1
Razorbill (Alca torda) – 3
Black Guillemot (Cepphus grille) – 3
Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) – 25
Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) – 3
Bonaparte’s Gull (Chroicocephalus Philadelphia) – 9
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) – 4
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) – 191
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) – 25 – probably and undercount, very impressive numbers
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) – 52
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) – 12
Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) – 1
Common/Arctic Tern (Sterna hirundo/paradisaea) – 2
Common Loon (Gavia immer) – 2
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) – 40
Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) – 1
Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) – 4
Cory’s Shearwater (Calonectris Diomedea) – 18 – an impressive count for these cold Downeast waters
Great Shearwater (Ardenna gravis) – 1437
Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) – 8
Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) – 50
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) – 6
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) – 1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) – 1
Merlin (Falco columbarius) – 3
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) – 2
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) – 1
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) – 3 – one tired migrant landed on the boat; later another barely escaped a Merlin and sheltered on the top deck’s stairs
Melospiza sparrow sp. – 1
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) – 1
Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia) – 1 – we had several migrating songbirds circle the boat, but this uncommon warbler was a pleasant surprise 30 miles offshore
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) – 2
Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrine) – 2
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) – 1
warbler sp. – 2
passerine sp. – 1
Non-avian observations:
Harbor Seal – most seen on the return to harbor
Harbor Porpoise – many small pods throughout
whale sp. – probable Humpback; very distant full breach (full splash!) seen
Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) – gave great up-close views!
‘small’ shark sp. – probable dogfish
Blue Shark – very close off the bow as we were motoring back
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna – several breaching
Salp – incredible amount of this “planktic tunicate” getting stirred up in our wake
eBird Checklists
Segmented checklists were kept throughout the trip to put species in representative habitats. You can click the green “view” links to see each list, or if you were on the trip you can click the red “Add to my eBird” link to automatically add these lists to your eBird account.
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–Mount Desert Narrows – View – Add to my eBird
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–Egg Rock – View – Add to my eBird
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–S of Schoodic Pt to Ball Park – View – Add to my eBird
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–Ball Park – View – Add to my eBird
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–transit from BP to Bumps – View – Add to my eBird
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–Bumps I – View – Add to my eBird
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–Bumps II – View – Add to my eBird
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–north of Bumps – View – Add to my eBird
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–W of Bumps to S of Petit Manan Pt – View – Add to my eBird
Maine Audubon Pelagic 2022–S of Petit Manan Pt to Schoodic Pt – View – Add to my eBird
