Pelagic Pleasure Cruise (Two Boobies are better than One) 21Aug2015

Yesterday was my last hurrah for pelagics this season.  I love them to death but they are not cheap. When you take into account the drive up and if you throw in a hotel (which I did not this time) you can end up paying a pretty penny.  However, they are worth it and people come from all over the country to get in on the action so I think a 6 hour drive is the least I can do.  I drove Thursday afternoon by way of the Southern route and made a brief pit stop at Mattamuskeet before dark.  There were some good mudflats at the entrance impoundment but I did not turn up anything good hence the lack of pictures. I arrived in Buxton pretty late and by the time I had my Chicken Parm at Angelo's it was pouring rain and thundering.  So much for camping.  I ended up sleeping in my truck which was not fun because it was humid enough that I had to crack a window for circulation then ended up with mosquitoes all over me.  Finally I had to use a strategy which I employed last time during my near death experience at Elk Knob but to opposite effect.  Instead of heating the car up and turning it off to sleep only to wake up frozen and having to repeat, I was turning on the AC to get the cab cool then turning it off and sleeping only to wake up as a sweaty mess and having to repeat.  So needless to say it was not a great experience, but it was probably better than paying $150 for a hotel which I only needed for 5-6 hours.

And so it began....  The trip started with a harrowing trip out the shoaled inlet.

Audubon's Shearwater - It did not take long before we found some good numbers of shearwaters loafing on the ocean surface. This was one of the first pelagics I have taken where the slack wind was making for good viewing of shearwaters on the water.  That being said, conversely it was not a good day for seeing these birds do what they do best.  There was a lot of flapping which is not what you want to see them doing.

Great Shearwaters - surprisingly the first time I have seen them this year.  And they were everywhere.

In the typical way of pelagic sightings there someone shouted Brown Booby and there was much confusion and people scrambling to see the immature booby flying off in the distance.  It was not the best look and of coarse I had no pictures, but a good bird none the less.  It appeared to be an immature bird - brown all over and a darker hood extending to wing line.

The only Jaeger encounter we had all day was a Pomarine hassling some poor defenseless Audubon's Shearwaters.

Then Brian came over the loudspeaker in his amiable way and said "Comon guys, whats that big white bird over there?".  Not sure if he was admonishing the spotters or all of us, but he was right.  How in the world did we all miss the big white bird sitting in the middle of a shearwater raft?  It's amazing how with over 24 people on board Brian sitting in the wheel house is usually the first one to find the good birds.  But then again he has had some practice.

Masked Booby!!!  I know that no one cares when I say this, but this was the last of the Sulids for me. I have Blue-footed from California, Red-footed from Costa Rica, Brown from a bunch of places and of course plenty of Gannets.

This bird was a somewhat dingy looking sub-adult but hey beggars can't be choosers.

He stayed with us for a good 10-15 minutes.

Great Shearwater - my Peterson's app still calls this bird Greater Shearwater.  My Sibley app calls it Great.  I agree with Sibley, it is a Great bird.

Cory's Shearwater - the most abundant bird of the day.

White-faced Storm-petrel!!!!!  Just kidding.  Black Tern.

Great Shearwater showing his diagnostic arm pits (axillaries for you bird buffs).

Bridled Tern!!  Apparently 9 times out of 10, a dark backed tern perched on flotsam is a Bridled.  Conversely if you see a dark backed tern sitting on the water (not on flotsam) it probably is a Sooty.

Black-capped were few and far between on this trip and they were not very obliging.

The most surprising thing for me was the low numbers of Wilson's SPs.  We had zero Band-rumped too which was a bummer as I am still lacking a picture for the year.

Cory's Shearwater

At one point we had about 7 Bridled Tern circling the boat.

Audubon's Shearwater

All in all an excellent trip with one exception.  On the way home I was being tailgated by a Semi (truck not plover) in the Alligator NWR area and so I sped up to put some distance between us.  I was exhausted and did not notice the cop behind me.  I usually do not speed or at least not much and I have not had a ticket in many years (over 10 at least).  Alligator is super straight so I don't get the 55 speed limit, maybe in case of bear crossing?  So I was really upset, and as my wife says I do not handle the police well.  Usually I act very annoyed and give them attitude which is not a good thing.  I think this is from my early days when I was arrested a couple times, but we won't go there.  I do respect police and value their contribution to society, but sometimes I just think they can be a little harassing which I think is true of most people in a position of power.

Anyway once he shone his flashlight in my face, he guessed right away that I was drunk.  I was sunburned, had bloodshot eyes and was completely exhausted so I understand his suspicion.  After checking my registration and license he had me get out and go through the whole rigmarole.  Breathalyzer, Stand with feet together and watch the finger (which by the way was very stubby).  I was a little worried when he had me stand with my feet together because I was still unsteady from having sealegs but somehow I made it without falling on my face.  He asked me a bunch of questions about what I had been drinking or smoking and I told him I was just a mess from being on a pelagic all day.  As soon as I said it I thought to myself "you idiot, this guy does not know what a pelagic is". However, I passed all the tests and explained I was bird watching on a boat all day.  He instructed me to get back in my car.  I was commiserating quietly thinking the worst and he came back and let me off with a warning!! Wow what luck.  Maybe he was a closet birdwatcher.  My record for NC remains spotless. Thank the lord because my wife would have killed me if I made our insurance go up.

The rest of the ride home was uneventful despite my extreme exhaustion.

Great times!