During our Memorial Day Pelagic Trip from Barnegat Light NJ in 2003, there was some very good seabirding!

Fortunately for us, the weather did not affect us as it could have. 
Onshore, in New Jersey and the Delaware Valley in Philadelphia, there was from 1.5 to 3 inches of rain through the night and on Monday morning. 
Offshore, we had very little rain, and the affect of the weather was minimal.
Except for one thing:  the ocean water temperature was as low as 49.2 degrees. (Normally during our Memorial Day NJ pelagic trips the water temperatures are in the mid-fifties).
Our wind was from the southeast, and not strong. Nor were there big swells.

We had a good day at sea, and the affect of that low water temperature was this:
3 DOVEKIES, a PUFFIN, another ALCID (possibly RAZORBILL), about 150 FULMARS, and 6 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS. 
Not just the SKUAS, but all 3 species of JAEGERS, and numerous SHEARWATERS and STORM-PETRELS, flocks of ARCTIC TERNS and PHALAROPES (both RED and RED-NECKED) and numerous GANNETS.
Under the overcast sky and over the ocean water, these were the birds we saw.
In the water, there were GRAY GRAMPUS, and HUMPBACK and FINBACK WHALES.

During our entire time in offshore waters, there were PELAGIC BIRDS in view. Yes, we were in the North Atlantic, off New Jersey!!
(In waters designated by various people as both those of New Jersey and New York.)

When the boat stopped at 4am on the east side of the Hudson Canyon and as we began to chum, immediately there were birds!!

FULMARS and GREATER SHEARWATERS began to surround the boat. So, we turned on the bright fishing lights, and then we watched those birds for about an hour before daybreak, as they gobbled up our chum. The birds were in so very close!
At it became light, we were surrounded by birds. At one point, 88 FULMARS were counted on the water (about half of the total we would see).

Some of the 150 Fulmars seen during the FONT May 26, 2003 pelagic trip 
from Barnegat Light, NJ. 
And, in the middle, 1 of the about 250 Greater Shearwaters 
that were to be seen during the day.
These birds on the water close to the boat just after daybreak.
(Photo by Alan Brady.)      
 

Numbers of WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS steadily increased. 
A flock of ARCTIC TERNS flew about above the fulmars and shearwaters. 
The FULMARS gave their calls. The ARCTIC TERNS scolded. 
Our first POMARINE JAEGER of the day came in, and it was as close as the FULMARS and SHEARWATERS (both GREATER and SOOTY).
We could nearly touch that JAEGER, a beautiful adult.

Further out, a PUFFIN was seen. It flew to the right, and then left. And then again to the right, and then again to the left, until it lit on the water and disappeared.

Our early morning had been a spectacle. But we had to move, along our chum slick, and across the canyon. As we did, we saw our first DOVEKIE (yes, DOVEKIE!). 
It was on the water, close to the boat. Everyone on the boat could see it well as it stayed on the surface. It was an adult in breeding plumage, that is with an all-black head. It was the first (and best seen) of 3 DOVEKIES we saw in that area. The others not in complete breeding plumage.

Our first DOVEKIE of the day was our first ever off New Jersey in May. 
And for many of us onboard, that first bird we saw so well was also our first DOVEKIE ever seen in breeding plumage!

Imagine during ONE trip, DOVEKIE and WILSON'S STORM-PETREL (birds respectively of the High Arctic and the Antarctic). 
Or a trip off New Jersey, with both SOOTY SHEARWATER and DOVEKIE. Has that ever happened previously?

Shortly after the DOVEKIES, someone said "What's this bird flying at us with red on its wings? 
It came in close to the stern of the boat. It was a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, 90 miles offshore. 
It continued flying north toward Long Island (we hope).
Anyway, has there ever been sightings, within moments, of DOVEKIE and YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO?

WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS were not our only storm-petrels. 
Five times, LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS were seen flying by. (A "lifer" for some onboard. For many people on the trip, there were "lifers" during the day!)

When a HUMPBACK WHALE breached in the water right in front of the boat, we stopped (of course!). 
Above the whale, there were SHEARWATERS. 
Beneath the water's surface, there were many MACKEREL. 
Lots of fish, lots of birds, and the whale. 
And, there we saw our first 2 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS. 
One, then both, on the water, close to the boat. Then both in flight, close to us.

Later, a FIN WHALE (the 2nd largest creature on earth) breached largely out of the water in front of us. It surfaced a few times.
On the surface of the water nearby, there was something else nice to see, a flock of PHALAROPES (actually a mixed flock of mostly RED but also RED-NECKED). 
Once again, birds were in close to us. We had wonderful looks of both phalarope species, both males and females, both in full breeding plumage.

Throughout the day, POMARINE JAEGERS kept appearing, often coming in close to us. When we were chumming, again, at the stern, as the whale was somewhere underwater in front of the boat, and the flock of phalaropes still close in on the side of the boat, there appeared behind us, with a POMARINE JAEGER, two, yes a duo of LONG-TAILED JAEGERS. In close they came, an adult (with its long tail), and a sub-adult.

And throughout the day, SOUTH POLAR SKUAS kept appearing. Our final tally was 6, all seen close to us in flight or on the water.

As we headed westward toward shore, the numbers of GANNETS increased, as did those of COMMON TERNS. SOOTY SHEARWATERS continued.
GULLS were few for us offshore. Only a half-dozen or so each of HERRING and GREAT BLACK-BACKED, over 60 miles out, where we had another exciting moment. 
Near a fishing boat, a large bird in the distance, white and black, caught the eye of some of us. It did not seem to fly like a gull, nor like a gannet. But it kept flying away. Whatever, it got away.
But, really, how could we not be happy with what we did see, and saw well.


A Listing of BIRDS & MARINE MAMMALS during our May 25/26, 2003 pelagic trip from Barnegat Light, New Jersey:

Northern Fulmar, 150
Greater Shearwater, 240
Sooty Shearwater, 180
Wilson's Storm-Petrel, 900
Leach's Storm-Petrel, 5
Northern Gannet, 75
Pomarine Jaeger, 14
Parasitic Jaeger, 1
Long-tailed Jaeger, 2
South Polar Skua, 6
Arctic Tern, 15
Common Tern, 30
Herring Gull, 5
Great Black-backed Gull, 6
Red Phalarope, 20
Red-necked Phalarope, 5
Dovekie, 3
Atlantic Puffin, 1
alcid sp., 1

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 1 (90 miles offshore)
Barn Swallow, 1 (60 miles offshore)

Gray Grampus/Risso's Dolphin, 1
Humpback Whale, 1
Finback Whale, 1

Birds seen during the FONT pelagic trip to the Hudson Canyon  in May 2003,
drawn by participant Nickolas Haass.
Upper row: South Polar Skua, Long-tailed Jaeger, yes Yellow-billed Cuckoo,
Bottom rows: 2 Arctic Terns, Greater Shearwater, Common Tern, Leach's Storm-Petrel,
Dovekie, Red Phalarope, Atlantic Puffin, Wilson's Storm-Petrel, & South Polar Skua again. 

   

Dovekie (left) and Razorbill (right) as seen during an "early winter" pelagic trip in December offshore from New Jersey
(photos by Alan Brady)