Great Boars Head--North Side, Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire, US
Oct 30, 2024 8:59 AM - 1:29 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments: Sea watch WITHOUT Jane who had a Dentist
appointment. Joined for a while by Leo Mckillop and for a couple of
hours by Holly Bauer. Excellent migration. Sadly, I missed the first
hour+ of the dawn flight and didn't get to the coast until 9 AM. Alerted
by text from Holly Bauer of Gannets moving so I ran out to the coast.
Overcast with moderate SE winds. Foggy over much of the State, but
visibility I would call "very good" at coast. Got worse later in the
morning, but Isles of Shoals always in view.
Excellent migration of Gannets and Red-throated Loons. I almost stopped
the count early at about 10:30 when things started to slow down, but I'm
glad I didn't as Gannets and RTLO continued to move at a good pace until
after noon.
Count of southbound birds only (except for the Cory's Shearwaters).
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Brant 10
American Wigeon 19
American Black Duck 297 Nice flight of Black Ducks. Largest flock
was 70.
Northern Pintail 7
Green-winged Teal 54
Greater Scaup 37
Common Eider 7
Surf Scoter 171
White-winged Scoter 4
Black Scoter 34 This is a count of SOUTHBOUND birds. I didn't
count NORTHBOUND birds, but flocks of Black Scoters were continually
flying NORTH all morning. Perhaps 10 to 15 flocks of up to 50 or more
each! Not sure why so many flocks were moving north.
Long-tailed Duck 58 Careful count.
Common Goldeneye 2 Two females. First of fall.
Hooded Merganser 2 Pair flying south. Rare to see during a
migration flight.
Red-breasted Merganser 6
Ring-billed Gull X Decent movement. Mostly HERG.
American Herring Gull X Big migration. Not counted. Continued well
into afternoon.
Great Black-backed Gull X Seemed like a lot moving. Mostly early
in AM.
Red-necked Grebe 1
RED-THROATED LOON 534 My 4th highest count (1,625 on 11/10/13).
Largest flock of 29. Two flocks of 20. Many flocks of about 12. Almost
all birds flying LOW and CLOSE.
Common Loon 5
CORY'S SHEARWATER 10 Not migrating. All clearly Cory's/Scopoli's.
Some quite close just east of Great Boar's Head. Most appeared to be
moving south. Some moving north. Three in view at the same time on a
few occasions. Hard to get a good count estimate.
NORTHERN GANNET 1,355 My 6th highest count (2,131 on 10/15/17).
Sadly, I missed the morning burst. Otherwise, I likely would have had
2,000. Still, Gannets seemed to continue moving until I left which is a
bit unusual since they often stop moving by mid-morning.
Double-crested Cormorant 665
