One option to get more people involved: If there are two Fall Pelagics, an
individual only gets to go on one.
I agree that the method of sign-up and notification has not changed, but
the rate of sign-up has. I was checking the Seacoast Chapter site every
morning before work. One morning there was no sign-up available, the next
morning it was full. The notice went up here 1.5 hours after I had checked,
but I don't monitor this chat group closely. Same happened on another walk
I had been looking at. That's basically an effect of birding moving from a
handful of Nerds to Mainstream culture.
On Saturday, September 12, 2026 at 8:06:11 PM UTC-4 Steve Mirick wrote:
> Not sure that this went out so I'm sending it again....
>
>
> On 9/12/2026 7:29 PM, Steve Mirick wrote:
>
> A couple of points....
>
> I would like to personally commend Holly (and the Seacoast Chapter) for
> all of the hard work they do AS VOLUNTEERS to make field trips and programs
> happen. Without them, there would be no trips!!! And there is a lot of
> work! The volunteers for NH Audubon are incredible people!!!
>
> With respect to pelagic trips, it certainly is a shame that we can't get
> more going. Maybe we can try to bump it up to 3 trips next fall....but
> this will only work if the Captain of the Granite State can find time in
> his schedule and he's been reluctant to do this. I asked him briefly about
> getting another trip this month and he rolled his eyes at me implying not a
> chance. I can email him and see what he thinks.
>
> It's really incredible how birding has EXPLODED over the last 25 years.
> When Jane and I started dating 25 years ago, we would often visit the NH
> coast during the fall season ON WEEKENDS and never see any other birders!
> We didn't even organize any pelagic trips back then!
>
> And as a reminder, there are other ways to go offshore!!!!! Maine Audubon
> and the Brookline Bird Club out of Massachusetts offer pelagic trips. And
> you can go on a whale watch out of Rye harbor. You can even go offshore on
> an all-day fishing boat out of Seabrook.....on these you go as an observer
> only and ride on the upper deck while people fish below you....sadly they
> don't offer a discount for birders....but you get to productive offshore
> waters.
>
> https://maineaudubon.org/events/bar-harbor-pelagic-trip-2026/ >
> https://www.brooklinebirdclub.org/tripsevents/pelagic-trips-2/ >
> https://granitestatewhalewatch.com/ >
> https://eastmansdocks.com/ (Make sure you go on the offshore all-day boat)
>
> Steve Mirick
> Bradford, MA
>
>
>
> On 9/12/2026 7:09 PM, <hbaue......> wrote:
>
> Historically there have been three pelagic trips a year. One on Memorial
> Day sponsored by NH Audubon and two in the fall on the day after Labor Day
> and in October on Indigenous People's/Columbus Day. NH Audubon and the
> Seacoast Chapter of NH Audubon alternate sponsorship of the fall trips, one
> year the Seacoast Chapter sponsors the September trip and the next year
> they will sponsor October for example. The timing of those trips is based
> on the availability of Granite State Whale Watch - pretty much all of the
> rest of the year they are booked for whale watches. This spring they
> happened to have an extra day available in June and the Seacoast Chapter
> sponsored impromptu trip then.
>
> Speaking for the Seacoast Chapter, we have not changed our methodology for
> promoting the trips. We post the link to register on our website (
> seacoastchapter.org) and then announce it in this group and on Facebook.
> One thing that may have changed is the popularity of the trips and birding
> in general. It used to take several days for the trips to fill up and now
> it can only take a few hours. The good news is that registration for the
> October trip will open tomorrow (Sunday), so keep an eye our website for
> the link to register. I hope to see you on board.
>
> Holly Bauer
> Seacoast Chapter Field Trip Coordinator
>
> On Saturday, September 12, 2026 at 6:31:17 PM UTC-4 B Foy wrote:
>
>> I will second that. Pelagic trips were a primary reason for me becoming a
>> member of NH Audubon. But I have seen only occasional announcements for
>> these trips. There is a clearly a large unsatisfied demand for pelagic
>> trips out of Rye Harbor. Perhaps we could strategize on scheduling more of
>> them for the benefit of members.
>>
>> On Saturday, September 12, 2026 at 2:58:17 PM UTC-4 <jackso......>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I’m writing this in hopes for getting some answers for myself and some
>>> other birders I’ve talked to. For years I’ve always jumped at the chance to
>>> get on both spring and fall NH Audubon pelagic trips on the Granite State
>>> out of Rye. As soon as the trips are announced/promoted, usually in this
>>> forum, myself and others buy tickets as soon as they’re available. However,
>>> something has changed and a bunch of us missed our chances to get not only
>>> on the spring trip and this last trip that turned up a truly once in a
>>> lifetime species, but I’ve been told there is an October trip that is
>>> already sold out as well. So I’m asking, does anyone know why these trips
>>> have become so exclusive? Is there a different forum they’re promoted on?
>>> We’d like to know how to take part in future trips. Thanks in advance to
>>> anyone that can help.
>>>
>>> -Dylan Jackson
>>> Wilmot
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> --
> To Change your e-mail delivery settings (digest, daily, no mail) visit:
> https://groups.google.com/group/nhbirds/subscribe?hl=en > ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "NHBirds" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to nhbirds+<u......>
> To view this discussion visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nhbirds/<97301825-5ab9-462f-a4f8-a66b0b6b742dn...> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nhbirds/<97301825-5ab9-462f-a4f8-a66b0b6b742dn...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > .
>
>
>
>
