Ben Griffith and I led an all day pelagic trip last Tuesday aboard the "Granite State" out of Rye Harbor, NH. The trip was organized by the Seacoast Chapter of NH Audubon.
We started off by heading out to the Isles of Shoals where we did a quick tour of Square Rock, Lunging Island, and White and Seavey Islands. Here we located some specialty Island birds at this date including American Oystercatcher, Black Guillemot, and Great Cormorants. And once again, we spotted an adult Northern Gannet sitting on Square Rock. Funny how this always happens....never juveniles or sub-adults.....always adults. Generally Northern Gannets are rarely seen sitting on land.
We then continued offshore to an area known as "Old Scantum" where there had been recent whale activity. We found the whales, but they were uncooperative, so we chased them around a bit while encountering numerous Wilson's Storm-Petrels and an occasional small flock of Red-necked Phalaropes. While chasing the whales north past Old Scantum to a point approximately 10 miles ESE of the Isles of Shoals we chanced upon the rarest bird of the day and possibly the rarest bird ever seen in NH! A CHILEAN SKUA! While we didn't know that it was a Chilean Skua at the time, we knew it was a Skua. It was extremely wary, but we continually pursued it for over 30 minutes. Unfortunately, we never got too close and the gray, cloudy skies didn't help, but we managed to get lots of photos. At this time we were uncertain whether it was the most likely South Polar Skua or the very rare Great Skua.....we didn't know there was a 3rd option!!
We then resumed our planned route back south and east and found more Phalaropes (including Red!) as well as an occasional Cory's Shearwater. Manx Shearwaters were a bit more wary, but we managed some decent views. The most common shearwater is generally Great Shearwater, but we managed only a single flyby down the side of the boat. We worked over Jeffrey's Ledge and even off the eastern edge of Jeffrey's, but it was rather quiet out there so we turned back.
Heading back in we ran into an incredible pod of roughly 50 Common Bottlenose Dolphins! This species is different (larger and more pelagic) from the typical bottlenose dolphin now known as Tamanend's Bottlenose Dolphin and found south along the coastal beaches to Florida. The pod gave an incredible show as they rode the wakes and jumped high out of the water several times. As we headed in, someone spotted a jaeger on the water and as we turned to try to relocate it, it flew and Ben quickly announced LONG-TAILED JAEGER! Sadly, it just kept flying and flying.....but Captain Pete continued the pursuit and we finally caught up to it! A beautiful juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger!
Finally, we were running late and turned and cruised home.....but there was more excitement! As we passed through the area of the previous skua sightings, we relocated the Skua! This time we had very brief views, but VERY CLOSE views and in great lighting. It passed by the side of the boat and continued out of sight. But not before a few people got the best photos of the day of this bird. These photos showed some semblance of a Great Skua so we excitedly announced that it was a Great Skua! But when we got home, it was apparent something was wrong! The first thing I said to Jane when I uploaded the photos onto my computer was: "Jane, look at the strange color of this Skua!" Then Sam Zhang, who wasn't even on the boat started texting me. And then Ben texted me. It soon became apparent that this bird looked like a CHILEAN SKUA! The Chilean Skua is a species that breeds off the southern coast of Argentina and Chile, with wandering birds found as far north as Peru (one report in Ecuador) and Brazil. They are not known for long migrations like the South Polar Skua. THERE ARE NO RECORDS FOR NORTH AMERICA AND POSSIBLY NO RECORDS FOR THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE FOR CHILEAN SKUA!
Ben Griffith has been working very hard on researching Chilean Skua and seeking opinions of Skua experts from around the world. Thus far, I don't know of anyone that has any doubt that this bird is within the range of variation of pure Chilean Skua and all have ruled out the possibility that this is any other species. The Chilean Skua is actually the most distinctive of all of the Skuas! The only "fly in the ointment" is that this species is not known for long migrations and the unlikeliness of this occurrence is generating some "what-if" scenarios. There is a HYPOTHETICAL possibility that this is a hybrid South Polar X Chilean Skua which expresses itself phenotypically as a pure Chilean Skua but adopts the DNA from a South Polar Skua which tells it to head north!
For lots of photos and a bit more discussion of the Chilean Skua, see this checklist:
Thanks to Holly Bauer for organizing this trip through the Seacoast Chapter and to Captain Pete Reynolds and crew for helping to spot whales and birds!
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM Cloudy with brisk NW winds in the morning, clearing in the afternoon with winds dying down. Seas 1 to 3 feet.
Birds ----------- Common Eider 86 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 migrating between Rye harbor and Isles of Shoals American Oystercatcher 3 all on Lunging. Black-bellied Plover 2 Semipalmated Plover 2 Hudsonian Whimbrel 1 on Seavey Island RED PHALAROPE 3 mixed in with Red-necked Phalaropes. Red-necked Phalarope 119 scattered in mats of Rockweed offshore. Ruddy Turnstone 3 on Lunging Island Sanderling 23 Semipalmated Sandpiper 8 LONG-TAILED JAEGER 1 juvenile which we chased and caught! POMARINE JAEGER 1 adult/subadult which flew by and disappeared. CHILIAN SKUA 1. Bird of the day! Year! Life! Black Guillemot 2 at Isles of Shoals Bonaparte's Gull 2 Laughing Gull 5 Ring-billed Gull 5 American Herring Gull 69 Great Black-backed Gull 202 Lesser Black-backed Gull 11. Mix of adults and juveniles offshore. Common Tern 8 Wilson's Storm-Petrel 351. Scattered throughout the trip. CORY'S SHEARWATER 36 GREAT SHEARWATER 1 brief flyby of only one for the day. MANX SHEARWATER 6. Scarce in recent years. Nice to see a few even if tough to approach. shearwater sp. 2 Northern Gannet 3. One adult SITTING on Square Rock. Great Cormorant 7.Most around Isles of Shoals, but one flyby of adult offshore. Double-crested Cormorant 184 Bald Eagle 1. Adult in Rye harbor. Belted Kingfisher 1 in Rye harbor. Merlin 1 on White Island Peregrine Falcon 1 on White Island. Tree Swallow 4 in Rye harbor. Barn Swallow 1 in Rye harbor. Cedar Waxwing 14. Flock of 10 and flock of 4 far offshore! passerine sp. 1
Marine Life ------------------ Humpback Whale - 6. Repeated sightings and some nice fluke shows, but generally not cooperative. One named "Chromosome". Minke Whale - 1 COMMON BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN - 50. Spectacular performance! Riding the bow and stern wakes and swimming under the bow. Numerous full body breaches. Extended long views, photos, and videos!
Mola Mola (Ocean sunfish) - Several Blue Shark - 3+ with one large individual
