Date: 4/14/24 7:12 pm From: Jon Woolf <jswoolf01...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] NH Audubon Spring Pelagic Birding Trip 2024
Listfolk,
Spring is here, so it must be time for Massabesic Audubon Center's Spring Pelagic Birding Trip!
WHAT: An all-day trip into the Gulf of Maine, looking for pelagic birds (although we'll also check out any whales and other marine life that we encounter). As always, we've chartered the whale-watching boat /Granite State/ for this day of birding along Jeffreys Ledge and wherever else the birds may lead us. Steve Mirick will be on the microphone, Jane Mirick will be helping spot birds, and our hosts will be the highly skilled and experienced Captain Pete Reynolds and his crew. We'll leave dockside at 8am and stay at sea the whole day. We should return to Rye Harbor around 5pm.
WHEN: Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day).
WHERE: Meet dockside at Rye Harbor at 7:30AM for an 8:00AM departure.
WHAT TO BRING: Binoculars, of course. Plan on bringing a lunch; /Granite State/'s on-board snack bar will be open, but it serves primarily snack foods. A digital camera if you have one -- these trips often produce excellent photo opportunities for both birds and whales. Weather on the open water is unpredictable, so dress warm, in multiple layers in case you get too warm and need to take off a layer. Certainly bring sunscreen, and either sunglasses or a hat. Bring motion-sickness pills if you're vulnerable to seasickness. /Granite State/'s seating is mostly wooden benches, so a seat cushion is a good idea if you have trouble with sitting on hard surfaces.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Hopefully, good weather and lots of interesting birds! Every trip is different, of course, but past spring trips have produced Northern Gannets, Wilson's Storm-petrels, Great and Sooty shearwaters, Northern Fulmars, Red-necked Phalaropes in breeding plumage (a rare and impressive sight indeed), a number of migrants, and a number of near-shore species. We often get good looks at Common and Roseate Terns from the White/Seavey Island tern colony, and Black Guillemots also appear around the Isles of Shoals most years. We've also gotten good looks at several whales of various species. In 2017 we got a once-in-a-lifetime gem: a wandering BOWHEAD whale!
REGISTRATION: You must register in advance for this trip. We need a minimum of 30 people to pay for the trip. We've capped group size at 50 to make sure the boat doesn't get too crowded. Sadly, there has been one unpleasant change: due to increased costs, we've been forced to raise the price a little. A ticket will now cost $80 for NH Audubon members, $100 for non-members.
Contact either NHA or me with any questions you might have. When you sign up, *please* be certain that you leave a phone number where you can be contacted on Sunday May 26, in case we have to cancel due to weather. There is no rain date; we go on the 27th, or not at all.
To go with the trip, I will be running a 1-hour workshop from 6:30pm to 7:30pm on Thursday May 23, as a basic introduction to the most common pelagic birds and how to identify them. Since we generally see both whales and birds on these trips, the workshop also includes information on the common whales of the Gulf of Maine. This will be a virtual workshop, conducted online via a Zoom conference. It's free to anyone who has signed up for the trip on Monday; otherwise, the workshop will cost $5 for NHA members and $6 for non-members. It has a separate sign-up link: https://www.nhaudubon.org/event/introduction-to-pelagic-wildlife-webinar-may-2024/ <https://www.nhaudubon.org/event/introduction-to-pelagic-wildlife/>
If you want to sign up, please hurry -- there aren't many spots left, and they're going fast!
My thanks go out to all who have made these trips a success in past years, and I hope to see you again this year ... along with as many new faces as we can fit! :-)
-- Jon Woolf Manchester, NH (Massabesic Audubon Center Volunteer)
