If you are new to "pelagic bird trips" or have not taken one in a while, here are a few suggestions/reminders....
Some birders call pelagic trips a "crap shoot"! If the weather is too wild, the boat trip will be cancelled. If the weather is too calm, the seabirds may stay too far offshore. If the weather becomes foggy, it may be impossible to find or see the birds. Activity at sea is very "patchy", so even if everything else seems perfect, we may not be able to find the widely dispersed patches of seabird activity (which can move around from week to week or day to day).
Stellwagen Bank has been going thru the summer doldrums recently, but we are hoping it will break out with a vengeance between now and September 8th, with some colder windy weather leading to mixing in the water column and the year's second plankton bloom, with all that "productivity" it can bring with it (including more phytoplankton>>more zooplankton>>more small fish & crustaceans>>more larger fish... all of which leads to more seabirds & whales). Cross your fingers for a cold windy storm between now and September 8th.
But do not expect a large number of bird species. Pelagic trips are not about maximizing the number of species seen. They are about finding good pelagic bird species, which are difficult or impossible to see easily, except from boats offshore. On the US east coast these species often include multiple shearwater and jaeger species. These are exciting birds to watch, as they "shear" around the water, or as the jaegers acrobatically pursue terns and gulls.
It is very exciting to see a lot of seabirds offshore, but all it takes is one or two "target species" to make a trip successful, such as us hoping to see a Sabine's Gull or some other uncommon seabird on September 8th. Note that THREE adult breeding plumage Sabine's Gulls were seen on Aug 26th 2013 in the center of our target area! We are also planning two scouting trips in the four days leading up to Sept 8th, to try to locate the latest hot-spots for this and other good seabirds.
Seabirds are very dependent upon the marine ecosystem, which is mostly under the waterline and invisible to us. To maximize your enjoyment of pelagic trips it is important to learn as much as possible about that marine ecosystem, including its physical, chemical and biological aspects. Look at each pelagic trip as an opportunity to think about and learn more about the ocean.
Seabirds also come to us from all over the globe, from both sides of the Atlantic, from the Arctic, and from the edges of Antarctica (such as Great Shearwater and Wilson's Storm-petrel). Learn as much as possible about their amazing travels, especially since the seas off New England are some of the best crossroads for seabirds wandering around the Atlantic Ocean.
