Brian Patteson's company, "Seabirding, Inc." (www.seabirding.com), has posted
dates for its 2004 pelagic trips, among them three possible dates for
Virginia winter trips. These dates are 31 January (1 February), 7 (8)
February, and
21 (22) February.
These midwinter dates are selected to maximize the chances of finding alcids
(Dovekies, Razorbills, murres, Atlantic Puffins), Black-legged Kittiwakes,
Great Skuas, and Northern Fulmars, and there is a good chance of finding
species
such as Red Phalarope or Manx Shearwater. There are usually gulls and
gannets aplenty to sort through, along with less-common fare on most trips.
Real
rarities in winter off Virginia in the past have included Black-browed
Albatross, Yellow-nosed Albatross, Short-tailed Shearwater, and Common Murre.
Occasionally, white-winged gulls (Glaucous, Iceland, Thayer's), Little Gull,
Sooty
Shearwater, and jaegers (mostly Pomarine) put in an appearance. Whales are
frequently seen, usually either Humpback or Fin Whales, but Minke has been
sighted, and the antics of Common Dolphin are observed on almost all trips
(this is
a different, more colorful species than our summering Bottlenose Dolphin).
The day offshore can be chilly (good to bundle up), but Brian has no plans to
take the boats offshore in rough weather, which makes birding too difficult.
These boats offer good opportunities for photography, especially of species
attracted to chum.
I spoke with Brian by telephone yesterday, and he indicated that sign-ups for
these trips have been slow this year, and it looks as though there may not be
enough interest to run any of them. This would be a great shame, as there
have been trips continuously offered for 15 years now, and most of them produce
interesting results. Certainly, it is difficult to see these species in the
state without going offshore at this time of year. Through the 1970s and
most of the 1980s, we had no one offering winter birding boat trips in
Virginia, and few people had seen any of these species in the state. The few
who had
usually encountered them on Rich Rowlett's boats out of Ocean City, Maryland,
which, every once in a while, would dip down across the Virginia line to Poor
Man's Canyon or the like.
I think we take for granted now, after a decade and a half of productive
trips, that we have an operator who is willing to guide 20 people offshore (an
average number) in the winter for no personal gain -- the trips usually lose
money or break even, unfortunately, and are thus "field trips" in a sense, with
the funds collected used to pay the captain and first mate, the fuel bill, and
for the chum used to draw the birds close to the boat. The "Seabirding"
group's extensive knowledge of the winter pelagic birds' distribution,
identification, and behavior would be hard to replace in Virginia -- especially
when it is
provided at such low cost.
So, if you've often thought about taking a trip offshore in the winter but
have been putting it off, this year might be the year to give it a try -- it
might be the last year that such trips are offered for a while! Trepidation
about the cold and rough seas is reasonable, of course, but the weather date
assures flexibility in scheduling vis-a-vis the weather (many of these trips
have
been run on calm seas and fair temperatures in years past), and the boat won't
go offshore in real rough weather in any case. The coast offers some very
nice winter birding, in the event the boat trip is cancelled, too.
Ned Brinkley
[full disclosure: an unremunerated assistant on Brian Patteson's trips for a
long time!]
Cape Charles, VA
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