SOUTH PADRE ISLAND PELAGIC
June 3, 2002 Aboard the Osprey II
Subject: June 3 pelagic
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 17:35:52 -0400
From: Wbirdcenter@AOL.COM
The following are results from the World Birding Center pelagic birding trip that departed from
South Padre Island on 3 June 2002. Seas were running about 3-4 feet with a steady SE breeze
throughout the day. Not surprisingly, Band-rumped Storm-Petrels were the most often encountered
seabird, with 24 individuals being recorded during our five hours over deepwater. Gliding closely
across the boat’s bow, several of the band-rumps provided excellent views of plumage and flight
pattern. We also had 11 unidentified storm-petrels: most, if not all, were presumed band-rumps.
One of the highlights was also our first seabird of the trip, a young Bridled Tern sitting
atop some driftwood. This molting bird showed mostly adult body plumage (dark brown), yet still
retained the facial pattern of a juvenile bird. Everyone was afforded great looks as it flew
repeatedly back to its driftwood perch, showing noticeable white edges on its outer tail feathers.
Another high point of the trip was a nearly adult plumaged light-morph Pomarine Jaeger harassing
three first year Franklin’s and one first year Laughing Gull. The jaeger appeared to be a subadult
bird molting into adult plumage: it had a well-defined breastband and nearly full length tail
streamers, yet had strongly barred uppertail coverts. The behavior of the jaeger was especially
enjoyable to hawk expert Bill Clark, who may have been undergoing some raptor withdrawals while
onboard (just kidding Bill).
The bird voted “most congenial” was an obliging subadult Masked Booby, which made at least three
close passes above the boat. After minute or two of this, it then wheeled into a graceful “fishhook”
dive. Rounding out the birds seen in the deepwater (3,000 feet) portion were Sooty and Black Terns.
Also seen over the continental shelf (near the deepwater dropoff) were both “pelagic” bottlenose a
nd spotted dolphins.
Except for the Franklin’s Gulls and a small flock of Cattle Egrets (leader only), there were no
migrant land birds seen. In late afternoon, it was great to see a juvenile Frigatebird in the
Brownsville Ship Channel, capping off a nice day in the gulf.
List of species:
Magnificent Frigatebird- 1, Brownsville Ship Channel
Masked Booby- 1, deepwater
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel- 24, all in deepwater
Un-id. Storm-petrel- 11, all in deepwater
Pomarine Jaeger- 1, deepwater
Franklin’s Gull- 3, deepwater
Laughing Gull- 1, deepwater
Black Tern- 5, deepwater
Bridled Tern- 2, deepwater
Sooty Tern- 1, deepwater
Also seen in offshore waters (but not in deepwater) was Royal Tern. It wasn’t until
we could almost see land that we were joined by Laughing Gulls and Sandwich Terns.
Brad McKinney
WBC Birding Programs World Birding Center
