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Subject: Coastal Bend Audubon Soc Oct. 11 Pelagic Trip Report
Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2003 12:09:43 -0500
From: Richard Gibbons
Forty participants departed Port Aransas yesterday morning at a east-southeast bearing.
Our destination was the East Breaks where we had such good luck last year on October the 5th.
Although the number of birds seen was impressive, pelagic bird diversity was low.
The trip list follows provided by Eric Carpenter:
Non-birds:
- released rehabilitated sea turtle (Tony Amos released a Kemp's Ridley 10 miles out)
- Bottlenose Dolphins
- Atlantic Spotted Dolphins (6)
- 1 Manta-ray
Pelagic species:
- Cory's Shearwater - 83+ on the way out; 102+ on the way in. S
ome birds were on the way back in were likely the same birds seen on the way out.
Largest single flock was of 75+ birds on the water.
- Bridled Terns (4)
- jaeger species (1)
Non-pelagic birds seen well offshore:
- Peregrine Falcons (7). Including 6 birds at a single unmanned platform.
- Royal and Sandwich Terns - small numbers of these around the shrimp boats on the way out and back in.
- Common Terns (35+) and Least Terns (2) on way back in shallower waters, around shrimp boats.
- unidentified shorebirds (3)
- Mourning Doves (3)
- Barn Swallow (1)
- Common Nighthawk (3)
- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (1)
- Palm Warbler (1)
- Sparrow species, likely Savannah (1)
I would like to thank Petra Hockey and Eric Carpenter for their superb guidance on the trip.
Also, I thank Coastal Bend Audubon for supporting this expedition.
Richard Gibbons
CBAS Field Trip Director
OCEANOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS for Oct. 11, 2003
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