August 24, 2019
This was a twelve hour trip going out 50 miles or more (past the continental shelf) with the
intention of finding seabirds that usually stay far offshore.
Here's another pelagic I really wanted to see, a South Polar Skua. We saw two.
South Polar Skua. These birds nest in Antarctica and come north during the Antarctic winter.
Red Phalaropes at sea.
I got much better images of Buller's Shearwater.
Buller's Shearwater
Our big prize for the trip, a Hawaiian Petrel. There were quite a few veteran
pelagic birders on this trip, and I learned that they were going on the
chance of seeing any species of Pterodroma, a group of seabirds known as
gadfly petrels. They are not abundant and only come to shore to nest,
usually on remote islands. Hawaiian Petrel is one of these. The rest of the
year they are only found far offshore in deep ocean habitat past the continental shelf.
There were a lot of happy birders on the boat.
Hawaiian Petrel
Better image of Fork-tailed Storm Petrel than the last trip.
Cassin's Auklet on takeoff.
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