Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Grand Manan Birding August 10 & 11, 2009

Our scheduled pelagic was canceled due to foggy conditions so we spent the day wandering around Grand Manan. Overall it was quiet but we managed to see a number of good variety of shorebirds feeding at Grand Harbour including 120+ Black-bellied Plover, 72 Semipalmated Plover, 9 Ruddy Turnstone, 460+ Semipalmated Sandpiper, 24 White-rumped Sandpiper and 42 Short-billed Dowitcher. There were still adult birds feeding young including Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Black-throated Green Warbler and Alder Flycatcher. At Southwest Head we great views of Black Guillemots below the steep cliffs.


Foggy conditions off Southwest Head

A Black Guillemot though the fog.

Common Eider with young.

With a change in weather today we headed out from Seal Cove for our afternoon pelagic trip both seabird and whale watching off Grand Manan Island. We had a great time with lots of seabird activity and awesome views of Humpback Whales. We had a few surprises including an adult Pomarine Jaeger, 2 Parasitic Jaeger, and 7 Manx Shearwater. Other species included 2500+ Greater Shearwater, 250+ Sooty Shearwater, and 2500+ Wilson's Storm-Petrel.


Adult Pomarine Jaeger made a brief fly by.

The Greater Shearwater was common sight on the bay.

Humpback Whale diving.


Whales at play.

Wilson's Storm-Petrel feeding over the water.

The Red-necked Phalarope spends most of it's life on the ocean.

An immature Parasitic Jaeger harassed a few gulls.






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