Brookline Bird Club – America’s most active bird club!

Successful Pelagic Trip to Nantucket Shoals

On December 6 over 70 BBC birders and guides departed from Hyannis and headed out to Nantucket Shoals about the Helen H. The plan was to go as far offshore as possible before looping back to the northwest on their return, which would take them past the large sea duck concentrations near Monomoy.

This was an effective strategy, yielding good numbers (and views!) of Black-legged Kittiwake, Atlantic Puffin, Dovekie, Northern Fulmar and several late shearwaters the further out we got.

Eventually they came upon a recently deceased Minke Whale surrounded by dozens of Fulmar (both light and dark morphs), a Sooty Shearwater and a handful of gulls, including a juvenile Great Black-backed that was standing atop the carcass and pecking away. Suddenly, as many of the seabirds took flight and scattered, one of the leaders shouted “Skua!” and I began to tell participants to begin photographing the bird as there was a good chance it could be a Great given the date. While the bird flew directly above us, the lighting was not ideal, and it only made one pass. While initially ID’ed as late South Polar Skua, further examination of photos led to the conclusion that this was the sixth Massachusetts record of Great Skua!

Read the eBird report for more details.

Seals Loafing
by Andrew Whitacre
Eider Flock
by Andrew Whitacre
Great Black Gulll on Minke Whale
by Andrew Whitacre
Northern Fulmar
by Andrew Whitacre
Sooty Sherwater & Norther Fulmar
by Andrew Whitacre
White Winged Scoter
by Mark Hibbard
Puffin
by Andrew Whitacre
Northern Fulmar
by Mark Hibbard
Puffin & Dovekie
by Andrew Whitacre
Great Sheatwater
by Andrew Whitacre
Gannets
by Andrew Whitacre
Common Loon in Flight
by Mark Hibbard
Black legged Kittiwake
by Andrew Whitacre
Great Skua
by Sebastian Jones

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