News

We still have space on our earlier May trips from Hatteras between May 17 and 22. One space is left on May 23. These dates have a good likelihood for Fea's Petrel and Trindade Petrel, but it sometimes takes two to four trips to see these birds. Bermuda Petrel is probably as likely in mid May as late May, but we have not had the number of trips this early to prove it. This is also a good time for Red-billed Tropicbird and can be better for jaegers than later May, depending on the wind direction. Motel rates should be a bit lower than Memorial Day Weekend.

Our late May trips from Oregon Inlet (aboard the Country Girl, departing from Manteo) still have space for more participants on May 24, 25, and 26. These trips were a bit slow last year, but most years they produce an outstanding list of birds, w/ a number of Bermuda Petrels seen in this date range over the last decade. We need to fill these trips to keep from losing money, so we are offering a special discount for multiple trips. These trips are $145/person/day (same as last year!), but for persons taking two trips, we will discount it to $135/person/day and all three trips can be booked for $395. For groups of FIVE or more people booking together, the trips are $125/person/day, $240/person/two days or $350/person for all three days.

I hope you will join us on the available trips this spring. With fuel prices on the rise, it is doubtful these trips will be available at such a low rate in future years.

We were out from Hatteras yesterday with a small group and had a great jaeger show with about 10 or 12 Pomarines, one Parasitic, and two Long-tails. We had four to six Pomarine Jaegers behind the boat for most of the day. We saw about 30 Black-capped Petrels, with some great looks while we were drifting with our chum slick. An early Cory's Shearwater was a surprise. We also saw several Wilson's Storm-Petrels and a few Manx Shearwaters. We also saw a small gadfly petrel (not Black-capped), but did not get a good view in the harsh early morning light. The wind was from the west-southwest at about 15 knots for most of the day. We also had trips planned for April 25 and 26, but we could not run them because they were under subscribed. While fishing on April 25, I also saw Bridled Tern and Audubon's Shearwater. A local charter captain reported a tropicbird here on April 22.

If you would like to receive e-mail updates about our trips and news of recent sightings, please contact me at brian@patteson.com

Some Favorite Old Home Page Photos

Bermuda Petrel is not supposed to have a white nape, but this one did.

On June 19, 2005, we saw and photographed three different Fea's Petrels off Hatteras on a birding charter on the Little Clam. This ties the record count from one of our Oregon Inlet trips last spring.

We saw an unprecedented number of European Storm-Petrels this spring. We saw and photographed six on five consecutive trips between May 30 and June 5. There is still only one accepted record for North America, so this was a significant incursion.

Cape Verde Shearwater Calonectris edwardsii (with Cory's Shearwater on left) photographed off Hatteras, NC August 15, 2004

We've been hoping to see this bird here for years. Finally around 1045 on Sunday, August 14, 2004, I spotted this little guy in a flock of Cory's, while looking for Greater Shearwater, which was scarce that day. This bird is actually smaller than a Greater, and used to be treated as a subspecies of Cory's, but you can see here that is very distinctive looking, with a much darker bill. This should represent a first record for North America and the western North Atlantic. -BP (Click Here for more images of this bird.)

Black-b. St.-Petrel Off Oregon Inlet on 5/31/04!

On May 31st 2004 Capt. John Gallop spotted an immature Black-bellied Storm-Petrel 42 miles SE of Oregon Inlet. The bird was observed by everyone aboard including trip leaders Mike Overton and Mike Tove from 1420 to 1450 EDT while it flew with 135 Wilson's Storm-Petrels, 5 Leach's Storm-Petrels and 2 Band-rumped Storm-Petrels over a Menhaden oil slick. The water depth was 870 fathoms and the sea temperature was approximately 72 degrees F.

Black-b. St.-Petrel Off Oregon Inlet on 5/31/04!

First European Storm-Petrel?