Whale and Seabird Watch Plymouth to Stellwagon NMS July 9, 2022

The club held its annual Whale and Seabird Watch on Saturday, July 9th aboard the Captain John boat out of Plymouth. Approxiamtey 16 members and friends were present. I have not been active in the club in recent years, so it was good to reconnect with old friends and meet some of the newer members of the club.

Leaving the harbor, it was once again sad to see the lack of any sign of a tern colony. A very few shorebirds were seen as listed below. Seas were relatively calm, always a good thing in my book, and winds were light. Just past the Gurnet we saw our first (Great) shearwater. This area is typically reserved for a few Storm-Petrels, but not today. We also saw a whale close in also, but at that point the boat was moving so fast, we did not have time to alert the crew.

As we made our way to Stellwagon Bank, we encountered a few Greats and Cory's Shearwaters. As we got closer to the Bank, the action really picked up with several groups of whales feeding, which in turn brought in the birds. The four usual Shearwaters were found in the area, with Great Shearwater being the most numerous. Followed by Cory's, Sooty and Manx. Storm-Petrels were nearly none existent as only 4 were seen. Three or four small raft of birds 6-10 were seen, mostly Greats. In general, a majority of the birds were on the wing following the whales.

A few of us did get a very quick look at a jaeger which came screaming through the area and disappeared very shortly there after. I do not believe anyone got a photo.

Here are a couple of my bad photos.

Cory's Shearwater

G

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwaters

Sooty Shearwater

Oh yes, whales

Here is the list of birds I came up with:

  
Mallard					5
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)		9 
Greater Yellowlegs			1
Willet					1
shorebird sp.				5
jaeger sp.				1
Laughing Gull				3
Herring Gull			       31 
Great Black-backed Gull			8
gull sp.	      		       50
Least Tern				2
Common Tern				3
Wilson's Storm-Petrel			4
Cory's Shearwater		       52
Great Shearwater	      	      270
Cory's/Great Shearwater	              100
Sooty Shearwater	       	       10
Manx Shearwater	            		2   
Double-crested Cormorant   	       16
Osprey					5
Tree Swallow				2
Barn Swallow				2
House Sparrow				1
Song Sparrow				1

Mike Emmons