July 19, 2008: S Padre Island; TRIP REPORT

Aboard   the Osprey II

Subject: South Padre Island pelagic results 19 July 08 

Date:   Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:49:35 GMT

From:   Brad McKinneyGood evening,

Up until the 11th hour, the cetaceans stole the show. By lunchtime, the pelagic crew was treated to close-up views of both Risso’s Dolphins and Short-finned   Pilot Whales, a real surprise. Despite the excellent birding conditions, with  calm seas, light winds and blue oceanic water within 15 miles of the coast,   seabirds were hard to come by. Masked Boobies (9) were numerous over shelf waters while Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (4) numbers were below average for  July.

We could find no large tuna schools, and therefore no Sooty/Bridled Tern flocks. We had brief looks at an Audubon’s Shearwater at noon.

On our final stretch, we encountered the bird of day. At 5:00 pm, just 19 miles from the dock, a Greater Shearwater passes close by the boat. Both the shearwater and a Pomarine Jaeger land on the water and allow the boat a  close approach. Moments later, the Greater Shearwater disappears and is quickly replaced by a Cory’s Shearwater. Just a typical day in the western Gulf of Mexico!

Seabirds and cetaceans are listed below.

Thanks to Eric Carpenter for organizing another successful pelagic trip. There are still a few spots open for the September 2008 pelagic. For those interested, please contact Eric at ecarpe@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Brad McKinney

Rancho Viejo

Here is a map of the trip track as recorded by my GPS.

TRIP PHOTO ALBUMS

Album 1 all photos © GarettHodne.com

Album 2 Photos © Brian Tarbox; David McDonald; Andy Donnelly; Bill Tarbox

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