Not going to write up a full report (will link to the BBC page when it’s online) but the overnight pelagic was quite spectacular. One of the first birds was a Great Skua and things got better from there. By midmorning of the second day, the following announcement was made: “To put things in perspective, the one day high count for White-faced Storm-Petrels in North America was 5. Set yesterday. We’re approaching 15.”
Only complaint was that I spent the first day on the upper deck and had a brutal time getting things in focus. That and I never got a good feel for the Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, only picking out 1 or 2 out of the 5. Missing some of the better landbirds (Red-headed Woodpecker and Purple Finch) wasn’t great but they were distant and only identified through photographs later.
So, some photos:
![Skua!](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/4949642191_067060da5c.jpg)
![Skua!](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/4950235884_498827290a.jpg)
The skua
![Long-tail](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/4949642959_02c9f87481.jpg)
Long-tailed Jaeger (didn’t realize I had this shot until I got home), thought I only had the adjacent Parasitic.
![Parasitic](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/4949643063_1b03cebe64.jpg)
The adjacent Parasitic
![Two Mantas](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/4949643817_67624f48f2.jpg)
Manta Rays
![White-faced #3](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4949646675_60cbde17e1.jpg)
![White-faced #3](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/4950239052_07399db992.jpg)
Only a couple White-faced Storm-Petrel shots, up to 8 different birds are in the flickr set (along with more skuas and some phalaropes and other stuff with more common stuff to be added later).
Four life birds (Skua, storm-petrels, and Parasitic Jaeger (yes I got both skuas before I got a Parasitic)) plus state Long-tailed Jaeger.
Already can’t wait for next year!