My Boat Made the USA Today

[petrel]

With a handle like "petrel" it should no surprise that I might run pelagic bird watching trips. Anyhow, most of them are on my 56' DMR Stormy Petrel II. But we had a special request for a trip from a guy who was trying to set a record for most birds seen in North America in a year. Long story short, we got him the record down here on Dec. 28 during a charter on my 31' BHM. I was LMAO when I saw the video was on USA Today. It's wide angle so you can't see the bird they are looking at, but you get to see the boat a little bit. Birding makes big tracks in 2013 and bags young fans

 

[lobstercatcher]

cool ! I can't imagine finding 750 different birds in a year. That must be a ton of time invested!

 

[oldshell55]

that was exciting, i don't care what you say. mmhm

 

[jim]

Boat looks mint Brian. Those BHMs are pretty!

 

[Lion's Paw]

It was a pretty day you had. I didn't get out but there sure are a lot of birds right now from what I saw off the beach. Good to see you got a nice trip in.

 

[petrel]

A fair number of birds, Dave, but except for the skua, not the right birds. This time of year we need colder water for these trips. Dovekies- the little bitty auks from Greenland- that's our money maker most years, and they are not in the water we have now. But the water is warm enough to catch kings, so we've got work when the weather cooperates and they decide to bite.

 

[Lion's Paw]

I haven't seen the small dovekies birds but did see the skua birds last November down near the Manuela. Was there two days in a row and saw them both days along the rip right near the wreck. I don't know that much about the birds like you do and when I see unusual ones and have to remember to go look them up. Maybe get a field guide for the boat.

The boats did land a good number of kings the other day along with a few decent sized blackfin. Most all the kings were nice sized fish too. They filled up a lot of boxes at the fishouse. Good to see them making some cash with decent fishing. Good luck if you go kinging.

 

[petrel]

Yes, we caught some kings this week. Not great, but better than most of our trips last month. Might be messed up for a while after this blow, though. North swell is not good. I think we've got southeast wind for Sunday and another front sometime Monday.

 

[Frigate]

What were you using for bait for the birds? Also were you trolling a bag of bait?

 

[petrel]

Good eye; cut bunker and ground beef fat. We had a frozen chum block out in a wire box while we were idling around before the much awaited skua showed up. The fulmars, shearwaters, and petrels come to the scent, and it's too cold for fish oil to flow this time of year. Gulls, gannets and skuas can't smell it though, so you have to keep feeding them right along. I think she pulled in the block after I picked up some speed. Took about 200# of menhaden and 50# of fat for the day. Some days we have hundreds of gannets. It's fun when they are diving right in the wash. I need to get the Go Pro out on the pole and shoot some underwater this winter. We got a Sperm Whale underwater w/ it last summer.

 

[Spence]

This sort of birding event is know as "A Big Year" and is a quest for many avid birders. A book by that name is a good read. I'm offering custom birding trips along the coast of Maine on Laughing Gull Boat Charters (hope that's okay to post-moderator please delete if not or I'll do so in response to a request from a member)