A Birder's Life for Me

 After leaving New Jersey and the 1,500 Snow Geese at Brigantine behind...

we spent three days at the Outer Banks picking up several new species for the year including the Northern Gannet.

Our pelagic boat trip went 31 miles off-shore but we only picked up three new species for 2025 and 0 lifers.  That was quite the disappointment.  The wind throughout the day made the ocean look like a giant slurry of mercury, water and concrete mix.  At times, it looked more like a moonscape than an ocean.

In addition to very poor lighting conditions, trying to take photos of small birds on a boat bobbing in 5 to 10 foot swells was made even more difficult by the propensity of the birds to either dive or fly away as the boat came into range.  If the birds happened to stay put, you typically had a second or two to locate the bird through the camera, focus and shoot before the next wave removed the bird from view.

I did manage a serviceable shot of a Razorbill...

and, while we saw many Dovekie during the trip, I was unable to get a picture.  The photo below shows a Dovekie from my visit to Huntington Beach in South Carolina last year.  Dovekies are about the size of a Nerf football.  The Razorbills are a bit larger.

We also saw numerous Atlantic Puffins.  Again, no shots but, this is what they look like from a previous trip to Maine.

Tomorrow, we'll be at Huntington Beach in South Carolina searching for Horned Grebes, White-winged Scoters and Red-throated Loons.  I have had no luck with the latter two over the past four years.   Then it's on to Minnesota on Tuesday and the Sax-Zim Bog where temperatures will likely be a balmy minus-5 to 10 degrees (F).  This means my suitcase will get heavier as I will need to pack an extra t-shirt.