SOUTHERN ATLANTIC 
r A Spring seabird migration off North Carolina's Outer Banks, meticulously monitored by Brian Patteson's record 19 daily pelagic trips 20 May-7 Jun this year, was most impressive. Easterly 
jn and southeasterly winds predominated on many days, as in several past productive spring seasons (e.g., 1970, 1987, 1992). This spring, a very strong easterly gale 18-20 May produced 
several records without precedent: storm-petrels were seen near shore Regionwide, including the aforementioned Leach's Storm-Petrel in Pamlico Sound, NC. The winds also generated a tremen- 
dous run of South Polar Skuas: 47 were counted during the period (Just a few per spring is average), including 30-i- on 20 May, 9 the next day, with many single birds seen quite close to shore, 
including one inside Hatteras Inlet 24 May (BPl). Numbers of Long-tailed Jaegers and Arctic Terns were much higher than usual, with above-average numbers of Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers 
likewise recorded. Participants on these pelagic trips marveled that they were able to actually hear numerous jaegers, skuas, and Arctic Terns calling — most unusual! The winds of mid-month 
were produced in part by a low-pressure system centered over the Gulf of Mexico, which pumped easterlies into the Southern Atlantic Bight for nearly a week altogether. The majority of these 
sightings occurred on 20-24 May trips (Table 1), in the wake of this weather pattern. 
As is often the case, the larger shearwaters such as Cory's and Greater did not arrive In numbers until early Jun, and Bridled and Sooty Terns were not recorded until 26 and 29 May, respec- 
tively. An impressive high count of 17 pelagic species was recorded offshore 23 May (BPl); the highest species count off North Carolina is still 18 species (22 May 1992). The 1992 season, one of 
the most dynamic seen so far, unfortunately went unrecorded in American Birds, which did not publish a spring report for this Region, but some of the records appeared in The Chat (Carolina Bird 
Club). Species not detected in this spring's flight but recorded off Hatteras in at least one spring in the past included unidentified large skuas (not South Polars) and Red Phalarope, while North- 
ern Fulmar, Black-legged Kittiwake, Brown Noddy, and Sabine's Gull have all been detected on May pelagic trips off Oregon inlet. 
During the easterly winds of 2009, Patteson detected near-shore flights of Manx, Sooty, and Cory's Shearwaters, all three jaegers. South Polar Skuas, Arctic Terns, and Leach's and Wilson's 
Storm-Petrels, all flying east-northeastward toward Cape Pt., Buxton, Dare County. Up to 30 Sooty Shearwaters and a Greater Shearwater were observed flying in the same direction at Long Beach, 
NC 23 May (RD). Loggerhead Sea Turtles were also noted close to shore, as they apparently also move northward at this season. Red-necked Phalaropes were recorded on seven pelagic outings, 
the latest being 2 birds on 1 Jun; most have moved northward to cooler water by late May. 
In the not-too-distant past, from-shore sightings of skuas and Manx Shearwaters were almost disbelieved, but enormous flights of seabirds at Cape Pt. were documented as early as 1 970 (P.A. 
Buckley), when over 10,000 shearwaters and 2 skuas were seen over a four-day period spanning 30 May-2 Jun. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, seawatching from Cape Pt. was at its most in- 
tensive, and there were fortuitously several years with easterly winds during that period. This allowed many birders to observe Greater, Manx, Sooty, and Cory's Shearwaters, Leach's and Wilson's 
Storm-Petrels, and jaegers from shore at leisure, some of these in flights numbering in the many hundreds, in addition to several inshore rarities (Brown Booby, Dovekie, Audubon's Shearwater, 
and a probable Cape Verde Shearwater, have each been recorded here once). Interestingly, the deepwater gadfly petrels and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, although recorded annually offshore, 
have not been recorded from shore in the absence of a tropical cyclone; none were detected from shore this season. A full-tailed ad. Red-billed Tropicbird, an age class extremely rare in Carolina 
waters and not recorded onshore previously, was seen 10 Mar and 21 Apr at Cape Pt. (PM et al., ph. BPl), flying around the beach at the Point and to the s., nearer Frisco, but White-tailed Trop- 
icbird has not yet been confirmed for the site. Because Cape Pt. is now closed to vehicular and foot traffic (accessible only by boat) during the nesting season, seawatching there is no longer an 
option for most people, but a few seabirds can still be seen from the beaches of Frisco, if not in nearly the numbers or as close as at the Point itself 
Table 1. Seabirds recorded off Hatteras, North Carolina in May and June 2009 on Stormy Petrel II (Brian Patteson et al.). 
Species /Date 
20 May 
21 May 
22 May 
23 May 
24 May 
25 May 
26 May 
27 May 
28 May 
29 May 
30 May 
31 May 
Uun 
2 Jun 
3 Jun 
4 Jun 
5 Jun 
6 Jun 
7 Jun 
Total 
Trinidade (Herald) Petrel 
1 
1 
1 
- 
1 
1 
5 
Tea's Petrel 
- 
2 
1 
1 
- 
2 
1 
- 
- 
1 
8 
Bermuda Petrel 
- 
- 
1 
3 
- 
- 
4 
Black-capped Petrel 
12 
13 
10 
17 
13 
9 
19 
6 
10 
34 
32 
7 
13 
8 
14 
11 
35 
60 
36 
3S9 
Cory's Shearwater 
16 
15 
12 
53 
21 
17 
7 
17 
18 
33 
13 
23 
28 
15 
20 
27 
55 
130 
72 
592 
Greater Shearwater 
6 
1 
10 
9 
13 
39 
Sooty Shearwater 
166 
92 
63 
40 
25 
16 
16 
16 
14 
25 
6 
2 
3 
2 
3 
2 
491 
Matix Shearwater 
3 
8 
6 
1 
1 
1 
- 
1 
- 
2 
- 
3 
3 
29 
Audubon's Shearwater 
4 
10 
39 
22 
13 
25 
6 
25 
14 
11 
10 
18 
16 
6 
13 
45 
80 
32 
395 
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 
465 
355 
271 
360 
97 
342 
300 
450 
72 
375 
175 
74 
343 
315 
89 
172 
350 
406 
330 
5341 
European Storm-Petrel 
1 
- 
- 
- 
1 
Leach's Storm-Petrel 
7 
10 
14 
36 
36 
25 
10 
15 
1 
1 
- 
3 
4 
12 
12 
13 
214 
Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel 
1 
1 
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel 
2 
7 
10 
13 
5 
11 
12 
16 
8 
5 
4 
15 
7 
13 
7 
15 
7 
5 
13 
175 
White-tailed Tropicbird 
1 
1 
Red-billed Tropicbird 
2 
1 
- 
- 
1 
1 
- 
- 
5 
Northern Gannet 
3 
1 
2 
- 
- 
3 
2 
- 
1 
- 
2 
10 
Red-necked Phalarope 
3 
- 
1 
2 
1 
- 
7 
1 
2 
- 
- 
- 
- 
17 
Sooty Tern 
10 
- 
10 
Bridled Tern 
- 
- 
- 
1 
3 
7 
1 
1 
3 
19 
Arctic Tern 
5 
6 
3 
2 
- 
1 
6 
6 
29 
South Polar Skua 
30-h 
9 
4 
4 
4 
2 
1 
1 
- 
- 
- 
1 
56-^ 
Pomarine Jaeger 
11 
11 
8 
10 
5 
4 
3 
4 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
63 
Parasitic Jaeger 
5 
2 
2 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 
- 
1 
1 
18 
Long-tailed Jaeger 
2 
10 
11 
3 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
33 
VOLUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 3 
409 
