Pelagic Birding in the Wilmington Canyon

On June 16, 2015, five of us went offshore fishing, and three of us being birders, enjoyed the pelagic birds,  most of which were attracted by the chum we put out. I began the trip taking the Cape May-Lewes ferry to NJ the evening before we left (first pic), and ended it taking the ferry back to Lewes (last 2 pics). And yes, we did catch some fish...10 Yellowfin Tuna.

If you have the desire to go pelagic birding, but do not care to fish, there are offshore trips dedicated to just birding. One experienced company that has trips going out of Lewes, is See Life Paulagics, run by Paul and Anita Guris.

 Lighthouse on outer breakwater at Lewes

 Long-tailed Jaeger

 Pomerine Jaeger

 Cory's Shearwater

 Great Shearwater

 Mike Fritz taking underwater video of Great Shearwaters diving for our chum

 Osprey on nest at Lewes ferry terminal

Baby Osprey in nest

Pelagic Birds Out of Lewes, DE, May 29, 2015

On an offshore fishing trip today, we* observed many pelagic birds rarely seen from land in Delaware. More or less in order of appearance they were:
Manx Shearwater, Cory's Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Great Shearwater, Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Pomarine Jaeger, and Arctic Tern.

We also had delightful views of the following marine mammals: Pilot Whales, Common Dolphin, Rizzo's Dolphin, as well as good views of Mako and Hammerhead Sharks, Mola Mola (Ocean Sunfish), and over 50 Portuguese Man-of-War Jellyfish.

And yes we also caught some tasty fish, but as this is a bird blog........I will limit my comments to saying the sushi will be great :)

* Our fishing/birding team was Ed Sigda (boat owner), Mike Fritz (from Cape May) and me.