Cruise to Nova Scotia

Recently, I mentioned to a friend that my wife was searching for quick vacation getaways and that she found a good deal on a four-day cruise to Nova Scotia. My friend’s response was, “Oh my God! I did that cruise. You’re going to love it. You’ll see birds and marine life from the ship!” A few minutes later I texted my wife telling her that I was all in for the cruise. So, this past week we took our cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia. I followed eBird reports for a few weeks before we left and most of the birds being reported in Halifax were the spring warblers that had already migrated through Ocean County a few weeks ago. Potential life birds, like Canada jay, pine grosbeak and black-backed woodpecker were not being seen near where we would be in Halifax. So, with more than two full days at sea at nearly 100 miles offshore, I looked forward to this as being more of a comfortable pelagic sightseeing trip. We left Port Liberty in Bayonne late a...