Birds and Other Nature Sightings

 This past weekend a friend invited me to join him on his boat for a tuna fishing trip.  I didn’t hesitate to take his offer.  The trip offered me two of my favorite activities - fishing and wildlife viewing.  Luckily, the weather, the tuna and the marine life all cooperated for me.  We caught yellowfin tuna and saw plenty of dolphins, whales and a few pelagic birds. We left my friend’s dock at around 1 a.m. aboard his 36-foot fishing boat.  The boat, all decked out with offshore fishing gear, headed out of Barnegat Inlet on a course about 90 miles to the northeast.  We arrived at the fishing grounds around 5:30 a.m.  I can’t identify the exact location because my friend, like any other dedicated fishing captain, doesn’t give out his secret GPS coordinates.  But eBird decided to place my checklist in New York waters. Left, Wilson's storm-petrel.  Right, Cory's shearwater.    © S. Weiss Left, great shearwater.  Right, grea...

 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...