Ken and I have been planning and dreaming of going on several of Brian Patteson’s North Carolina Pelagic trips for years. This year it finally happened, and as in all long awaited and anticipated trips it didn’t go quite as we had planned. We planned 3 trips in 5 days, with a day to rest and bird on land between trips. We didn’t plan on a very unusual sustained low pressure cell off shore just south of N.C. that caused strong sustained NE winds and high seas. As it turned out our first and last trips were cancelled, but with luck we got on a trip for the first planned day off, so we managed 2 trips offshore.

Here is my eBird trip report.
You can find Patteson Seabirding website here.
I mention The Science of Birding Podcast so here is a link to the associated website.
Seabirds are extremely interesting for many reasons. They spend their lives at sea, and can fly using amazingly little flapping, a technique called “dynamic soaring.” Here is a video that explains some of the science behind this flight type.

Thanks for listening.