Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

May 6

I flew in to Norfolk, Virginia. I think it wins as my favorite airport ever! Artistic, clean, and an easy layout. I made my way down the coast to Cape Hatteras. 

May 7

East coast pelagic trip #1! I was on a boat out of San Diego in February, but this was my first time on the Atlantic this year, and also my first time north of Florida along the east coast for the year. Lots of new birds were possible! 

It was a choppy ride out, and despite having taken Dramamine, I became seasick about four hours into the ten hour trip. I had forgotten how horrible it feels - anyone who has experienced seasickness can relate! A flock of distant Red-necked Phalaropes were low over the water on our way out. We had great looks at Black-capped Petrels and Wilson's Storm-Petrels periodically through much of the day. Audubon's and Cory's Shearwaters both paid a visit to the chum behind the boat, and Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers also swung by for a bit, making several passes.  A few of us had fleeting looks at a Leach's Storm-Petrel about halfway through the day. I had gotten sick somewhere between 8 and 10 times, and by the time we made it to land around 4 pm, I was very thankful to be stationary. Two hours after returning to land, it began pouring buckets and raining nearly sideways. Talk about timing! 

May 8 

The boat trip was cancelled today. I  had originally signed up for Friday and Sunday, anticipating that I  would need Saturday as a recovery day. It was hard to not be almost thankful the trip didn't go out: There would be no regretting anything I might have missed, since nobody was seeing anything. I was still not feeling well from yesterday, and I went for a short walk on the beach and then lazied around until noon. A Great Black-backed Gull was new for the year, flying over the beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. 

May 9 

Trip #2 - I preemptively tried Bonine this time - taken once the night before and again shortly before leaving for the dock in the morning. It was difficult to get the courage to get on the boat again, knowing there was well a chance that Bonine wouldn't work either. 

We had more great looks at Black-capped Petrel, incredible views of a Pomarine Jaeger who graced us with its obvious presence for many passes. In the afternoon, a Fea's Petrel was found by Ed, one of the spotters, confidently calling the ID at a fair distance. It came in closer to the boat, checking out the chum slick, but not entirely interested, though giving everyone a chance to get decent looks before it disappeared into the vast oceanic horizon. Adding a bird for the year is never a bad thing -- but Code 3 birds are very important for Big Years -- and some Code 3s, like the Fea's Petrel, are birds you sort of just have to happen upon. Happy to have this one in the bag! We began motoring our way back to shore - about a two hour trip as we were 30 miles offshore. Figuring we were finished accumulating new birds for the day, it was extra exciting to come upon a flock of 7 or 8 Red Phalaropes that had been on the water near the boat. 

Nearly more exciting than the Fea's Petrel was NO SEASICKNESS! I  felt amazing all day! In truth, I  probably just felt "normal" but compared to the way I had anticipated feeling, it was amazing. I'd been meaning to get to Cape Hatteras for literally over a decade, and it was awesome to finally meet Kate! I  had anticipated I'd likely be the only woman on the boat aside from her, but was pleasantly surprised when there were seven lady participants on Friday's trip and five on Sunday. Trip capacity, I  believe, was 20 participants, so we made up just over 1/4, but we are getting there! Little by little we will work toward equal representation in the field of birding. 

I finished the North Carolina trip with nine new birds added and headed back to spend a few days at home in the Rio Grande Valley. 

Year List: 570