the best of company from land and sea – Pubnico Pelagic on the German Bank August 13th 2016

If you know me you also know that rising early goes against my grain, but when presented with the opportunity to spend time in Mother Nature’s open university for the day I typically rise to the occasion. In this floating classroom I was surrounded by esteemed colleagues I hold in very high regard, and to steal a term from a birding friend I must say openly that I was extremely chuffed to be included.

a reason to get up early for sure – sun coming up not far from shore West Pubnico

angie-crop — thank you Diane for catching me when I was not looking!

Hats off to Ronnie d’Entremont for organizing an amazing adventure for us and being a wonderful host for this West Pubnico Pelagic trip. Also a warm thank you to our captain for your skill in keeping us safe on the seas. Your community is filled with beauty and generosity so happy to be a part of this day.

Also thank you to my kind hosts Mark and Sandra Dennis for wonderful hospitality and company on Friday evening, and my excellent traveling companion for the weekend, Diane Leblanc.

When Diane and I showed up at the Dennis residence on Friday, we immediately followed a twitch which didn’t work out but was a grand adventure nonetheless. We were entertained by some lovely butterflies which is often as worthy a pursuit of winged things, as well as a nice show of shorebirds in living color, so no crying over spilt milk for us.

Later on my target bird for the land portion of my adventure, the Hudsonian Godwit, eluded me but I did get lesson on another lifer bird, Roseate Tern, by Mark which was illustrated wonderfully by a group of Common and Roseate Terns.

Liz Voellinger & Diane LeBlanc at the Hawk Beach (Mark and I stalking a Northern Harrier in the back)

Mark making an attempt to summon the Godwits for us - the birds were having none of it as they think we should back in early September to see them and also their little friends, the Buff-breasted Sandpiper - and so it will likely be... — Mark making an attempt to summon the Godwits for us – the birds were having none of it as they think we should come back in early September to see them and also their little friends, the Buff-breasted Sandpiper – and so it will likely be…

Birding for Friday had to wrap up early as we had to rise by 345am to make it in time for the boat on Saturday morn.

Not often am I at a loss for words but I find myself slightly verklempt and at that the remainder of this post will be mostly dedicated to photos.

All the pelagics were new to me save the Northern Gannet and Black-legged Kittiwake and I stacked up 8 lifers on this trip.

My photos are not star quality for sure but I am limited by my bridge camera, but also able to at least get the shot. Practice makes perfect and I will earn that DSLR I dream of in the not too far off future, I promise. There will be photos from this trip from other participants that will definitely qualify as star quality. Thank you to them for continually raising the bar and capturing beautiful things so skillfully.

Our bird of the day was a Manx Shearwater who put on a stellar performance and ended an already great day with perfection.

Definitely one of the best days of my life this far. And I’m on a mission to top them every day!

Happy birding and serendipity to you,

Angela