**INCREDIBLE Half-Day 12hr Winter Pelagic w/ NYSYBC + American Princess Cruises

My mom and I went on another pelagic trip for birding, but this time - during winter!! Join us on Saturday, January 27, 2024 as we go with our birding club looking for deep, winter pelagic species!

(apologies for this one-month late blog post)

Hello birders!

This blog post is about to be another incredible one as my mom and I went on another pelagic trip (one in summer, now one in winter) hosted by American Princess Cruises on Saturday, January 27, 2024. We went on this trip with our young birders’ club, NYSYBC. This pelagic was only 12 hours (half a day) instead of the overnight 24 hours. In terms of motion sickness, we were fully prepared with Dramamine, Acupuncture Bands, Ginger Gum, and more! Scroll down to read about what we saw and see some of my pictures of the winter pelagic seabirds!

My mom and I woke up at 3:45 am, after having a good-nights sleep (a good prevention for seasickness; we slept at 8pm). Without snoozing the alarms, we got up and got ready. My dad did the same, as he was going to drop us off at Sheepshead Bay (where the ship departs). After eating a quick snack we headed to Sheepshead Bay, leaving the house at 4:30 am!

At our arrival to Sheepshead Bay, it was 5:15 am. We said bye to my dad and proceeded on to meet with the other young birders, prior to boarding the ship. It was great to see many young birders I know. As we finished talking to each other, boarding began.

One by one, we were called up to board the ship and secure a spot that we would sit and keep our belongings in for the whole 12 hours. By 6 am flat and everyone on the ship, we calmly departed from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

While many people (including some young birders) were outside enjoying the cold breeze of the wind and the early morning darkness, my mom and I stayed inside the ship to relax until the Sun appeared.

At approximately 7 am, the first visible bird of the day appeared. It was a lone Common Loon drifting close by.

A couple of minutes later, we noticed a flock of Black Scoters flying South. Since the sun had just rose, there was thick fog which made the scoters hard to identify until they got a bit closer to our ship. Standing outside in the cold breezy morning was definitely worth it as we were rewarded to a flock of around five Razorbills.

As the flock flew by, I got some quick shots of them before I realized that another single Razorbill was minding its own business on the water as everybody was staring at it.

This was a great FOY bird for me, as the views and pictures I got were better than the first time I saw a Razorbill. Additionally, many of us got some nice views of a Gray Seal.

As the day went on, the fog cleared up, and we were greeted to more species such as some Bonaparte’s Gulls and a lifer Common Murre! This was such an exciting moment for me, as I’ve been wanting to see a Murre of any type for longer than a year. I was 99% sure we would see one on this trip, and my guess was correct!

While I thought my excitement was coming to an end, I was wrong! At around 9:10 am, someone caught eye of a fairly close immature Atlantic Puffin! As soon as I heard the announcement on board, I rushed to the top deck to find most-all of the passengers pointing their cameras and binoculars to a bird drifting on the water. I immediately joined them and took multiple pictures of the bird. I also got quality views of the puffin in different positions. I had no thought of even seeing a puffin on this trip, but my prediction was proved wrong.

Within that same hour, everyone stayed on the top deck because there was no point of moving when birds such as Northern Gannets, Brant, more Bonaparte’s Gulls, and our first Black-legged Kittiwake filled the air around them! I couldn't believe my excitement when what-I-thought was a Ring-billed Gull, was really a kittiwake! After realizing why I misidentified this bird, I took note of its different features such as its smaller look, unmarked yellow bill, black legs, and more. It was so great to see a unique gull with black legs!

With the kittiwake still lingering around at 10:30 am, an adult Atlantic Puffin was seen. As everybody, including me, got out our viewing and photographing equipment, another adult Atlantic Puffin was found a bit more distant than the first one. Soon after, there were not one, not two, not three, but four total puffins! We spent the next 20 minutes enjoying the colorful puffins with their deep orange bills.

With these delightful species seen so far, we had no idea for what was coming next! With a an entertaining flock of quick six White-winged Scoters, we waited patiently for more birds to come along.

About 30 minutes later, I was notified about a Dovekie very close to the front of the ship. I came down from the top deck immediately, and went to the front, where about 20 other passengers were standing. As soon as I saw the Dovekie, I was in shock of how small it was. It was basically a miniature Razorbill with a more pointier bill. It gave us quite a show with its adorable appearance. I was massively satisfied!

After more than an hour with almost no activity, at 12:50 pm, an additional adult Atlantic Puffin broke the boredom.

For the next 2.5 hours, we were waiting, eager for a surprise. While there wasn’t a surprise, we still saw more of the same including another Common Murre and Atlantic Puffin.

The next few hours were very calm with little to no activity. I payed attention to different surroundings aside from birds, such as cargo ships. To confirm the boat was moving, I took two pictures of the same cargo ship, six minutes apart. The two photos show the ship at different angles indicating that our ship/the cargo ship were moving.

The last visible birds photographed from me were two Common Murres interacting with each other as the darkness was setting in. With little activity for the next two hours, the sun had fully set, leaving us with complete darkness.

Since it was completely dark outside, the cold birders moved to the interior of the ship, where there were lights and warmth. During this time, I looked at my bird photos and compared them with my Sibley Bird Field Guide book. Also, all the Young Birders present (including me) took a photo together.

At around 5:30 pm, the ship docked back at Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. As every one of us came out of the ship, we made sure to thank the crew and the captain!

It was so great to have this experience of a half-day winter pelagic trip, with a whole lot of amazing birds, and most being lifers for me! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this trip and hope to go on more pelagics on upcoming months! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post, and apologies for the lateness in this specific post. Good Birding!

eBird Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/199021