On June 2, our 17th consecutive day of pelagic trips from Hatteras, NC aboard the Stormy Petrel II, we found a Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel about 35.5 nautical miles off Hatteras Inlet. Fortunately, the bird was obliging enough to spend about half an hour feeding in our chum slick with dozens of Wilson's Storm-Petrels.

It was a wonderful experience to study the bird in a relaxed setting and to watch it fly and feed. It spent considerable time pattering right among the Wilson's, and we also watched it pick up a big chunk and fly away with it at the end. This was much different encounter from the Swinhoe's we saw here on August 8, 1998. Most of that observation took place as we pursued the bird with the boat (Miss Hatteras.) Yesterday we were so close that we could see some of the more subtle features of the bird including the rather stout bill (thicker than "Band-rumped" types seen here or Leach's.) Steve Howell, who first noted the all dark stormy yesterday, also had photos with him of Matsudaira's, Tristram's, Markham's, and "dark-rumped Leach's" from the Pacific which were helpful in comparison, and all of these differed from the Swinhoe's in a few respects.

Our 1998 record was not accepted by ABA or AOU, but hopefully this one will be. There also a sighting off Cape Hatteras in August 1993 which was closely observed but not photographed. There have also been a couple of other possible glimpses at dark stormies over the years. This was the seventh species of storm-petrel seen from our boat now (considering "Band-rumped" as one species.)

Overall, it was a good spring but we were generally lacking in jaegers, skuas, terns and shearwaters. We had multiple sightings of Bermuda, Fea's, and Trindade Petrels and European Storm-Petrels. Black-capped Petrels were more common than last spring.

-- Brian Patteson, Seabirding Pelagic Trips