A Most Unexpected Alcid, Block Island Ferry, Rhode Island, June 1, 2021

A late May and early June 2021 trip to the Mid-Atlantic and New England states gave me an opportunity to add a few species to my statelists in the region.  Although the primary focus was to visit relatives, there’s always time to squeeze in at least a little birding.  Since I used to live in the area my statelists there are pretty good, but there are usually at least a few targets to hope for – often there is a rarity or two that might be around when I’m in town, and occasionally a few remaining regular species that I haven’t yet run into. 

After our first stop in PA it was on to visit relatives in Rhode Island.  I had recently spent the last 25 years birding extensively throughout New England so I had a very good list in RI.  As a result I wasn’t too surprised that no targets popped up on my eBird RI Needs Alert.  But that didn’t stop me from making a couple quick trips to the coast with the family just to see the regular coastal birds that I’ve missed so much since moving to the NC mountains a couple years ago. 

But without a doubt the greatest opportunity for RI birding on the trip was on our ferry rides to and from Block Island on June 1.  I have taken the Block Island ferry many times over the years, always perched near the bow hoping to see some pelagic species passing by.  I’ve called it “a poor man’s pelagic trip” because your chances are limited to hoping that the path of the ferry comes close to a passing pelagic bird for what is likely to be an oh so brief observation.  Despite these long odds, I’ve been successful over the years in seeing 3 Shearwater species, both Storm-Petrels, and 3 Alcid species from the ferry.  On this trip the chances of getting a new statebird were remote at best, so I just realistically hoped to see one pelagic bird of any type – another opportunity to re-acquaint myself with species I hadn’t seen in a couple years. 

The boat trip to Block Island started well enough with a small flock of Laughing Gulls just outside Galilee Harbor.  Plus a couple Common Loons and several Gannets flew by as we motored south.  But otherwise, bird sightings were limited to just a few Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls and several Common Terns.  And then on one of my scans far to the east I picked up a small dark bird with rapid wing beats flying southwest generally toward the boat.  It was an Alcid of some type – seemingly one of the smaller species.  I kept my binoculars trained on the bird as it approached.  As it got closer I could confirm it was one of the smaller Alcids, and could now see the two-toned dark above and white below look.  And finally, as it crossed right in front of the bow of the boat I could see a white face, black chest band, and the clincher – large triangular orange bill.  Amazingly I had an Atlantic Puffin!  An exceptionally rare RI bird in winter and the first summer RI record in eBird.  My thoughts instantly went to my late birding friend Denny Abbott who spent his entire life focused on birding throughout New England.  He saw all the Alcid species in RI except for Puffin, and we made several winter trips together on the ferry where Denny’s sole target was the Atlantic Puffin.  Alas he was never able to add it to his RI statelist. 

It was my only pelagic species on the trip but it sure was a great one!

Atlantic Puffin was #335 for my RI state list – my 3rd state along with ME and MA for this species. 

Dovekie, Pacific Loon and Lots of Guillemots, Off Block Island, RI, March, 2015

In December 2014 I took a pelagic trip in RI waters with great hopes of filling some key gaps in my statelist, especially Dovekie and Fulmar.  There were no Fulmars seen on the trip, so we all struck out on that one.  The Dovekie story, however, was a little different – several were seen on the trip, and virtually every birder saw at least one.  That is, except for me.  It seems I was always looking in the wrong direction when one was seen, or didn’t get the news early enough to get on them.  So that was a very frustrating miss.  Though an adult Thayer’s Gull on that trip was a very nice consolation.

That was my only ever winter pelagic, and likely my last.  Even though the weather was relatively warm and calm for that time of year, the trip was still extremely cold and I was very uncomfortable during most of the trip.  Other birders have also seen some good winter pelagics off RI from cod fishing boats, but I don’t think those trips would be any better than the pelagic.  So it looks like if I’m going to get Dovekie, Fulmar, and other winter pelagic species for my RI list I’ll need to either be really lucky to see them from shore, or from the ferry to/from Block Island.  And then if I take the ferry to the Island, maybe I could spend some time looking for pelagics while doing a seawatch from Block Island itself. 

And speaking of seeing pelagics from the mainland - earlier this winter a chaseable Thick-billed Murre, another RI statebird target, was seen from land in Newport.  But I didn’t get the news early enough, and then wasn’t available to go after it.  Like I said, I would need to be really lucky to see a new pelagic species from the mainland.

So the rest of the winter I kept thinking about getting out to Block Island to at least try for Dovekie, which in reality isn’t that rare in RI.  Much of this winter has been really cold, so not very good weather for a trip to the Island.  But finally in March with some seasonable weather forecasted, I put aside a day for the trip.  The ferry to the island leaves Point Judith at 10, arriving at 11, and the return trip doesn’t leave the Island until 2:30.  So in addition to the time on the ferry, I would have about 3 hours for a seawatch from land. 

Despite my best laid plans, I almost didn’t make it to the ferry in time.  What is normally a 2-hour drive on the weekend, or at least outside of rush hour, took me nearly 3 hours due to icy roads and lots of backups.  I almost turned around a couple times, but ended up making it to the ferry with minutes to spare.  I’m sure glad I didn’t turn around.

As the boat was leaving the dock I realized that the air was virtually still.  And then as we exited the harbor I could see the ocean was as smooth as glass, and visibility was excellent with no heat shimmer – the only challenge was the vibration of the boat engines.  As a result, when we got to open water I was able to identify waterfowl on the water at a considerable distance.  Though I imagined that the lack of even a light breeze would limit my chances for Fulmar and other birds that might take advantage of the wind to move through the area.

But despite the excellent viewing conditions, the first few minutes of the trip were pretty slow, with just a few Common Loons and Scoters here and there.  And then I noticed a group of 5 Loons swimming on the surface – 3 Commons, a Red-throated, and then another with a gleaming white hindneck.  When it would turn its head so that the hindneck was pointing toward the sun it was as if a beacon went off!  It was the size of the Red-throated, held its head horizontally, and had a short broad bill.  It was a nearly full breeding plumaged Pacific Loon – only my second one for RI.  Quite a start.

As we crossed the sound I continued to pick out small groups of Scoters, and a few Loons, but little else.  Then up ahead I noticed a large flock of waterfowl on the water some distance ahead of us – it was a flock of Scoters stretching at least a quarter mile to either side of our upcoming path.  As we neared the group they started to fly away, most waiting until we were right on top of them.  Almost all were White-winged Scoters (I estimated 3,000), with just a few Surf Scoters mixed in.  Later on I found a flock of mostly Black Scoters, (about 800), with about 200 Long-tailed Ducks mixed in.  Interesting that the White-wings and Blacks were staying in separate flocks.

Now we were nearing Block Island and I was getting disappointed that I had not seen any alcids.  Then as we approached the harbor I noticed a small dark alcid flying along the boat.  My thoughts quickly jumped to Dovekie, but instead it was a breeding plumaged Black Guillemot.  That was only my second Guillemot for RI, which is actually quite rare in the state.  A nice bird but not one of my targets.

A few minutes after landing I took a quick pre-arranged taxi ride to the southeast part of the island for my first ever Block Island seawatch.  I had been told that the Southeast Lighthouse and adjacent Mohegan Bluffs can be good locations, so I had the taxi drop me at the lighthouse to start.  Unfortunately this site is quite high off the water, and the shoreline is rather distant.  I wasn’t even going to try from this spot, but decided to set up the scope and give it a quick scan just in case there might be something good below me.  Only when I started to scan the open ocean did I realize how amazing the viewing conditions were – I was able to identify birds on the water well over a mile out.  And although there were very few birds in flight, there were quite a number of birds on the water – many flocks of Scoters, a number of Loons, and small groups of Red-necked and Horned Grebes were the key species.  Then I noticed a small dark bird way out – another breeding plumaged Guillemot.  Soon I had another and then a flock of 3 more.  Glad I stopped.  But given the distance to the water I didn’t stay here long, and headed to Mohegan Bluffs to see if I could get closer to the water.

I had been told that the key attraction for the Mohegan Bluffs site is that you can take steps down the bluffs to be close to the water level.  And although it would mean climbing down, and then back up, 116 steps in all (I counted), it was worth it.  I set up my scope at a landing at the bottom of the steps that gave me a little elevation above the water, and a wide view of the coastline.  

In addition to the ever present Scoters, Grebes, and Loons, there was a flock of at least 100 Common Goldeneye and another 100+ Bufflehead feeding close to shore.  And again I started finding more Guillemots.  With each scan I picked out more birds – all were way out on the water, and most were in breeding plumage.  I counted 10 birds in total, including these three birds perhaps a mile out in this heavily cropped phonescoped photo.

Over the next half hour I had 2 pairs of Razorbills fly by quite closely, and 5 other large alcids farther out, but little else was flying.  So I had now spent at least 90 minutes on the seawatch, and was likely seeing the same birds over and over again.  Although I had had some great birds, I was beginning to prepare myself for the reality that I wouldn’t get any new RI statebirds today.  On my next scan, as I got to the same group of 3 Guillemots I had photographed earlier, I noticed another small alcid even farther out.  This one seemed to have a shorter neck than the Guillemots, and was black above and white below.  Could this be a Dovekie?  It was so far way that I was a bit doubtful that I could be sure, even though I watched it swim and dive for the next several minutes.  But then it stretched its wings and there were no white wing patches - it was indeed a Dovekie.  And a few minutes later another Dovekie flew through my scopefield, and I was able to watch it for quite a while as it headed east.

Dovekie was # 319 for me in RI, which was my fourth, and likely last, New England state for this species. (see my statebird map below).

 

The ride back on the ferry was rather uneventful, except for a flyby of two large alcids.  They were close enough that I’m pretty sure they had smaller heads and bills making them Murres, and one bird was in full breeding plumage.  But I couldn’t tell for sure which species they were.  Common is certainly more likely.

Looking back on it all, it was a tremendous day.  First of all, any day with a new statebird in New England is a great day.  Dovekie was #1,996 for me in New England - just 4 more to go to 2,000.  And although as predicted I had very few birds in flight, including no Fulmars and not even a Kittiwake, I had lots of other great birds - 16 Guillemots (an amazing RI total – maybe a state record?), and a breeding plumaged Pacific Loon.  Though I doubt I would have seen any of those good birds if it hadn’t been for absolutely ideal viewing conditions.  Over the years I’ve now seen 6 new RI statebirds from the Block Island ferry, and now one on a winter seawatch from the Island.  I’m sure there will be more Block Island seawatches in my future.  And as I always say – “I love a seawatch”.