Date: Mon, 6 Sept 99
From: Shawneen Finnegan/Paul Lehman
To: NJ Birds Mailing list
Subject: Fea's Petrel, 6 Sept 99

NJ Birders:

For the last week the winds have been NE with little to show. People had been seawatching without seeing much except two sightings, both brief, of Arctic Terns. The winds went SE yesterday and a few shearwaters began to be sighted from Cape May Point in the afternoon. A flyby juv. Sooty Tern was seen by one person yesterday morning, followed by later in the day with two Cory's and a Greater Shearwater, 10 Wilson's Storm-Petrel, and a few Parasitic Jaegers. This morning it was very foggy and humid, but despite the poor conditions two Manx Shearwaters, a Cory's and a Greater, plus a Parasitic Jaeger, were seen from the point only early in the morning. A brief juv. Sooty Tern was seen by those on the State Park covered platform, but not by those just west of them.

But the big news is that three Dutch birders who were at the platform had reasonable views of a Fea's Petrel at 4 PM. They were alone and ran to tell the people on the hawkwatch platform. But they were unable to relocate it. I heard about the Fea's at 6:15 PM, after another Manx Shearwater had been sighted from there--nothing else of note was seen after the Manx. The Dutch birder whom we spoke with has seen dozens of Fea's and has even seen Zino's on the breeding grounds (the latter at night). He described the bird quite convincingly. Needless to say we will be out early tomorrow AM looking for whatever else shows up. Per the Weather Channel the winds will turn south tomorrow afternoon.