Bridle and Grooving

Failure sucks. And failure after having to deal with a slew of hurdles that come one after, together with imaginative and impromptu solutions that don't give the desired result is another level of suckitude altogether.

And success is often the result of not quitting. Today I made another attempt at seeing the Bridled Term resident on Great Gull Island. Of course, part of the process is assembling a posse. Though there can be more participants than available space.

 

Bridled Tern

After a bit of machinations, I recused myself from the decision process, and things worked itself out. Ed Thrasher and Avian Resnick met me at 11am and we trailered my boat out east to meet Pat Pallas Reed Bunting an hour and a half later at the DEC 'Oyster Ponds' boat ramp in Southhold.

Arriving at the ramp, Pat was waiting for us but hopes were soon dashed when I saw the barrier across the entrance which said 'closed to the public'. WTF?! A quick inquiry at the beach next door revealed that the ramp was damaged so they closed. it. #$%^&&^

 

Now you tell me!

Undaunted I inquired further and was told about other ramps, but unlike this one they were resident only. #%^&*(.

Yet it soon occurred to me that the marina from which I had gotten a ride last week surely must have a ramp. I did not know this to be a fact, but I headed there anyway. Thankfully I was correct.

 

$ mile shortcut

A sign at the ramp instructed us to fill out a form an put it with $20 into the slot, which Ed took care of. Noting that Pat was with us, I turned to Avian and asked if he had brought the guns. He replied in the negative. Clearly not a Warren Zevon fan.

I launched the boat, we boarded, and we were on our way. My boat was no where near as fast so it took us an hour to get to Great Gull Island, arriving at the north east end of the island at 2:15. On the way we saw a few Parasitic Jaegers which was nice, but no feeding terns or Shearwaters.

I anchored the boat 150' offshore and we began to scan the reported area. Hope as we did, it was not there when we arrived. During our vigil we noticed a commotion which turned out to be an immature Bald Eagle being escorted away from the island by a flock of angry terns.

At another point a Roseate tern flew right over us and gave killer looks. And a short time later a dark and powerful bird flew at the island which was a young Peregrine.

 

This concrete structure is Bridie's crib

Then at the reported 'favorite' spot I saw a bird land with what appeared in the harsh sunlight to be brown wings. YES! It was the Bridled Tern and I got the others on it. It then moved onto the rear of the structure it liked, and we took the opportunity to move the boat closer. A short time on something put the terns up and a large bunch flew out an past us together with Bridie. We got great looks as it flew out past us then flew back past us. YES! Lifer for Ed & Pat.

 

Bridie's Here!

It then alighted on the rocks near its 'spot' and we got more killer looks. Elated, we got our fill of looks and decided to head back to shore. Just west of Great Gull Island we saw another Parasitic Jaeger, but this time it flew towards us giving us killer looks at this bird too.

Despite the initial kluge with the boat ramp, early in the week the weather forecast accurately predicted it would be the perfect window to try for this bird. And the voyage out was easy. It was also nice that the relocation saved us 4 miles of boat trip! Then again on the way back the wind picked up a bit and some sections were a bit choppier and required slower travel.

And then we passed a clump of seaweed off of Plum Island that fouled my prop. Everything was fine until we got close to Orient point, about as far out as the Orient Point Lighthouse, and the engine stalled! Yikes.

I pulled the starter cord and it started back up right away (phew) but it was running a bit off. I choked the fuel and it ran perfectly and we continued on our way to the ramp.

After we loaded the boat back on the trailer we walked over to the marina's restaurant and had the requisite celebratory beer and a nice repast. One of the things we discussed was that my boat did not as of yet have a name. A few had been suggested, and I had come up with a few but I was not enamored of any of them. I also recounted one of my favorite jokes from The Flintstones. It was a joke about how they had named their boat – “My wife wanted to call it the Sea Queen, and I wanted to call it the Nautilus. So we compromised and called it the Nausea” 

I'll send this out while I wait for my food

When our beers arrived, I gave my favorite toast: “L'tsipourim!” Its Hebrew for “To Birds!” and then it hit me – I had the perfect name: the “Seapourim”. Sure, I was cautioned by the others at the table that I might have to explain it to most people, but hey, I like it.