Are the birds different between Oregon Inlet and Hatteras?
For the most part, no, not in the Gulf Stream. Over the years, there has been little overlap in coverage between trips from Oregon Inlet and Hatteras, but generally the bird lists from two boats in the Gulf Stream (similar water temps) on a given day will be the almost same even though they might be 30 to 50 miles apart. These are short distances for seabirds. Even resting on the water, seabirds in the Gulf Stream will move at 3 to 4 knots over the bottom when they are in the “hard current.” Thus, they might cover 20 miles in 5 hours if they never fly at all. The scarcity of some of the birds we see means that some of these are not seen every day, so if two boats were out concurrently, one boat might see a European Storm-Petrel or Fea’s Petrel and the other boat might not. But the tables could easily be turned a day or two later; it’s just luck of the draw. In late summer the waters east of Oregon Inlet are better for White-faced Storm-Petrel. This is actually north of the Gulf Stream.
