350 Species - Challenge Accepted!

From Providence, Rhode Island, Kimberly Writes:  We began our day with a visit to the Cape Cod National Seashore.  In order to try and add some species to our list for the Book Tour Big 350 Species Challenge, we first hit one of the wooded walking trails and had great success, adding many plants, trees, and even some insects.  

From the woods we headed for the beach.  Both of us love the ocean, and with the winds really whipping out of the East/Southeast, we both hoped to catch a glimpse of a few seabirds.  We weren't disappointed.   There were squadrons of Northern Gannets everywhere, numbering in at least the hundreds.  There was never a point during our watch that we couldn't see multiple Gannets in the air. Interesting to both of us was the fact that they were nearly all adults.

Northern Gannets against a rolling surf

In addition to the gannets, we also had huge rafts of Common Eiders, three Scoter species (Black, Surf, and White-winged),  and we even had nice looks at a Greater Shearwater! We stayed longer than we should have, considering the rest of the day's schedule, but since we're driving the Nature Mobile Hot Rod we figured it was no big deal to make it on time! 

The Nature Mobile Hot Rod
Coz this is how we roll!

It was hard to tear ourselves away from an awesome sea watch, but we had to head for Providence to give a presentation for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island tonight.  

It was a packed house and the audience was wonderful. We signed lots and lots of books afterward, too!  Conservation giant, Drew Wheelen, came to hear our talk and Kenn and I were both honored to meet him.  Drew did remarkable work during the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and his bold and courageous work in revealing the real story of the spill's catastrophic impact on wildlife was nothing short of heroic. 

We enjoyed the evening immensely, and now we're back in our hotel room in Providence tallying our species list.  As of last night we were at 114, but with today's success we surpassed the 175 mark!  

200, here we come!