Last Sunday a group of us from Hunter Bird Observers Club were at Glenrock
Lagoon S.R.A., which is on the coast close to Newcastle. Normally, this is
a good spot to visit as there is a variety of habitats to check out. Heavy
rain on Sunday meant that it was less productive than usual.
There was a large flock (1000+) of dark shearwaters visible from the beach,
and obviously following a school of fish or whatever as it moved about. It
seemed to be a mixed flock, as there were size differences. Some birds that
came in closer we identified as Wedge-tailed Shearwater, but the smaller
birds stayed too far out to be sure of the identification.
On the shore, we found 4 dead birds. The sea lice were very active, but
the birds were mostly intact. Based on past discussions in Birding-aus
about longevity of such carcases with sea-lice activity, I'd say that they
were fairly recent deaths.
One of the dead birds was a Short-tailed Shearwater and the other three were
Sooty Shearwater. Presumably, then, these species were also in the flock
out to sea.
Alan Stuart
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