SEA WATCH OFF MAROUBRA (Mistral and Magic Point) - 12TH JULY 1998
Yesterday, myself and Dean Portelli arrived at Mistral Point, Maroubra at
about 8am in the hope of finding some interesting seabirds. The first
seabird seen was a Fairy Penguin calling which I saw very briefly about the
surf, very close to the rocks. Within the next hour, a few Black-browed and
a Yellow-nosed Albatross at a fair distance was seen, then a few flock of
Fluttering Shearwaters and a Kelp Gull.
At about 9:30 am when David Koffel arrived, we decided to move to Magic
Point as we had observed a small group of Black-browed Albatross closeby to
this point near a group of fishing boats.
On arrival at Magic Point, we enjoyed a view of a Black-browed Albatross
very close to shore, only 5 meters from the rocks and could even see its
Iris to tell it was race melanophris (I have heard a rumour that this
subspecies may be split from the NZ race impavida - Is that the case ?). An
Immature and many more adult Black-browed were also seen. From this
headland, we were thrilled to see masses of Fluttering Shearwaters heading
south (Why ?), and we saw no less than 20, 000 of these flying within 100
metres of the headland within 2 hours. Atleast half a dozen Hutton's
Shearwaters were among this great flock of Fluttering Shearwaters. Also
entertaining, was a pod of atleast 50 Bottle-nosed Dolphins swimming and
playing within 50 metres off shore (some coming very close to the rocks). A
few calves were amongst the adults.
A few fishing boats were offshore and I spotted an Antarctic Skua circling
around a boat and being mobbed by Silver Gulls.
The seas were mainly flat throughout the time, and no Prions could be seen
as present atleast a few days ago. We ended the day at 2 pm as the activity
ended.
Edwin
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