Had the best seawatch of the last few weeks from Mistral Point, Maroubra
yesterday, Wednesday 21st, in the last hour or so of daylight. It was cool,
with light rain and a moderate south-easterly.
Highlights were:
a Northern Giant Petrel 'scoped at about 70 metres of the Point. Dark,
reddish bill tip was very obvious. I wonder if this was the same bird seen
on the last Sydney pelagic on 10th October. There aren't many giant petrels
of any description around these waters in October.
a Cape Petrel about 150 metres flying slowly south.
two latish White-fronted Terns - a full breeding plumage adult and a very
worn looking, patchy young bird.
a Sooty Shearwater, seen close to some Short-tails.
There was a moderate 'wrong-way' migration of Short-tailed Shearwaters and
Australasian Gannets going north.
Full list:
Little Penguin 1
Black-browed Albatross 1 immature
Northern Giant Petrel 1 immature
Cape Petrel 1 south
Wedge-tailed Shearwater ca 250, most flying south
Sooty Shearwater 1 going south, close in
Short-tailed Shearwater ca 250, most flying north
Fluttering Shearwater only 3 birds
Australasian Gannet ca 70, all north
Great Cormorant 1
Little Black Cormorant 3
Arctic Skua 4 south
Silver Gull ca 400
Common Tern 3
White-fronted Tern 2
Crested Tern ca 12
Total of sixteen species.
This morning saw my first Pomarine Skua of the spring, the 33rd seabird
species off Maroubra since June (excluding 'new' albatrosses).
Rod Gardner
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