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birding-aus Tasmanian Pelagic - 17 October 1999

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Subject: birding-aus Tasmanian Pelagic - 17 October 1999
From: "Chris Lester"<>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 09:04:58 +1000

TASMANIA BOAT TRIP  -  17/10/1999

On Board: Denis Abbott, Sue Baker, John Barkla, Diana Bryant, Gabrielle
          Harrison, Chris Lester, Jann Mulholland, Ross Mulholland, Susan
          Myers, Richard Nowotny, Tim Reid, Fred Smith, Bill Wakefield,
          Maggie Wakefield

Conditions:    Left at 8 am and returned at 4 pm.  In the morning, it was
          relatively calm with slight chop and waves about a metre.  Wind
          was fresh at 15 knots from the NE.  Chop increased over the day
          with some 2-3 m waves in the afternoon as the breeze freshened to
          15-20 kts with gusts of 25 kts. There was no swell.  The expected
          SW change did not arrive.  The weather was fine and mostly sunny
          all day.

          We travelled the 14 nautical miles out to the shelf to the NE of
          Eagle Hawk Neck and some 4nm beyond it.  We then went S initially
          outside the shelf and then along it, visited the Hippolytes to
          the SW of EHN and returned along the shore.

Highlights:    The number of Southern Fulmars was exciting as was the
          Black-bellied Storm-Petrel.  However, the sheer number of
          Short-tailed Shearwaters was staggering.  They occupied a band
          about 3-4 nm wide just before the shelf.  This band extended for
          the length of our whole trip along the shelf and, presumably, a
          whole lot further.  Our estimate was that there were more than a
          million birds.  Amazing spectacle.

Birds:                    Most seen at once   Estimated Total

Little Penguin                   1              1
Common Diving-Petrel                  1              3
Southern Giant-Petrel                 1              2
Northern Giant-Petrel                 4             10
SOUTHERN FULMAR             1              5
Cape Petrel                     10             25
Great-winged Petrel              2              4
          all r. macroptera
Fairy Prion *                   40            200
White-chinned Petrel                  3              8
Sooty Shearwater                 1              10
Short-tailed Shearwater               50,000            100,000s
Wandering Albatross              3             12
          r. exulans
Royal Albatross                       1              3
          r. epomophora
Black-browed Albatross                2              6
          one r. impavida
Shy Albatross                   30            60
          two r. salvini
Yellow-nosed Albatross                2              6
Wilson?s Storm-Petrel                25             40
Grey-backed Storm-Petrel         2              5
BLACK-BELLIED STORM-PETREL       1              1
Australasian Gannet #                30             50
Black-faced Cormorant #        100            120
White-bellied Sea-Eagle #             2              2
Peregrine Falcon #               1              1
Pacific Gull                     2              5
Kelp Gull #                     10             15
Silver Gull #                    3             10
Crested Tern                     2              5
White-fronted Tern               7              10

* A probable Salvin's Prion was also seen
# Mostly on the Hippolytes or in-shore

Mammals:  Australian Fur-seal


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