NEWCASTLE NSW Pelagic Trip Report 14 September 2002

[richard baxter <>]

NEWCASTLE, NSW. Pelagic Trip Report 14 September 2002

Conditions: Departed 7.15am from Swansea weigh bridge. Returned 3.55pm.

Sea Conditions: .5m swell

Weather: Fine and sunny all day.

Wind: 15-20knots

Maximum distance from shore. 64km.

Those on board: Alan Stuart, Robert Quinan, Phil Hansbro, Colin Goodenough, Rachel & Damian Baxter, Greg Newling, Dick Jenkin, Jenny Norton(Tamworth), Tony Adlide, Robert Macdonald and Richard Baxter.

A great September pelagic with a couple of good birds seen. We departed Swansea at 7.15am and we were immeadiately confronted with a .5m swell coming in from the east and this remained the norm throughout the day but generally it was pretty calm.

Not long after leaving Swansea we saw our first of many Wedge-tailed Shearwaters.  These a few Australasian Gannet and small numbers of Fluttering Shearwater were the only birds we saw in the first hour. We continued out and as we crossed the shelf we were joined by our first Great-winged Petrel and shortly after a Pomerine Jaeger joined the many Wedge-tailed Shearwaters at the back of the boat and a few Short-tailed Shearwater.  We had good numbers of Australasian Gannet at this location and several Crested terns near the boat.

We continued east and eventually stopped 64km offshore at our primary chumming location. It wasn?t long before our first Hutton?s Shearwater appeared, followed not long after  by Providence Petrel and 1 Flesh-footed Shearwater. Also at this time we were joined by 3-4 Black-browed Albatross and a lone Shy Albatross circled the boat giving all on boat a good view.

Once at 64km offshore we drifted in south east direction for 3.5hours and ended up a further few km S/E of this. The next bird to arrive was a Fairy Prion, which was soon joined by many more and then eventually a couple of Slender-billed Prion found the slick. It wasn?t long before the first Giant Petrel of the day  arrived and landed 100m down the slick, which was to far for positive ID. After 15minutes of waiting it finally took to the air and revealed itself to be a Northern Giant Petrel. It was soon joined by a couple of others and eventually a Southern Giant Petrel arrived, bringing the Giant Petel count to about six .

A short time later a magnificent WHITE-HEADED PETREL flew past the back of the boat quite close giving every one a good look. Unfortunately it circled the boat once and disapeared, as many seabirds often do.

It was only a matter of seconds later when the first Cape Petrel arrived and landed on the slick. This bird was soon joined by 3-4 others. We had a bag of shark liver and burley hanging over the side and the Cape Petrels soon found it and sat at the side of the boat trying to get the bag open and feeding on the scraps. The 3-4 Cape Petrels eventually grew to 20+ birds making them one of the most common birds of the day. It certainly is a magnificent site having 20+ black and white Cape Petrels constantly circling the boat.

As the numbers of Cape Petrels grew the first Wandering Albatross glided to the boat and joined in. Over the next hour a further 5 Wandering Albatross arrived and these were joined by a couple of White-faced Storm Petrel and a lone Sooty Shearwater.  Whilst at our primary chumming location we were also visited by a lone White-fronted Tern and another distant tern was probably an Arctic tern, but alas it remained a long way from the boat.  Of interest was a Fairy Prion with a particularly broad bill.  Probably one of the broad billed races.  About 23 species seen which made it a great day out.

           Birds                                         Total Number seen 

847      Wandering  Albatross (gibsoni)  6

846       Wandering Albatross (antipodensis)  1

864. Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross  6

91. Shy Albatross  1

88. Black-browed Albatross  15

73. Great-winged Petrel  10

077 White-headed Petrel  1

971. Providence Petrel  50

929. Southern Giant Petrel  4

937. Northern Giant Petrel  2

80. Cape Petrel  30

83. Fairy Prion  40

942 Slender-billed Prion  20

065 White-faced Storm Petrel  20 

913. Hutton?s Shearweater  10

70. Sooty Shearwater  1

068 Fluttering Shearwater  50

72. Flesh-footed Shearwater 20 

69. Wedge-tailed Shearwater  200

071 Short-tailed Shearwater  50

115. Crested Tern 20

114 White-fronted Tern  5

129. Pomerine Jaeger  1 

104. Australasian Gannet  50 

Mammals ? 1 pod of Bottle-nosed Dolphin at 60km.

Newcastle Pelagic Trips are run by Richard Baxter and the Hunter Bird Observers Club

and are non-profit outings for all those who which to join us.

Future dates are 12.10.02, 13.10.02, 19.10.02.

Richard Baxter

Newcastle

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