|
A memorable pelagic trip, one of the best out of
Sydney in a long time, and a pity that there were only 12 on board the Halicat
to enjoy a great day. We departed Rose Bay at 7.00am, had an extended stop at a
location 3NM east of Brown's Mountain, another at Brown's mountain, and returned
to Rose Bay at 3.15pm. Conditions were excellent with a 10 knot north-easterly,
1 metre sea on a 1 metre swell, and a water temperature of
20.5degC.
Highlights of the day were an early arriving
Buller's Shearwater, a similar early arriving Tahiti Petrel, no less than 3
GOULD'S PETRELS, a single COOK'S PETREL and a single SOFT-PLUMAGED PETREL. All
of these birds gave excellent views except for the Soft-plumaged Petrel which
was sighted at a range of 150 metres and then departed
quickly.
The species list for the day was:
Great-winged
Petrel
120 (40)
Providence
Petrel
8 (2)
SOFT-PLUMAGED
PETREL 1 (1)
TAHITI
PETREL 1
(1)
COOK'S
PETREL
1 (1)
GOULD'S
PETREL
3 (1)
BULLER'S
SHEARWATER 1
(1)
Wedge-tailed
Shearwater 60
(8)
Short-tailed
Shearwater 100
(15)
Flesh-footed
Shearwater
8 (3)
Fluttering
Shearwater 15
(5)
Wandering
Albatross
1 (1)
Black-browed
Albatross 4
(1)
Yellow-nosed
Albatross
3 (1)
Shy
Albatross
7 (2) (all White-capped)
Wilson's
Storm-petrel
10 (3)
White-faced
Storm-petrel
6 (1)
Australasian
Gannet 1
(1)
Arctic
Jaeger
4 (2)
Pomarine
Jaeger 4
(1)
Silver
Gull 40
(20)
Common
Tern
20 (20)
Season's Greetings to all
birding-aussers.
Roger McGovern
| 