Dear Birding-Ausers
Last year, I wrote a series of articles for Babbler, the BA-Vic newsletter,
on the seasonal variation of seabirds seen on the Portland / Port Fairy
trips over the last 10 years. This second article was on pelagic
birding in Autumn. (Please note that it was written in 2003.)
Regards
Chris
PELAGIC BIRDING IN AUTUMN
FROM PORT FAIRY, VICTORIA
INTRODUCTION
This is the second in a series of four articles prepared for Babbler on
pelagic birding from Port Fairy covering the Victorian seasons. In the
first issue, I described pelagic birding for the summer season. The second
part of this article is on the pelagic birds of autumn. The first part
provides some more detail on pelagic birding in general out of Port Fairy
and Portland. Before September 2000, the trips were run out of Portland
and after from Port Fairy.
Where are pelagic birds found?
In the last article, I identified the four major zones in a pelagic trip
from Port Fairy ? inshore, travelling to and from the shelf, the
continental shelf itself and out past the shelf. Good birds can be found
in each zone.
The inshore zone is dominated by birds that aren't truly pelagic. These
birds include Little Penguin, Black-faced Cormorant, Silver and Pacific
Gulls and Crested Tern. While these species may also be seen further out,
most occur in this zone. Water depths are quite shallow at 10 - 15
fathoms. Large numbers of shearwaters sometimes congregate here when food
is concentrated in this zone. Usually at Port Fairy, these are
Short-tailed, but sometimes include large numbers of Fluttering and small
numbers of Hutton's. Jaegers, particularly Arctic, are often present in
this zone chasing the gulls. Rarities can occur here. For instance, we
recorded Salvin's Prion at the entrance to Portland harbour on a winter
trip in 1992.
The zone involved in travelling to and from the shelf is often the most
boring part of any trip. Birds can be scarce. The shearwaters mentioned
above and Australasian Gannets are often the commonest birds. Smaller
numbers of the common three albatrosses also patrol this zone. Prions
sometimes appear in this zone in large numbers. Blue Pertrels and, once, a
Bulwer's Petrel have occurred among the flocks of prions in this zone.
Common Diving-Petrels are most often recorded in this zone. Some of the
less numerous species like Great Skuas are found in this zone and the rarer
albatrosses can appear here, particularly Buller's, Sooty and Light-mantled
Sooty Albatrosses. Water depths in this zone gradually increase from 25 -
55 fathoms.
The continental shelf zone and the zone past the continental shelf offer
the best birding to pelagic enthusiasts. Many true pelagic species do not
venture closer to the Victorian shore than the continental shelf. Water
depths at the shelf are about 100 fathoms. You know that you are near the
shelf, 30 nautical miles from Port Fairy, when the albatross numbers build
up and the Great-winged Petrels appear. Past the shelf, the seabed drops
away quickly and we often reach water over 350 fathoms deep. The rarer
petrel species are most likely to be found in these two zones and Gould's,
Cook's and Barau's have been recorded. We have also seen Great Shearwater
and Black-bellied Storm-Petrel. Prions, Giant-Petrels, Storm-Petrels and
White-fronted Terns are usually found in these zones as well.
VICTORIAN PELAGIC BIRDING IN AUTUMN
Historical trips in autumn
Autumn provides some of the best pelagic birding in Victoria. The weather
conditions are the most stable season with fewer and less vigorous cold
fronts coming through. Consequently, the winds are usually lighter and the
sea conditions more acceptable for boat trips. Therefore, many more of the
scheduled trips get out. In the last 5 years, 12 autumn trips have been
run, which is a very high percentage compared to the other seasons. Autumn
is also an excellent time in terms of the variety of seabirds, with numbers
very high for some species.
Common pelagic bird species
Autumn is the season for shearwaters. There are many thousands of
Short-tailed Shearwaters foraging in all zones, particularly in March and
early April. Adults leave on their annual migration to the North Pacific
in late March ? early April. Numbers are maintained by the fledglings
taking to the water just after their parents have departed. The fledglings
leave in late April ? early May. As well as Short-tailed, the other
shearwater species with good numbers are Flesh-footed and Fluttering.
Sooty and Hutton's Shearwaters are often seen in small numbers.
Albatrosses also feature prominently in autumn. The common three, Shy,
Black-browed and Yellow-nosed, are almost always seen in good numbers and
Wandering is seen in small numbers on most trips. Great-winged Petrels are
usually seen in numbers. White-chinned Petrels are occasionally recorded
especially earlier in autumn. White-faced, Wilson's and Grey-backed
Storm-Petrels are regularly seen, sometimes in good numbers.
Fairy Prions are often observed. Northern and Southern Giant-Petrels and
Common Diving-Petrels are occasionally seen. Other birds regularly seen are
Little Penguin, Australasian Gannet, Black-faced Cormorant, Silver, Pacific
and Kelp Gulls and Crested Tern.
Autumn rarities
The more uncommon albatrosses, Royal (both Southern and Northern races),
Buller's, Grey-headed and Sooty, are occasionally recorded on autumn trips.
White-headed and Gould's Petrels are occasionally recorded especially
earlier in autumn. There are records of the former in March and April 2002
and of the latter in March 2001. Antarctic / Salvin's Prions have been
recorded in April 2002 and May 2001 from Port Fairy and in both May 2000
and May 1998 from Portland. Slender-billed Prions have been recorded in
May 2001 from Port Fairy and May 1998 from Portland.
Great Shearwater was the major highlight of the April 2002 (Port Fairy) and
April 1999 (Portland) trips. Earlier, a Black-bellied Storm-Petrel was the
highlight in May 1995 from Portland. Arctic and Pomerine Jaegers, Great
Skuas and White-fronted Terns are occasionally recorded. Long-tailed
Jaeger was recorded in March and April 2002 and South Polar Skua was seen
in April 2002 (Port Fairy) and May 1998 (Portland).
As mentioned previously, there are a number of other possible rarities that
we are still searching for. These include species such as Cory's and Manx
Shearwaters and Sabine's Gull. These are as likely to turn up in autumn as
summer.
--------------------------------------------
Birding-Aus is now on the Web at
www.birding-aus.org
--------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message 'unsubscribe
birding-aus' (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
