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SYDNEY NSW PELAGIC TRIP REPORT
- OCTOBER 9, 2004
Trip summary:
Once again, October brought an
outstanding birding day on the water, especially for this observer who saw his
first seabird lifer in more than two years. The day was sunny and cool with
moderate south to south-easterly winds. Sea conditions were not comfortable with
a good swell of 3metres running together with a 1.5metre sea. Several people
fell victim to sea-sickness but, for those who stayed upright, it was a
memorable day.
A combination of the sea conditions and
a couple of stops to observe migrating Humpbacked Whales meant that we did not
reach our first berleying point at Brown's Mountain (22.5NM east of Sydney
Heads) until about 10.45am. After setting a good slick and attracting good
numbers of the expected species for this time of year, our first major event was
the arrival of a magnificent adult (Stage 5) SOUTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS which
landed close to the boat and fed ravenously for nearly two hours, actually
re-appearing at our second berleying location. After a further 20 minutes or so,
a small pterodroma planed in and landed in the slick before anyone obtained good
flight views. General coloration and head pattern suggest Soft-plumaged or maybe
Herald Petrel but when the bird lifted off and flew around the boat, all on
board had great views of a SOFT-PLUMAGED PETREL. Again, this bird stayed with us
for more than half an hour giving many opportunites for close examination. We
had had several Wilson's Storm-Petrels and a White-faced Storm-Petrel in the
slick for some time when the call went up for a GREY-BACKED STORM-PETREL and,
again, the bird lingered for some time giving everyone good views. A move to a
new berleying location some 3NM north-east of Brown's Mountain brought no more
rarities but, on the way back to Sydney, an early arrival LONG-TAILED
JAEGER overtook the boat flying towards the west.
It was not an outstanding day for
cetaceans with two pairs of Humpbacked Whales seen about 7NM east of the heads
and a small pod of Short-beaked Common Dolphins in the same area on the way
home.
Species List:
Cape
Petrel
1 (1)
Great-winged
Petrel
10 (2)
Providence
Petrel
40 (5)
SOFT-PLUMAGED
PETREL 1 (1)
procellaria
sp. 1
(1) probably Black Petrel seen briefly by one observer
Wedge-tailed
Shearwater 100
(30)
Short-tailed
Shearwater
25 (8)
Fluttering
Shearwater
20 (6)
Wandering
Albatross
2 (1)
SOUTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS 1
(1)
Black-browed
Albatross 20
(4) including two Campbells
Albatross
Yellow-nosed
Albatross
5 (2)
Shy
Albatross 14
(3) all cauta
Wilson's
Storm-Petrel
7 (6)
White-faced
Storm-Petrel
2 (1)
GREY-BACKED STORM-PETREL 1
(1)
Australasian
Gannet
10 (3)
LONG-TAILED
JAEGER 1
(1)
Silver
Gull 150
(120)
Crested
Tern 4
(2)
Next Sydney trip will be on Saturday 13
November 2004. Call Hal on 02 9280 3043 or 0411 311 236 to make a
booking.
Cheers
Roger
McGovern
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