I recently spent 17-19 November at sea in the South Lau (Ogea) group of Fiji before
heading west to Vanuatu. On the 22
November spent the afternoon at sea between Tanna, Vanuatu and Lifou, Admiralty Islands, New
Caledonia. It was a fascinating pelagic in
these rarely birded waters.
Species recorded were
Vanuatu Petrel (1)
19 November
White-necked Petrel (3) 16 Nov, (1) 17 Nov, (15) 18 Nov
Cook’s Petrel (3) 18 Nov, (1) 19 Nov
Collared Petrel (3) 18 Nov, (9) 19 Nov: all dark morphs
Black-winged Petrel (2) 17 Nov, (20) 18 Nov, (1) 19 Nov
Tahiti Petrel (1) 17 Nov,
(4) 19 Nov, (10) 22 Nov
Wedge-tailed Shearwater (100) 18 Nov, (120) 19 Nov, (150) 22
Nov
Sooty Shearwater (40) 18 Nov, (40) 19 Nov, (20) 22 Nov
Short-tailed Shearwater (40) 18 Nov, (100) 19 Nov, (5) 22
Nov
Audubon’s Shearwater (1) 18 Nov, (5) 19 Nov, (5) 22
Nov
White-tailed Tropicbird (1) 17 Nov (2) 18 Nov, (1) 22 Nov
Masked Booby (3) 17 Nov-pale eyed subspecies
Brown Booby (10) 17 Nov
Red-footed Booby (20) 17 Nov, (28) 18 Nov, (2) 19 Nov, (10)
22 Nov
Great Frigatebird (1) male 18 Nov
Lesser Frigatebird (1) male 17 Nov
Pomarine Jaeger (1)
18 Nov, (3) 19 Nov
Long-tailed Jaeger (1) 19 Nov
Black-naped Tern (10) 17 Nov
Bridled Tern (30) 17 Nov, (200) 18 Nov
Sooty Tern (1) 18 Nov, (400) 19 Nov, (150) 22 Nov
Crested Tern (4) 17 Nov, (1) 18 Nov
Common Noddy (100) 17 Nov, (5) 18 Nov
Black Noddy (73) 18 Nov, (1) 19 Nov
White Tern (1) 18 Nov, (6) 19 Nov
No cetaceans were positively identified in fact only two
dolphins were briefly sighted at distance during this voyage. Other observers
recorded Red-tailed Tropicbird (1) on 19 November and Flesh-footed Shearwater
(2) on the same date. White-necked, Black-winged and Cook’s Petrels plus
both Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters were all recorded flying south on apparent
migration to breeding islands.
Dion
