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SYDNEY NSW PELAGIC TRIP REPORT -
FEBRUARY 12, 2005
Trip
summary:
A very pleasant summer's day for
watching birds and cetaceans was enjoyed by the fifteen or so observers that
went out on the Halicat from Sydney Harbour. The day was cool and sunny with
very light easterly breezes which strengthened and backed to the south in the
afternoon. Seas were calm on a 1.0m swell and water temperatures ranged from
21.5degC inshore to about 24.0degC at the shelf break, but even these benign
conditions did not prevent one of our more illustrious birders from suffering a
'bout of queeziness' early on in the trip!
It was a typical summer's day of birding
with large numbers of shearwaters and Great-winged Petrels keeping everyone on
their toes. We motored out to Brown's Mountain located 22.5NM east of Sydney
Heads and berleyed at several locations in that area. As usual in the summer, we
had a couple of really good sightings with close and extended views of
GREY TERNLET being the highlight, and good views of a
BLACK PETREL and an astonishing group of four
LONG-TAILED JAEGERS being close behind.
For the cetacean enthusiasts, two groups
of Risso's Dolphins were the highlight and we also enjoyed good views of
Short-beaked Common Dolphins and Oceanic Bottle-nosed Dolphins.
Species
list:
Little
Penguin
3 (2)
Great-winged
Petrel 70
(15)
BLACK
PETREL
1 (1)
Wedge-tailed
Shearwater
1000+
Short-tailed
Shearwater
32 (6)
Flesh-footed
Shearwater 200+
(25)
Fluttering
Shearwater
7 (2)
Wandering
Albatross
1 (1)
gibsoni
Australasian
Gannet
5 (1)
Great
Cormorant
1 (1) in
harbour
Pied
Cormorant 1
(1) in
harbour
Little Pied
Cormorant
1 (1) in
harbour
Australian
Pelican 1
(1)
Arctic
Jaeger
3 (1)
Pomarine
Jaeger
17 (4)
LONG-TAILED
JAEGER
5 (4)
Silver
Gull 140
(30)
Crested
Tern
10 (4)
GREY
TERNLET
1 (1)
The next trip will be on Saturday 12
March, 2005 and one of the people on board will be the well-known American
pelagic specialist Debra Shearwater. Call Hal at 0411 311 236 to make a
booking.
Cheers
Roger
McGovern
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