I recently took a fishing charter to the Rowley Shoals,
between 18th and 26th August 2005. The Rowley
Shoals are approximately 200 miles West of Broome in the Indian
Ocean and are a collection of three magnificent coral reefs
approximately 20 miles apart. Each is around 5 miles across and each has
a small sand cay in the middle of their lagoons. We were hosted on the
magnificent Oceaneer, an 80’ custom built cruiser. The fishing was
the main event but I kept an eye out for seabirds. There were very few around,
despite enormous amounts of fish. There were handfuls of crested terns, a
few nesting Red-Tailed Tropicbirds on Clerke Reef (approx 40), one White-Tailed
Tropicbird and some Ruddy Turnstones. Around Clerke Reef however there were
a few Matsudaira’s Storm-Petrels. We were there for 2 days.
First day I saw a couple of isolated birds including one inside the
lagoon. On the second day we moved to Imperieuse Reef and 3 followed us
off the back of the boat for a few miles. We spent the following 3 days
at Imperieuse where again there was little bird life although there were plenty
of Hump Backed Whales. On the last day I did however see a White Faced
Storm-Petrel which seems to be unusual in NW Australian waters according to
HANZAB and all other guide books. They are of course common off Sydney where I regularly
see them.
The day before we left for the Shoals I went birding with
George Swann which, as ever, was very enjoyable. Apart from vast numbers
of shore birds in Roebuck Bay, the highlights for me were a large flock of
Yellow Chats on Roebuck Plains (various plumage including a number of very
yellow males) and a couple of Long-toed Stints at a freshwater lagoon near
Broome. If anyone is in Broome for a short visit I would highly recommend
George to show you around.
Neil Broekhuizen
Sydney
