This is the first draft of the trip report. We are still looking at
the identity of the "dark morph Soft-plumaged Petrel" that had a pale
forehead. Any changes will be posted to my web site. I would have
waited until later in the week, but I am heading to Derby to try my
luck with the Sabine's Gull .....
Perth Western Australia Pelagic Trip Report Sunday 27th August 2006
Participants (26) :
Frank O'Connor (organiser), Ben Allen, Marg Armstrong, Stephen Ball,
David Beattie, Jean Beattie, John Brooke, Kate Brown, Alan Collins,
David Crossley, Julia Gross, Michael Hancock, Merrian Kuerschner, Rob
Lambert (UK), Ian Mayer, Paul Marty, Bill McRoberts, Dusty Millar,
Bill Russell, Liz Sanderson, Patrick Schaub, Colin Shields (UK),
Denise Shields (UK), Holly Smith, Debbie White, Gavin White, Wayne
Zadow
Conditions :
Departed Hillarys Boat Harbour at 7.05am. Returned at 3.30pm. The
forecast was for a fine warm day with a 1 metre sea and a 1.5 metre
swell with a maximum of 21°C. The winds were forecast to be 10 to
15 knots E in the morning, swinging SE/SW in the afternoon at 8 to 13
knots. There was no cloud making the sighting conditions excellent.
The internet indicated that the sea surface temperatures would be
about 19°C, and this promised a better day than the previous trip in
late June when the surface temperature was about 23°C.
Description :
The highlights of the trip were a Kerguelen Petrel, several Little
Shearwaters and a dark morph Soft-plumaged Petrel. There were several
good opportunities for photographs and there were excellent numbers of
Humpback Whales. The diversity was good with ten pelagic species
seen, but numbers for many species were lower than expected.
From Hillarys we headed roughly WSW heading for the trench NW of
Rottnest Island. There were very few Australasian Gannets and the
first Yellow-nosed Albatross seen before we made two stops for
Humpback Whales. A group of six shearwaters were initially
misidentified, but finally were corrected to Little Shearwaters. This
species is usually only seen in ones or twos. Two individual Little
Shearwaters were seen further on passing the bow. The Yellow-nosed
Albatross numbers increased followed by a Shy Albatross, a
Wedge-tailed Shearwater, a Great Skua, a Flesh-footed Shearwater and
finally the first of the Soft-plumaged Petrels as we reached 150
metres.
We continued to the trench and stopped at 510 metres where we burleyed
and drifted for 90 minutes, repositioning in the slick a couple of
times. The Yellow-nosed Albatross gradually built up to more than 30
and there were regular sightings of up to six Soft-plumaged Petrels.
A Kerguelen Petrel gave brief but close views, followed by a
Great-winged Petrel and then an abnormal dark morph Soft-plumaged
Petrel with a pale forehead. Other birds included poor views of
White-faced Storm-Petrel and another Flesh-footed Shearwater.
We slowly moved east into shallower waters and stopped again at 300
metres for an hour. We saw nothing new but the Yellow-nosed Albatross
numbers built up to 45 with great opportunities for photographs, along
with two immature Shy Albatross.
After lunch, we headed for home. We stopped for a semi distant
whale. Initially we thought it was possibly another Humpback Whale,
but after further consideration we concluded that it might have been a
Pygmy Blue Whale, and I will regret not going closer. On the return,
we stopped again in shallow waters for some more Humpback Whales, a
mid distant Wedge-tailed Shearwater and good views of a single
Hutton's Shearwater that landed on the water.
In summary, we had a very good diversity of species for the time of
year, but relatively low numbers. The burley worked quite well,
except that once the albatross had tasted a little shark liver, they
weren't interested in anything else!
Thanks to the skipper/owner Steve and deck hand Callum. Special
thanks to John Darnell for mixing most of the suet, pollard and oil
prior to the trip.
Time/Latitude/Longitude/Depth/Distance/Bearing from Hillarys of most
stoppages:
07:05 S31° 49' 34", E115° 44' 16", 5m, 0.0km, 0° (Hillar= ys
Wharf)
07:40 S31° 51' 11", E115° 36' 15", 35m, 12.9km, 257° (Humpback
Whales)
07:55 S31° 51' 46", E115° 32' 48", 36m, 18.5km, 257° (Humpback
Whales)
08:25 S31° 52' 40", E115° 27' 31", 40m, 27.0km, 258° (distan= t
Humpback Whale, Shy Albatross)
09:40 S31° 56' 41", E115° 10' 47", 510m, 54.3km, 256° (stopp= ed
until 11:30)
11:20 S31° 59' 32", E115° 09' 41", 750m, 57.4km, 251° (end o= f
drift)
12:15 S32° 00' 45", E115° 11' 14", 300m, 55.9km, 248° (stopp= ed
until 13:10)
13:35 S32° 00' 29", E115° 13' 52", 180m, 51.9km, 247° (Unknown
Whale)
14:05 S31° 57' 10", E115° 22' 22", 56m, 37.2km, 248°
(Wedge-tailed Shearwater)
14:30 S31° 54' 55", E115° 27' 45", 42m, 27.8km, 249° (Humpback
Whales)
15:05 S31° 52' 39", E115° 33' 40", 36m, 17.6km, 251° (Hutton's
Shearwater)
Bird List (Christidis & Boles order) Total Number (Maximum at Same
Time) :
Kerguelen Petrel 1 (1)
Great-winged Petrel 3 (1)
Soft-plumaged Petrel 35 (10)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 2 (1)
Flesh-footed Shearwater 3 (1)
Hutton's Shearwater 1 (1)
Little Shearwater 9 (6)
Shy Albatross 5 (2)
Yellow-nosed Albatross (race bassi) 100 (45) few adults / mostly
immatures
White-faced Storm-Petrel 2 (1)
Australasian Gannet 20 (6) (4 immatures)
Great Skua 2 (1)
Crested Tern 3 (1)
Mammal List :
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) 15 (8)
Unknown whale (?Pygmy Blue Whale?) 1 (1)
Next Trip :
The next trip from Hillarys will be in late June or early July 2007.
For details of future trips contact Frank O'Connor on 08 9386 5694 or
email
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA [2]http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 = Email :
References
1. 3D""
2.
3D"http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au/"==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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