Australian Seabird Expedition 2008 Leg 2 Update
Leg 2 of the Australian Seabird Expedition is now complete. We departed
Norfolk Island late on the 5 October and started birding the following morning
at 6am about 31NM north of the island. This short leg took us north to a
seamount about 170NM north of NI, where we spend the following day and a half
prior to cruising back to the island.
Conditions were good thoughout the leg, with slight seas and warm temps.
Total birds for leg 2:
Red-tailed Tropicbird - 4
White-tailed Tropicbird - 5
Wilson's Storm Petrel - 8
Black-bellied Storm Petrel - 3
Wandering Albatross- 1
Cape Petrel - 2
Black Petrel - 2
Wedge-tailed S/W - 2
BULLER'S S/W - 2
Sooty S/W - 28
Short-tailed S/W - 133
LITTLE S/W - 80
Kermadec Petrel - 1
Tahiti Petrel - 32
Great-winged Petrel - 3
Solander's Petrel - 3
MOTTLED PETREL - 13
COOK'S PETREL - 5
COLLARED PETREL - 1
Masked Booby - 17
Brown Booby - 1
Arctic Jaeger - 1
Common Noddy - 43
Black Noddy- 11
White Tern - 31
Grey Ternlet - 10
Sooty Tern - 45
OTHERS SEEN:
Humpback Whale - 1
Short-finned Pilot Whale - 5
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin - 4
Ruddy Turnstone - 1
Our search for Polynesian Storm Petrel was unsuccessful, with only a brief
glimpse of a large storm petrel which flew across the stern on the 8th. The
water temperature on our EEZ was 20-21deg, with the tropical covergence still
north of our location. The next expedition will be held in late April 2010 or
2011, when the water temperature will be significantly warmer and more suited
to the above species.
Leg 3 begins on the 11 October 2008, when we'll depart NI and sail past Lord
Howe Island, arriving at Newcastle on the 17 October 2008.
Cheers
Richard Baxter
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
