Inspired by the reports we have heard of seawatches from the Sunshine
Coast recently, and the inclement weather we are experiencing at the
moment, 4 of us hopped on the 7.00am water taxi from Cleveland in the
rain on Saturday morning and, subsequently, the bus from Dunwich round
to Point Lookout. Felt a bit like going birding when we were in our
teens!
4 hours of seawatching in a blustery NE wind and fairly strong seas,
heavily overcast - which was a bonus regarding glare on the water - and
intermittent threatening showers produced some nice birds.
We had approx 50 Noddies singly or in groups of two or three of which we
confidently identified a number as Black or Common. In all we would
estimate that 20% were Black, some flew very close to the rocks above
which we were perched, while others, of course, passed much further out.
We had 2 Arctic and 1 Pomarine Skua - good views of one of the light
phase Arctic resulted in acceptable photos. We also had a Bridled/Sooty
Tern that headed rapidly out to sea and large number of Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters with one Fluttering/Hutton on the far horizon.
We also saw dozens of dolphins, some very close to the headland, and
several re-appearing turtles - which we believe were mostly Green, with
one Loggerhead of enormous size.
An interesting experiment, new to all but myself who had completed a
similar mission in 2001, it was well worth the early start and something
that may well become a regular weekend trip in the future! There's
nothing really to compare to a land based sea watch in wild weather!
Colin
(Stuart Warren, Rob Dougherty, Chris Sanderson)
--
Colin Reid
So many birds, so little time......
--
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