Birdswing Birding & Wildlife Tours Pelagic trip off Port Fairy, Victoria
Sunday 25th March 2012
Observers: Neil Macumber (organiser & report writer), Doug Robinson, Will
Johnston, Geoff Jones, John Stirling, Tom Smith, Michael Stone, Jan Stone,
Lyn Brown, Clive Curson, Peter Barrand, Rob Drummond, Steve Clark & Brett
Jarrett.
Conditions: 80% cloud cover, 5kn northerly, 2metres swell up to 3-4 metres,
seas abated to 1.5mtrs with clouds clearing in the afternoon.
Overview: Left the Port Fairy wharf at 0735 EDST along the Moyne River out
to sea heading at 210˚. On making our way out of the river mouth we were
seeing pelagic species almost straight away. Our first Albatross was seen
at 0802 hours with Arctic Jaeger seen 2 minutes before. Our first stop was
at 0928 hours (40 fathoms) for 15 minutes - Arctic Jaeger (2) light & dark,
Gannet, Short-tailed Shearwater, Shy Albatross (6) Bullers Albatross (10)
and Black Browed Albatross (1).
Our third stop was at 1104 hours for 33 minutes (95.2 fathoms) with the
same three species of Albatross plus a Campbell Island Albatross and a
Yellow-nosed Albatross. There was also White-faced and Wilsons Storm-Petrel
(1 each) Fairy Prion (1) Short-tailed Shearwater (1) Flesh-footed
Shearwater (4) and a Great-winged Petrel.
At our forth stop we were in 214 fathoms and stayed for 58 minutes. There
was a fishing boat about 2 kilometres off our port side (south) with a few
birds around it, we burlied and ended up with around 50 albatross around
the boat. The only new species seen was Sooty Shearwater and there were 2
Campbell Island Albatross.
At 1257 hours a White-chinned Petrel was observed and at 1312 hours a
juvenile Wandering Albatross (stage 1) in 107 fathoms was added to the
list.
Just over an hour before we docked (1507 hours) a Common Diving-petrel was
noted and 5 minutes later a Northern Giant Petrel and Pomarine Jaeger were
also seen (26.4 fathoms) Little Penguin and Brown Skua were also noted for
the day. Mammals included 2 lots of Common Dolphin and at least 3
Australian Fur Seals.
We docked at 1611 hours, a good day enjoyed by all.
Birds: 36 species of birds with 25 species off shore. Little Penguin,
Wandering Albatross, Whitecapped (shy)Albatross, Black-browed Albatross,
Campbell Island Albatross, Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, Buller's
Albatross, Northern Giant Petrel, Fairy Prion, Great-Winged Petrel, White-
chinned Petrel, Flesh-Footed Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Short-tailed
Shearwater, Fluttering Shearwater, White-Faced Storm-Petrel, Wilson's Storm-
Petrel, Common Diving-Petrel, Australasian Gannet, Brown Skua, Pomarine
Jaeger, Arctic Jaeger, Pacific Gull, Silver Gull, Crested Tern, Masked
Lapwing, Magpie, Brown Goshawk, Ruddy Turnstone, Great Egret, White faced
Heron, Little Black Cormorant, Little Pied Cormorant, Welcome Swallow,
Singing Honeyeater and Little Raven. An unidentified shearwater was seen
possibly a Little Shearwater.
Mammals: Two pods (100+ & 10+) of Common Dolphin and three Australian Fur
Seal.
Proposed Dates for April Trips: Sunday 15th April & Monday 16th April.
There are plenty of spaces available at the moment.
Cheers
Neil Macumber
Manager
white choughs
Birdswing Birding & Wildlife Tours
C/- PO
POMONAL VIC 3381
PH. 03 5356 6274
MOB. 0413 628 306
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