Sorry that message was a bit
large. I could have got it in the limit by reducing the physical
dimensions but it would have been even more cryptic.
Meanwhile Baz has generously
offered to send a hi-res version. I’ve now got one, and it enables
you to distinguish the bird species, seals etc, so you can do a bit of indoor
birdwatching at a place few people are likely to get to. I can send this
on to anyone who’d like to try it. It’s a bit over 8mb.
Baz added the following about
the Bounties:
Also of interest, perhaps, to Canberra people is that early COG
member Gerry van Tets camped on the Bounty Islands in 1978 with Chris Robertson
of NZ. They were the first party to camp on the islands in 170 years, and to my
knowledge only two other ornithological parties have camped there since. The
work that Gerry and Chris did in 1978 is still the only reliable population
estimate for Salvin’s albatross, and we are hoping to update that through
our photographic work. Gerry and Chris estimated there were 76,000 pairs
nesting in 1978.
From: Geoffrey Dabb [
Sent: Friday, 15 October 2010 10:04 AM
To:
Cc: Barry Baker
Subject: [canberrabirds] Something completely different
Well, it's a wet day in Canberra, so I thought I'd pass
this on. I've changed the photo format to fit this chatline's
limits. The original message is from former COG president Barry Baker
(now Tasmanian resident and albatross expert) via John Barkla. The
explanation is below. Remarkable.
-----Original Message-----
From: John Barkla [
Sent: Friday, 15 October 2010 9:47 AM
To: John Barkla
Subject: FW: Emailing: 363_Depot I. closeups, Bounty Is_ 20101012_low res
Barry Baker has sent me one of his aerial photos of
albatrosses breeding on Bounty Island in the sub-Antarctic. He also sent
me a high resolution image, but unfortunately I could not on-forward it as the
file was too big (8Mb). I find the photo amazing - the density of birds
breeding on these islands must be something truly special to see. Baz
studies seabirds and his comments below give a few insights of his work.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Barry Baker [
Sent: Friday, 15 October 2010 12:16 AM
To: John Barkla
Subject: Emailing: 363_Depot I. closeups, Bounty Is_
20101012_low res
<<363_Depot I. closeups, Bounty Is_
20101012_low res.jpg>> Hi John
I've attached one of the images as requested. This photo
is one of 500 I took of the seven islands in the Bounty Is group that has
colonies of Salvin's albatross breeding on them. Almost all of the global
population of Salvin's breeds on the Bountys. The photos will be use to develop
a photomontage of each island, and then all birds will be counted. Also present
on this photo are erect-crested penguins and NZ fur seals. If you look closely
(and I haven't as yet), you may even find a Bounty Is shag. These photos were
taken on Tuesday at 1500 ft.
Cheers
Baz
