Eden pelagic - some great sightings today

[Tobias Hayashi <>]

Hi all
As Sandra mentioned below, one of the highlights of the pelagic off Eden on Sunday was a Herald Petrel. There was some confusion initially over the identity of the bird, as it appeared hot on the heals of the Kermadec Petrel, but its true identity came out eventually. Herald Petrels are exceptionally rare birds at sea off Australia, and we were all lucky to have gotten such good views of it (although many didn't realise it at the time). I've attached one of my photos below, but for those interested I've got more photos of the Herald Petrel, along with photos of some of the other good birds we saw, on my website at http://www.tobiashayashi.com/Trips/Eden-March-2015-pelagic/.

 

 

Cheers
Tobias

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Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2015 20:17:36 +1100
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Subject: [canberrabirds] Eden pelagic - some great sightings today

The COG March pelagic was today (Sunday 22nd).  We had a couple of showers but weather was not too cold, and all 12 of us enjoyed the day, which started off well with good views of a Little Penguin feeding on the surface.

At one point later in the trip we had Shy, Indian Yellow-nosed and Campbell Albatrosses sitting together on the water within a few metres of the boat, while a Buller's Albatross circled, and Black-browed also put in several appearances.

However, the real highlights were a Streaked Shearwater, a Kermadec Petrel, and a Herald Petrel - the latter already confirmed by Dan Mantle from Tobias' photo.  Most on the boat scored one or more lifers.

 

A more complete report will appear in the next Gang-gang.

 

Many thanks to Anthony and Tobias for their ID skills...

 

sandra h