PERTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA PELAGIC TRIP REPORT 14th September 1997
PARTICIPANTS (21) :
Frank O'Connor (organiser), James Bennett, Tony Bennett, Jim
Beruldsen (Vic), John Brooke, Jean Craig, Michael Craig,
Dave Crossley, Jan Crossley, John Darnell, Tony Kirkby,
Glenn Moore, Lloyd Nielsen (Qld), Cameron Platell, Wladslaw
Sarafin & friend, Alistair Stewart (NSW). Barbara Stewart
(NSW), David Stewart (NSW), Ian Williams
CONDITIONS :
Departed Hillarys Boat Harbour at 7.35am - returned at 3.40pm.
The forecast was for a 1.0 metre sea on a 1.0 metre swell.
There was a 15kn easterly breeze when we left that increased
the sea, but it calmed down by the time that we returned. The
swell was perhaps about 1.5 to 2 metres at the furthest point.
The day was fine although cloudy with a forecast maximum
of 20 degrees. A very comfortable day for seabirding.
DESCRIPTION :
The day started out slowly with very little seen until after
Rottnest except for a few Australasian Gannets and the first
Great Skua.
We went around the back of Rottnest and then headed west for
deeper water until we found our first few birds.
As the depth reached 300 metres we found large numbers of
Yellow-nosed Albatross, Austalasian Gannets and Flesh-footed
Shearwaters feeding with a large school of Bridled Dolphins
which we believe to be only the second record in WA (after our
first in August last year).
We stopped and started trying to follow the birds, but apart
from a few Great-winged Petrels, good looks at a Shy Albatross
and fair views of a couple of White-faced Storm-Petrels there
was nothing else new.
Despite throwing over a lot of fish scraps, pollard, fish oil,
etc we could not get any birds to come to the back of the boat.
We assumed this was because they were feeding.
In the afternoon as the wind dropped off, the birds were all
resting on the water in single or rafts. The Australasian
Gannets were in rafts of as many as 50. I have never seen so
many gannets in WA.
We headed back slightly early seeing only a few birds plus a
couple of Humpback Whales briefly.
As we passed through the reef at Hillarys we had a brief detour
to Little Island. There were a number of Australian Sea Lions,
plus Pied Cormorants, a few gulls. We docked at about 15:40.
Many thanks to the skipper Tony and the deck hands John and
Graham.
TIME/LATITUDE/LONGITUDE/DEPTH of most stoppages:
07:35 S31 49.6, E115 44.3, 5m (just outside Hillarys)
08:35 S31 58.2, E115 31.5, ?m (off Rottnest)
08:55 S32 00.5, E115 25.5, 42m (off West End)
09:30 S32 01.1, E115 16.4, ?m
10:20 S32 00.0, E115 11.9, 308m (first large group of birds)
11:00 S32 00.9, E115 09.5, 500m
11:10 S32 01,6, E115 09.4, ?m
12:30 S32 03.9, E115 08.1, 480m
12:50 S32 00.5, E115 12.0, 265m
13:20 S31 56.1, E115 13.5, ?m
14:40 S31 51.1, E115 30.9, ?m
BIRD LIST (Christidis & Boles order) :
Great-winged Petrel (9)
Flesh-footed Shearwater (250+)
Shy Albatross (1 race cauta?)
Yellow-nosed Albatross (race bassi) (200+)
White-faced Storm-Petrel (2)
Australasian Gannet (500+)
Pied Cormorant (8)
Great Skua (5)
Silver Gull (30)
Crested Tern (50)
Little Pied Cormorant (2) harbour
Pied Cormorant (50+) harbour & Little Island
Silver Gull (20+) harbour & Little Island
Welcome Swallow (3) harbour & just outside
MAMMAL LIST :
Humpback Whale (2)
Bridled Dolphin (300)
Australian Sea Lion (6) Little Island
NEXT TRIP :
The next trips are likely to be Sunday May 17th, June 14th,
July 12th and August 9th 1998. Notices will go out in March.
The expected cost will be $60 but this depends on how many
people book.
I am also considering planning a trip from Dunsborough or
Busselton out to Cape Naturaliste and Sugarloaf Rock area
during summer, but I doubt if I will get this organised for
this summer. This will probably mean leaving Perth about
6am, getting on the boat about 9:30am, returning about 3:30
or 4pm, and getting back to Perth by 6:30 or 7pm. I need to
find a deep sea fishing boat operator in the area. If you
are interested then let me know.
For details contact Frank O'Connor on the numbers below (08
9386 5694 or 08 9167 1445) or email or
____________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Argyle Diamonds
8C Hardy Road PMB 11
Nedlands WA 6009 West Perth WA 6872
Phone +61 8 9386 5694 +61 8 9167 1445
Fax +61 8 9167 1438
Email
Birding WA http://www.iinet.net.au/~foconnor/
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