I was at sea east of Wollongong, NSW yesterday, on a Southern Oceans
Seabird Study Orginisation banding trip with Carl Loves, and had such a
good day (apart from the weather etc.) I thought it might be of general
interest. Apart from the typical spring conditions many spring/summer
birds were in evidence. The Short-tailed Shearwaters have arrived in small
numbers (only 400+) as have the Great-winged Petrels of the race gouldi
which are summer visitors to these waters from New Zealand. The Solander's
Petrels are starting their post-nuptual moult but no juvenile's are un
evidence yet. The Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are back in large numbers and
already spending time on their breeding grounds. My highlight of the day
was capturing a young Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) with a South
African band which, subject to confirmation, is presumably a bird from the
Marion Island population. The large Wandering Albatross (exulans)
dominated the smaller Gibson's Albatross (gibsoni)to feed behind the boat
even after capture with a pole net. It is easy to see how they fall foul
of fishing practices but they must not be much of a sporting challange to
shoot though!! For rarity interest, a Bulwer's Petrel flew south along the
shelf break at 14:30. Apart from my observations (given below), the
skipper of a trawler called us because there was an unusual albatross
behind his vessel (east of Kiama, NSW). The description he gave me
appeared to match that expected for a first year Grey-headed Albatross.
Trip details:
Departed at 04:00 am and returned at 18:00 pm.
Reached 26 Nautical Miles E of Wollongong Harbour.
Weather conditions:
General: Cool to and humid, with variable visibility down to about 1
nautical mile at times due to heavy rain. Max temp about 18°C.
Wind: 10 to 20 knots NE at first and SE/S 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon.
Sea conditions:
Very unpleasant: A complex swell, predominantly NE 2 to 3 m with seas of 1
to 2 m.
Surface Water temperature: 17.3°C inshore and 18.3°C once beyond the shelf.
BIRD LIST (Numbers in brackets = Highest Count at any one time).
For details of interim Albatross taxonomy refer to:
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/aad/sci/bio/albatross/albatross_b.htm
Wandering Albatross (D. exulans) 3 [3] (all immature birds, 2 captured and
banded)
Gibson's Albatross (D. gibsoni) 14 [11] (1 juvenile, 3 immature birds, 2
mature male, the rest mature female)
Antipodean Albatross (D. antipodensis) 1 (an immature male)
Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys) 15 [12] (1 adult, the
remainder young birds)
Campbell Island Albatross (T. impavida) 1 (first year, captured and banded)
Indian Ocean Yellow-nosed Albatross (T. bassi) 7 [7] (1 adult and 3 first
year)
Buller's/Pacific Albatross (T. bulleri/platei) 1 (a first year)
White-capped albatross (T. steadi) 1 (an adult)
Shy/White-capped Albatross (T. cauta/steadi) 6 [2] (2 adult, 4 imm.)
Cape Petrel 5+ [5]
Great-winged Petrel (gouldi) 30+ [22]
White-headed Petrel 1
Solander's Petrel 55+ [42]
Bulwer's Petrel 1
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 1000+
Sooty Shearwatwer 2 [1]
Short-tailed Shearwater 400+ [350+]
Fluttering Shearwater 30+ [14]
Hutton's Shearwater 30+ [8]
Antarctic Prion 4 [4] (at very close range, by bill colouration structure)
Fairy Prion 8+ [8]
White-faced Storm-petrel 1
Australasian Gannet 8 [4]
Brown Skua (Catharacta lonnbergi) 3 [1] (2 imm and 1 adult in breeding
plumage)
Silver Gull 45+ [35]
Kelp Gull 2 [2] (2 first year)
Crested Tern 70+ [60+]
MAMMAL LIST
Southern Humpback Whale 3
Sperm Whale 1
Melon-headed Whale 3
Common Dolphin sp 100+
The next regular NSW Pelagic trips planned are from Wollongong on Sunday
28th September 1997 and Saturday October 11th Sydney. Places are still
available on the Wollongong boat.
To make a booking or find out more contact or
or take a look at the web site:
http://www.zip.com.au/~palliser/
Trips are always on the 2nd Saturday of each month from Sydney and
always the 4th Sunday of each month from Wollongong.
Dr.Peter Milburn
Biomolecular Resource Facility
The Australian Nation University
GPO Box 334 Canberra ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA
Phone No. <61> <6> 249 4326
Fax No. <61> <6> 249 4326
E-mail Address
|
