PERTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA PELAGIC TRIP REPORT Sunday 14th May 2000
Participants (16) :
Frank O'Connor (organiser), Des Agnew, Pam Agnew, John Darnell, Tom Delaney,
Jon Elliott, Michael Morcombe, Cameron Platell, Fred Plumb, Eric Pyatt,
Pieter Poot, Chris Reidy, Dianne Reidy, Urs Steiner, Alex Watson, Robert Wilton
Conditions :
Departed Hillarys Boat Harbour at 7.05am - returned at 3.50pm. The forecast
was for a 0.5 metre sea on a 2 metre swell. The going was very smooth all
day with very light south east winds swinging to south west in the
afternoon. The day was fine with a minimum of 10 degrees as we left and a
maximum of about 20 degrees. Some cloud built up in the afternoon. A good
front passed through on the previous Thursday into Friday morning.
Description :
A fair trip overall with 6 pelagic species plus Great Skua and Australasian
Gannet. It was a slow start as usual until past Rottnest, and the return to
Hillarys was very quiet. The species were very similar at every stop. No
cetaceans were seen.
As we got to 150 metres depth we began to see Flesh-footed Shearwaters which
were mostly in moult, a few Yellow-nosed Albatross, the first Great-winged
Petrels, a few Great Skuas and two Wilson's Storm-Petrels which was
promising. We started burleying with fish scraps, beef scraps, pilchards,
bread and fish oil.
We stopped at a variety of depths but the species were almost the same at
each stop with the addition of a few Soft-plumaged Petrels and some
Black-browed Albatross.
We made a quick stop at Little Island near Hillarys to see the Australian
Sea-lions and a grey morph Eastern Reef Egret.
Thanks to the skipper Derek and the deck hand Dave.
Time/Latitude/Longitude/Depth/Distance/Bearing of most stoppages:
07:05 S31° 49' 34", E115° 44' 16", 6m, 0.0km, 0° (Hillarys Wharf)
08:00 S31° 58' 43", E115° 30' 43", 19m, 27.2km, 234° off Bathurst Point
Rottnest Island
08:50 S32° 03' 31", E115° 14' 49", 150m, 53.0km, 243° (stopped until 09:10)
09:45 S32° 05' 36", E115° 08' 52", 285m, 63.0km, 244° (stopped until 10:05)
10:10 S32° 06' 04", E115° 07' 15", 325m, 65.7km, 245° (stopped until 11:00)
11:20 S32° 06' 15", E115° 03' 26", 530m, 71.2km, 247° (stopped until 12:05)
12:40 S32° 05' 03", E115° 08' 16", 330m, 63.4km, 245° (stopped until 13:00)
13:20 S32° 03' 39", E115° 12' 18", 200m, 56.6km, 245° (stopped until 13:55)
Bird List (Christidis & Boles order) Total Number (Maximum at Same Time) :
Great-winged Petrel 20 (5)
Soft-plumaged Petrel 5 (2)
Flesh-footed Shearwater 100 (20) most moulting
Black-browed Albatross 5 (2)
Yellow-nosed Albatross (race bassi) 40 (10)
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 20 (4)
Australasian Gannet 25 (5) most immatures
Great Skua 10 (2)
Silver Gull 8 (3) all before or at Rottnest Island
Crested Tern 15 (3) most before or at Rottnest Island
Darter (1) harbour
Little Pied Cormorant (1) harbour
Pied Cormorant (50+) outside harbour
Great Cormorant (1) Little Island
Eastern Reef Egret (1 grey) Little Island
Pied Oystercatcher (2) Rottnest Island
Silver Gull (20+) harbour & Little Island
Crested Tern (1) Little Island
Welcome Swallow (~10) harbour
Mammal List :
Australian Sea-lion (7) Little Island
Fish List (caught by Dave) :
Green-eyed Dogshark (4)
Pink Schnapper (1)
Next Trip :
The future trips will be on Sunday 18th June 2000 and probably late August
or early September. For details contact Frank O'Connor on 08 9386 5694 or
email
________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA http://www.iinet.net.au/~foconnor
8C Hardy Road Email :
Nedlands WA 6009 ICQ : 14655047
Phone : +61 8 9386 5694
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