I have no idea why I forgot about the swifts (thanks Joy).
So, for the benefit of bringing yet more birds into the story about the
weekend's pelagic...
By far the most abundant species we observed throughout the day even when we
were beyond the sight of land was Fork-tailed Swift! Throughout the entire
day we had a continual passage of birds mainly from the south east to the
north west. There were also a large number soaring around Lady Julia Percy
island.
Steve Anyon-smith commented on how bizarre it was to see both the swift and
Blue Whales in the same day - not something to happen very often. We
jokingly challenged him to get them in the same binocular view and sure
enough a few moments later several swifts passed above the whales just as
they surfaced!
In the absence of any other seabirds - it really was quite disappointing -
it was good to be accompanied by the swifts. I guess because there had been
a weak low pressure to the south and several days of high pressure air over
the coast and light winds, non-breeding / migrant seabirds had returned out
to sea. So, contrary to claims that we weren't looking (not that I care
either way), we were intently searching for any marine life and just finding
very little in the way of avian company.
I seem to remember that somebody recently asked for information about swift
sightings down here with respect to Tasmania. I can only imagine that this
is where these birds were coming from. Given the recent mild weather there
is no reason to suspect that they had been forced out to sea ahead of a
front.
Cheers,
Simon.
_____________________________________________
Simon Mustoe - Principal
AES Applied Ecology Solutions Pty Ltd.
59 Joan Avenue
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