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SYDNEY PELAGIC REPORT - DECEMBER 13,
2003
OVERVIEW
A lovely Sydney summer's day greeted the 15 or so
birders who departed Sydney Harbour at 07.00hrs on Saturday. The light winds and
calm seas gave hopes of some good cetacean watching, and the ocean temperature
bands which varied between 19degC and 23degC made the more optimistic of us
think that we would get a good mix of lingering winter birds and early summer
ones. Unfortunately, it was not to be and it was a fairly quiet day from a
species diversity standpoint, although there were always plenty of birds
around.
There were some highlights. A tight rugby 'scrum'
of ten Little Penguins (perhaps 'loose maul' would be more accurate) on the
smooth waters of the harbour between Bradleys Head and Double Bay was the
largest gathering that all observers on board could remember seeing in the
harbour. Three dolphin species (Common, Oceanic Bottle-nosed, and Risso's) were
enjoyed by all. Perhaps the most interesting sighting of the day was the
discovery of a section of a giant squid being guarded proprietorially by our
only albatross of the day (a juvenile Black-browed). The squid section was more
than a metre long in both directions, weighed perhaps 15kg and was obviously
only a small part of what had been the whole. Samples were taken for analysis at
Taronga Zoo as this is believed to be the first physical evidence of giant squid
off the Sydney coastline.
SPECIES COUNT
Little
Penguin 10
(10)
Great-winged Petrel
170 (60)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
120 (30)
Sooty Shearwater
1 (1)
Short-tailed
Shearwater 12 (6)
Flesh-footed
Shearwater 18
(6)
Fluttering
Shearwater 6 (2)
Black-browed
Albatross 1
(1)
White-faced Storm-Petrel
11 (2)
Australasian Gannet
3 (2)
Pomarine Jaeger
14 (3)
Long-tailed Jaeger
1 (1)
Silver
Gull 60 (20)
Crested Tern
1 (1)
Common
Tern 18
(15)
Sooty
Tern 1
(1)
All the best for the holiday season and for
2004
Roger McGovern
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