OBSERVERS: Chris Lester (organiser), Richard Baxter, Rob Berry, Rohan =
Clarke, Gail D'Alton, Phil Hansbro, Rosemary Lester, Frank Pierce, Irene =
Spokes, Jen Spry, Geoff Walker, Dave Webb & Mike Carter (leader).
WEATHER: A compressed high-pressure area was centred over NW Tasmania. =
Steep pressure gradients at the northern rim of this anticyclone =
produced strong winds of 15 to 20 Kts, gusting at times to 25 Kts as =
predicted. Low level, thin and patchy, 3/8 cloud cover cleared around =
noon so it was mostly sunny with good light but poor distant visibility =
due to spray, waves and swell. Cold.
SEA: Rough with 1.5 to 2.0 m waves on a moderate to large, 3-4 m, SW =
swell. So it was an uncomfortable, wet, knock-about ride but only one =
passenger was sick (unfortunately, to the point of incapacity).
ACTIVITY: Sailed at 07.10 after some discussion as to the wisdom of so =
doing. Headed out on a COG of 205=BA at 13 Kts. The rough sea, boat =
movement and spray, made it difficult to identify and record our =
observations while travelling but there was a lot of bird activity even =
though our vision was severely restricted. We diverted once to =
investigate a feeding flock but otherwise paused only briefly. Offshore, =
it was evident that albatrosses were abundant. Having crossed the =
shelf-break, we reached our first berley location at 10.00 but having =
spotted a trawler 2 Nm to the west, we moved to close in on it. We =
berleyed where we met the trawler at 38=BA50.4'S 141=BA54'E, depth 273 =
fathoms, from 10.10 to 11.15. Most of the large number of birds =
attending the trawler deserted it for our shark-liver berley. When we =
thought we had exhausted the possibilities there, we motored for 30 =
minutes to the deep canyon site discovered on the March trip, (rising =
vertically from 350 to 300 fathoms) and berleyed from 11.45 to 12.30 =
again while drifting, initially @ 38=BA50.0'S 141=BA46.0'E. Then we =
travelled NW to 38=BA47.0'S 141=BA44.6'E, just wide of the shelf break, =
and berleyed from 12.45 until 13.05. A good selection of birds attended =
each stop, details below. Then we headed in @ 12.5 Kts. To avoid having =
to head bow first into the easterly wind on the leg home from Lady Julia =
Percy Island (LJPI), we returned directly (COG 30=BA) from our last =
berley spot to PF. Docked at 16.00.
MAMMALS: The rough seas made detection almost impossible.
Australian Fur Seals: Singles sighted on three occasions, none pelagic.
Common Dolphins: some animals leaping over a metre clear of the water =
close to the boat enabled detection of two pods: 5 @ 08.10 near =
38=BA38'S 142=BA07'E and 20 @ 15.00 @ 38=BA30'S 142=BA06'E.
BIRDS: Allowing for the fact that by not visiting LJPI we missed out on =
at least another 3 species, the 23 seabirds observed beyond the river =
mouth indicated about average diversity. Notably absent were Grey-backed =
Storm-Petrels. Limited visibility, especially while travelling, meant =
that numbers recorded were artificially low and unavoidably 'rubbery'. =
Highlights are in capitals. Unless noted otherwise, those listed below =
were near or beyond the shelf break (i.e. pelagic).
Little Penguin: 1 inshore.
Great-winged Petrel: c.20 (6), all nominate race.
WHITE-HEADED PETREL: 1
GOULD'S PETREL: 1 @ the canyon, the third time at this location.
Fairy Prion: 30 (5). 8 inshore, 12 offshore & 10 pelagic.
WHITE-CHINNED PETREL: 3 (2).
Flesh-footed Shearwater: 10 (5). 7 pelagic & 3 offshore.
Short-tailed Shearwater: c.100 (10). 30 inshore, 40 offshore, & 30 =
pelagic.
Fluttering Shearwater: 15 (3). 12 inshore, 2 offshore & 1 pelagic.
HUTTON'S SHEARWATER: 1 inshore in a.m.
Wandering Albatross: 8 (5). Some definitely exulans, 2 possibly gibsoni.
3 (stage 1), 1 (2), 2 (4), 2 (7).
ROYAL ALBATROSS: NORTHERN, 1 juvenile, very tame, hand fed while =
berleying. SOUTHERN, 1 stage 2, ID from N. disputed but I reckon a S. =
because much larger than juv Northern available for comparison and =
apparently, no obvious black border to leading edge of outer underwing. =
(On average, S weigh at least 25% more than N.)
Black-browed Albatross: nom. race, 35 (20). 20 pelagic, 10 offshore, 5 =
inshore.
15 ads, 15 sub-ads, 5 juv.
impavida, 220 (180) 200 pel., 19 off & 1 inshore; 200 ads, =
20 sub-ads.
Shy Albatross cauta: 35 (20). 25 pelagic, 7 offshore, 3 inshore.
25 adults, 9 sub-adults, 1 juv.
Yellow-nosed Albatross: 10 (2). 4 pelagic, 5 off & 1 inshore. 7 ads, 3 =
sub-ads.
BULLER'S ALBATROSS: 8 (4). 6 pelagic, 1 offshore, 1 inshore. All ads.
Wilson's Storm-Petrel: 60 (25). 50 pelagic, 7 offshore, 3 inshore.
White-faced Storm-Petrel: 25 (5). 8 pelagic, 12 offshore, 5 inshore.
Australasian Gannet: c.100. 60 inshore, 40 offshore, 1 juv pelagic.
Arctic Jaeger: 1.
Pacific Gull: 1 crossed the river mouth as we went out.
Crested Tern: 20 (3), 1 pelagic, 6 offshore, 13 inshore.
{SOOTY ALBATROSS: A pelagic out of Portland for the Mildura Field =
Naturalist Club led by Peter Barrand two days previously (2 April) had 4 =
together.}
Mike Carter
30 Canadian Bay Road
Mt Eliza VIC 3930
Ph: (03) 9787 7136
Email:
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