Hillarys Pelagic Trip Report 8th August 2004

["Frank O'Connor" <>]

Perth Western Australia Pelagic Trip Report Sunday 8th August 2004

Participants (26) :

Frank O'Connor (organiser), Margaret Armstrong, James Bennett,
Hillary Brooke, John Brooke, Nick Brown, Alan Collins, Hazel Darnell,
John Darnell,Belinda Forbes, John Hansen, Charles Hayward, Mel Lintern,
Mike Lohr, Francis Marchant, Robyn Pickering, Jacqui Purvis, Shane
Raidal, Maureen Redfern, Ian Rudd, Bill Rutherford, Bill Rutherford,
Holly Smith, Soh Guat Lay, Alan Webb, Michael Willey

Conditions :

Departed Hillarys Boat Harbour at 7.10am. Returned at 4.00pm. 
The forecast was for a cool fine day with a 1 metre sea and a 2.5 metre
swell.  The winds were forecast to be light 10 to 15 knots NE in the
morning reducing to less than10 knots in the afternoon.  The day
started with little cloud, but the cloud increased which made the light
difficult for photography.

Description :

A trip that will always be remembered for the sensational close up
sightings of Dwarf Minke Whales.  It
was generally a disappointing trip for birds except for the brief views
of a pale SOUTH POLAR SKUA.  The
trip was more like an early September pelagic with sightings of
Flesh-footed Shearwater,
Little Shearwater,
Fairy Tern and high numbers of
White-faced Storm-Petrel and the complete
absence of winter birds such as Cape Petrel
and Wilson's Storm-Petrel.  Despite
extensive burleying it was very difficult to bring birds in very close to
the boat and photo opportunities were disappointingly limited except for
Great Skua and
Yellow-nosed Albatross.

 From Hillarys we headed roughly WSW.  Sightings were few except for
a Southern Giant-Petrel seen by a few people
and the first Great Skuas and
Australasian Gannets.  The first bird
of interest was a Hutton's Shearwater, a
species regularly seen on August trips on its return to New
Zealand.

Then a whale was sighted and we changed direction and approached
slowly.  We stopped and two whales come past the boat showing enough
to identify them as Dwarf Minke
Whales.  This was only the second time this species has been
seen on the Hillarys pelagic trips.  More
Hutton's Shearwaters flew past and the first
White-faced Storm-Petrel.

We continued until we saw a number of White-faced
Storm-Petrels around a glassy patch of water with some floating
weed.  A Little Shearwater was also
seen in front of the boat, but as usual it never came close to the
boat.  Two Welcome Swallows were
unusual on the open sea.  Rottnest Island was in sight, but in the
distance.  We burleyed briefly but with no success.

We headed for deeper water until we finally found the first
Soft-plumaged Petrels and
Great-winged Petrels in 215 metres
depth.  We stopped and extensively burleyed which attracted a few
Yellow-nosed Albatross and a couple of
Flesh-footed Shearwaters and some
White-faced Storm-Petrels on the
slick.  While people were looking at the
petrels, a skua
flew across the front of the boat and was sighted by a number of people.  This skua attracted attention because it was considerably paler than the other Great Skuas.  Some key details were noted such as paler body, even paler nape, etc.  Suggestions were immediately made about South Polar Skua, but as they are extremely rare in Western Australia and usually only observed in Australia during northern migration in April, it was thought that this would be very unlikely.  The bird was observed and the details noted, while we hoped that it would come in close to the boat as almost all Great Skuas do, but it flew into the distance and was not sighted again.  Consulting the reference books after the trip, it became apparent that it had indeed been a SOUTH POLAR SKUA.  At least three people got sufficient views, and a submission is being prepared for the Birds Australia Rarities Committee (BARC).

We moved on, briefly stopping after a Sunfish had been sighted.  We kept moving, trying to find congregations of birds, but we were never successful.  Four Fairy Terns were unusual for August.  We stopped briefly for a Humpback Whale.

We eventually stopped for lunch near a deep sea fishing charter boat.  The main bird of interest was an immature Shy Albatross.

We finally headed for home, but stopped when we saw three more Dwarf Minke Whales.  We had good views as they passed under the boat, and surfaced not far from the boat.  We continued on, seeing two more individual Dwarf Minke Whales which we didn't stop for, but as were getting close to Hillarys we saw a school of dolphins and realised that there were more whales with them.  We approached them slowly and stopped 50 to 100 metres away.  Again, they approached the boat.  It became obvious that there were quite a few in the area.  They were generally in twos or threes, and the total was at least ten but could have been as many as twenty.  But it wasn't just the number of Dwarf Minke Whales that was impressive.  They were surfacing all around the boat, and people rushed around the boat trying to get the best photographs.  They came in exceptionally close to the boat, and on three occasions a whale passed within a metre of the bow on the surface giving exceptional views that will be remembered for a long time.  When we finally had to leave, most people had a smile on their face.

Thanks to the skipper Guy and deck hand Bubbles.

Time/Latitude/Longitude/Depth/Distance/Bearing from Hillarys of most stoppages:

07:10 S31° 49' 34", E115° 44' 16", 5m, 0.0km, 0° (Hillarys Wharf)
07:55 S31° 54' 33", E115° 32' 10", ??m, 21.1km, 244° (1st Hutton's Shearwater)
08:30 S31° 59' 09", E115° 25' 36", ??m, 34.3km, 239° (2 Dwarf Minke Whales)
09:05 S32° 00' 53", E115° 22' 51", 75m, 39.6km, 238°, 19.7°C (stop for storm-petrels until 9:55)
10:15 S32° 05' 55", E115° 10' 38", 215m, 60.9km, 240° (stopped until 11:00)
11:05 S32° 05' 08", E115° 08' 45", ???m, 62.8km, 243° (Sunfish)
11:45 S32° 00' 54", E115° 08' 36", 450m, 59.9km, 249° (Fairy Terns)
12:05 S32° 00' 42", E115° 12' 26", ???m, 54.1km, 247° (Humpback Whale)
12:25 S32° 01' 09", E115° 13' 26", 190m, 53.0km, 246° (Lunch until 13:00 near other boat)
14:25 S31° 55' 35", E115° 28' 07", ???m, 27.7km, 246° (3 Dwarf Minke Whales)
15:30 S31° 51' 07", E115° 38' 41", ??m, 9.3km, 252° (last White-faced Storm-Petrel)
15:40 S31° 50' 52", E115° 39' 11", 30m, 8.4km, 253° (Many Dwarf Minke Whales)

Bird List (Christidis & Boles order) Total Number (Maximum at Same Time) :

Southern Giant- Petrel 1 (1)
Great-winged Petrel 11 (3)
Soft-plumaged Petrel 25 (10)
Flesh-footed Shearwater 3 (2)
Hutton's Shearwater 18 (6)
Little Shearwater 1 (1)
Black-browed Albatross (race melanophrys) 1 (1 immature)
Shy Albatross (race cauta) 1 (1 immature)
Yellow-nosed Albatross (race bassi) 60 (20) mostly immatures
White-faced Storm-Petrel 21 (8)
Australasian Gannet 50 (12) mostly adults, a few immature & sub-adult
Great Skua 12 (4)
SOUTH POLAR SKUA 1 (1)
Silver Gull 17 (10)
Crested Tern 6 (2)
Fairy Tern 4 (4)

Mammal List :

Long-beaked Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) 15+ (15+)
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) 1 (1)
Dwarf Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) 17+ (10+) (Five sightings of 2, 3, 1, 1, 10+)

Next Trip :

The next trip from Hillarys will be in late June 2005 (probably the last Sunday).  There will also be a pelagic trip from Albany probably on Saturday 16th October 2004.  For details contact Frank O'Connor on 08 9386 5694 or email m("iinet.net.au","foconnor");">

_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor           Birding WA http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
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