This afternoon (9th April 2006), David Mitford, Stuart Pickering, Lorne
Johnson and I enjoyed an interesting 3 hours sea watch at Magic Pt in
Maroubra, (approx. 10 km south of Sydney CBD).
There were certainly some big waves about (up to 7 metres) and the winds
were mainly moderate from the south-west. The highlights this afternoon
was seeing another 9 quite early Yellow-nosed Albatross (one adult gave
us an excellent view as it passed within a few metres off the point), 3
species of Jaeger including one Long-tailed Jaeger and 5 Cattle Egrets
seen just out at sea. The Yellow-nosed Albatross are normally seen about
late May off Maroubra. There weren't as many Gannents or Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters seen as the previous weekend. We also had a great view of
the local Peregrine Falcon as it flew passed Magic Pt as well as a few
Kelp Gulls. On our walk back to the car, a Rufous Fantail in the exposed
heath was quite interesting and a Lewin's Rail was heard making a brief
call from the bitou bush beside the rifle range and close to the drain
at the southern end of Maroubra Beach.
A list of sea birds species and the minimum numbers seen for the
afternoon from Magic Pt is as follows:
Fairy Penguin (1 heard calling)
Yellow-nosed Albatross (9)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater (12)
Fleshy-footed Shearwater (3)
Short-tailed Shearwater (3)
Fluttering Shearwater (40)
Australasian Gannet (150)
Little Black Cormorant (1)
Great Cormorant (3)
Arctic Jaeger (8)
Pomarine Jaeger (6)
Long-tailed Jaeger (1)
Kelp Gull (6) (2 ad and 4 Imm)
Silver Gull (150)
Crested Tern (50)
This is certainly some good sightings for what can be a quite month for
seabirds. I hope this will be a good hint for the coming winter.
Edwin Vella
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