Yesterday (24th June 2006), both Timothy and Lynda Hyde, Graham Turner
and I enjoyed some good sea watching at Magic Pt in Maroubra, (approx.
10 km south of Sydney CBD) with light westerly to south-westerly winds
as well as calm seas prevailing for most of the day.
Though the calm conditions produced fewer birds than the previous
weekends we still enjoyed nice close encounters of a Wandering, 2 Shy
and several Black-browed Albatrosses relatively close to shore. Two of
the Black-browed Albatross were seen having a bit of a squabble over a
recently dead cuttlefish.
It was a great day for seeing Humpback Whales with no less than 20 were
seen during the five or so hours we were there. Some of these were quite
close while other identified by only their blows in the distance. The
middle of June is regarded as the best time to see the Humpbacks
migrating north. We were also advised that Orcas (Killer Whales) were
present the previous day close to a beach in the Royal NP (a few km
south of Maroubra). If only we had seen them!!
At the end of the day, as we walked from Magic Pt and back to the car
park, a group of 20 or more Bottle-nosed Dolphins were seen chasing a
tight group of small fish within a few metres off the rocks and very
close to the surfers along Maroubra beach. A couple of small bats were
also seen flying around quite early before dusk (I guess having a feed
before it gets colder further on into the night).
We thought a few Prions would be seen that day as several hundred had
been seen by David Mitford and Staurt Pickering over the week who also
had a Common Diving Petrel a week ago passing Magic Pt (both species
seen during calm conditions).
My list of sea birds and numbers for the 5 hours (11:30-16:30 pm) I was
at Magic Pt on Saturday included the following:
Fairy Penguin (at least 2 heard calling)
Black-browed Albatross (20)
Yellow-nosed Albatross (8)
Shy Albatross (2)
Wandering Albatross (1)
Fluttering Shearwater (10)
Australasian Gannet (200)
Australian Pelican (1)
Great Cormorant (3)
Brown Skua (1)
Kelp Gull (5) (2 adults, one sub-adult and 2 juv.)
Silver Gull (200)
Crested Tern (50)
Edwin Vella
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