birding-aus

NEWCASTLE, NSW, PELAGIC TRIP REPORT 20/08/06 - correction

To: Mick Roderick <>, Birding Aus <>
Subject: NEWCASTLE, NSW, PELAGIC TRIP REPORT 20/08/06 - correction
From: Mick Roderick <>
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 12:31:15 +1000 (EST)
Sorry everyone....the malady of using old reports as templates!

  The 20 Black-bellied Stormies listed below was a hangover from the 20 
Grey-backed Stormies from my Tassie Eaglehawk report.
  It should read:

  BLACK-BELLIED STORM-PETREL  2 (1)

  Mick


Mick Roderick <> wrote:
  20th August 2006 - Newcastle Pelagic Trip Report
Prepared by M.Roderick

Present on board - Richard Baxter (leader/organiser), Inger Van Dyke, Phil 
Hansbro (leader), Alan Stuart, Grant Penryhn, Rob Quinan, Lorna Mee, Graeme 
O'Connor, Dick Jenkin, Mick Roderick.

Departed Newcastle Harbour 0715, returned approx 1730.
Sea to 0.5 to 1m, swell to 1.0m.
Winds 10-15 knots from the SE, easing in the afternoon.
Generally a fine, warm day. Air temperature to 24o
Water temperature approx 20.3o
Drifted north from S 33 3 25 E 152 27 31 to S 33 02 15 E 152 31 20

Summary:

A generally slow day for most people aboard, though for one lucky punter it was 
her first pelagic and virtually everything seen was new. From about 2km off the 
heads we encountered rafts of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters along with Fluttering 
and Hutton's as well as Yellow-nosed Albatross and a single Black-browed 
Albatross. Dozens of Gannets were also working just offshore, including a group 
of about 30 birds settled on the surface.

Upon arrival at our berleying point, just beyond the shelf, a large fin was 
noticed in the water. This was drawn to the attention of the skippers, who 
being game-fishermen, quickly identified it as a 200kg+ Blue Marlin. This was 
confirmed as the fish swam closer to the boat, the entire (approx. 8ft) body 
visible for a brief moment.

The birding was quite slow, with some scattered Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross 
and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters at the rear of the boat. Good numbers of 
Solander's Petrels were observed flying south, as well as a lone Short-tailed 
Shearwater. A single Fairy Prion soon followed, the only Prion of the day. 
Small numbers of White-faced Storm Petrel and Cape Petrel were also observed. 
The small numbers of Yellow-nosed Albatross and at least two Northern Giant 
Petrels made the most of the berley trail. At about 1400, a darkish 
Storm-petrel appeared, quickly identified as a BLACK-BELLIED STORM PETREL, with 
all features easily recognised and numerous photo's snapped in quick 
succession. At least one other of these birds was seen in the following 
half-hour. A young Gibson's Albatross zoomed in and straight through in the 
late afternoon, whilst a second Wandering type Albatross was seen soon after 
from a distance.

On the way back the skids went on as a single SALVIN'S ALBATROSS was observed 
off the bow wave. The Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Gannets and to a lesser extent 
the Yellow-nosed Albatross were still present close to the heads in the 
afternoon as well.

Species / counts (numbers in parenthese are the highest count around the boat 
at any one point in time)

Cape Petrel 3 (1)
Northern Giant Petrel 2 (2)
Providence Petrel 30 (3)
Fairy Prion 1
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 600 (50)
Short-tailed Shearwater 1
Fluttering Shearwater 20 (4)
Hutton's Shearwater 350 (10)
Gibson's Albatross 1
Wandering (type) Albatross 1
Black-browed Albatross 1
Shy Albatross 1
SALVIN'S ALBATROSS 1
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross 30 (5)
White-faced Storm Petrel 3 (1)
BLACK-BELLIED STORM PETREL 20 (8)
Australasian Gannet 150 (45)
Crested Tern 20 (4)

Regards,

Mick

Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 
===============================


                
---------------------------------
On Yahoo!7
  Celebrity Survivor - 11 celebrities, 25 days, endless drama...
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 
===============================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU