SYDNEY PELAGIC TRIP REPORT
September 30, 2006
Observers
This trip was a private charter for Field Guides Inc. led by John Coons.
Steve Anyon-Smith and Roger McGovern were on board to provide assistance to
the group.
Conditions
A cool Sydney spring day with mostly bright sunshine but with a south
easterly change shortly after departing Sydney Heads. The change brought
some localised heavy cloud and showers together with the incredible sight of
no less than four waterspouts.
Water temperature was consistently between 19degC and 20degC from the heads
to the shelf break
Departed at 0730 and returned at 1330.
1.0m sea on a 1.5m swell initially but increasing to a 3.0m sea as the south
easterly winds kicked in.
Initially westerly breeze of 5-10knots increasing to a 25knot south easterly
after the change had passed through.
Trip Summary
This trip turned out to be extremely interesting for a number of reasons
including the weather, numbers of bird species and of birds, a terrific
rarity and, most of all, for a bird that Steve Anyon-Smith and this observer
could not identify.
We left Sydney Heads in a fairly benign westerly breeze but the heavy black
clouds to the east indicated that the forecast south easterly change was
upon us. As we approached these rather foreboding clouds, we saw a number of
waterspouts form, some complete and others just 'reaching down' from the
underside of the cloud base - it was a spectacular sight.
For the first few miles from the heads we saw good numbers of Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters, groups of Short-tailed Shearwaters on their way south, and just
a few Fluttering Shearwaters. As we passed through the 'Abysmal Plain' en
route to the shelf break, the sea conditions deteriorated noticeably and we
saw few birds - just a fly by Black-browed Albatross, a Wandering Albatross
and a brief view of a Brown Skua.
When we reached Brown's Mountain, we cut the engines and began to berley in
fairly high sea conditions, but the large numbers of birds made up for the
discomfort. We quickly had good numbers of Wandering Albatross around the
boat (all gibsoni and one exulans) along with plenty of Great-winged Petrels
and smaller numbers of Providence Petrels. Shortly afterwards, Cape Petrels
put in an appearance along with a very confiding Northern Giant Petrel and
singles of Sooty Shearwater and Flesh-footed Shearwater. After an hour or
so, storm petrels began to arrive with firstly a Wilson's followed a little
later by a White-faced. We then had a visit from a 'Fregetta' which was
frustratingly difficult to see well at first because it stayed at some
distance up the slick and the sea conditions did not allow long looks - a
split second and then it was behind a big swell again. However, it
eventually circled around and made a good close pass in good light, and we
could immediately see the clean white belly and lack of foot projection
beyond the tail which pegged it as a WHITE-BELLIED STORM-PETREL, a first for
the Halicat and for all observers on board.
The drive back to Sydney was slow and a bit uncomfortable but, as we
approached the heads, we could see immense flocks of shearwaters on the
water chasing schools of Australian Salmon, which in turn were chasing
baitfish. We motored over to see if there was anything unusual in these huge
flocks which comprised mostly Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, some Short-tailed
Shearwaters and a few Silver Gulls. As one group of birds lifted off, we
noticed that there was a gull which was the same size as a Silver Gull but
which had a totally different plumage in that the plumage appeared speckled
black and white (a little in the manner of the upperparts of Cape Petrel)
and the primaries and primary coverts were very dark. Bearing in mind that
the seas were running at 3-4meters and that we couldn't get very close to
this bird, it was difficult for anyone on board to get a really good 'read'.
A brief look that I had of the head was that it seemed to be all pale but
with a small 'dirty' patch around the eye and I had the impression of a
robust bill rather than a slender one. Other observers thought that the tail
was a little wedge shaped and there was no terminal or sub-terminal band. A
Swedish birder on board tried to get some long distanced photos of the bird
and we will see if these show anything useful. We eventually lost track of
the bird in the huge flocks and it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable,
so the search was called off.
Bird List
(Note that numbers in parenthesises represent the maximum numbers seen at
any one time)
Little Penguin 2 (2)
Northern Giant-Petrel 1 (1)
Cape Petrel 8 (4)
Great-winged Petrel 50 (15)
Providence Petrel 30 (5)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 2000 (1500)
Sooty Shearwater 1 (1)
Short-tailed Shearwater 600 (50)
Flesh-footed Shearwater 1 (1)
Fluttering Shearwater 12 (3)
Wandering Albatross 16 (12)
gibsoni plus one exulans
Black-browed Albatross 4 (1)
Yellow-nosed Albatross 4 (2)
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 2 (1)
White-faced Storm-Petrel 2 (1)
WHITE-BELLIED STORM-PETREL 1 (1) pale morph
Australasian Gannet 12 (3)
Brown Skua 1 (1)
Silver Gull 100 (40)
Crested Tern 20 (6)
Next Sydney pelagic trip will be on Saturday 14 October, 2006 departing
Mosman Ferry Wharf at 0645 and from Rose Bay Public Wharf at 0700. Call Hal
on 0411 311 236 to make a reservation
Cheers
Roger McGovern
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