SUMMARY: A promising start and the forecast benign conditions were not realised
so it turned into a rough, tough, tiring and wet trip. Also a strange one so
far as bird abundance and diversity were concerned. Relatively few albatrosses
were seen with no Yellow-nosed at all (in spite of the presence of a trawler),
but there were fair numbers of GREY-BACKED STORM-PETRELS and WHITE-CHINNED
PETRELS very close to the back of the boat during the pelagic berley sessions.
The highlight was a COOK’S PETREL but it was fairly distant and made only two
passes so some missed it. The bumpy ride and spray on the way back made
observation and note taking difficult to impossible so the record below is
incomplete. Four PACIFIC GULLS, including one obvious pair, on Lady Julia Percy
Island (LJPI) was a rare sight and encouraging signs that the species may start
to nest there.
OBSERVERS: Rohan Clarke, Rob Berry, Rod Bird, David Cleary, Isaac Cleary, Peter
Crabtree, Gail D’Alton, Dianne Lewis, Frank Pierce, Ray Schulz, Simon Starr,
Glenn White & Mike Carter (leader & reporter).
WEATHER: Opposing high-pressure systems were centred to the E and NW of us.
Patchy thin cloud gave good light and visibility with sunny periods. Cool.
There was just a light breeze as we left the harbour, but it gradually
freshened and reached 15 knots from the NE by the time we reached the shelf
break and 20 knots during our 3+ hour sojourn in pelagic waters, easing back to
15 knots as we came in.
SEA: A slight sea on a low swell at first gradually developed into a rough sea
with waves of 2 m or more by early afternoon offshore. Moderated to about half
that inshore as we came in. So a smooth ride at first became very bumpy with
much spray. In spite of that, only one person was seasick.
ACTIVITY: Sailed from PF (38º23.3’S 142º14.5’E) at 07.05 EST. Headed directly
to the shelf break on a course of 204º pausing once briefly to observe a Common
Diving-Petrel on the water ahead of the boat. Otherwise, apart from small
numbers of Short-tailed Shearwaters, birds were more notable by their absence.
Several small patches of krill were visible on the surface inshore. There was
more avian activity around the shelf break (100 fathoms), which we crossed at
09.35. In pelagic waters we made three berleying stops. The first, from 09.45
to 10.30 at 38º48.8’S 141º53.2’E was initially over 250 fathoms of water. The
second, from 10.55 to 11.50 at 38º52.2’S 141º48.7’E was above the edge of a
deep canyon and the third from 12.20 to 13.00 was adjacent to a trawler fishing
in 130 fathoms at 38º47.5’S 141º43.2’E. At each stop we berleyed with shark
liver. Enroute back, we cruised the W & N shores of LJPI between 15.15 and
15.35 before docking at 16.40.
MAMMALS: 1,000s of Australian Fur Seals at LJPI and ~5 at sea. Just one
unidentified dolphin was seen offshore as we went out.
BIRDS: 23 species of seabird (24 taxa) beyond the river mouth indicated average
diversity although abundance was low. Unless noted otherwise, all listed below
were near or beyond the shelf break (i.e. pelagic).
COMMON DIVING-PETREL: 1 offshore.
Southern Giant-Petrel: 1
Northern Giant-Petrel: 7 (5). 5 followed us in nearly to LJPI.
Cape Petrel: 2 (2). One definitely, & the other probably, of the race australis.
Great-winged Petrel: 15 (6), only race gouldi definitely identified.
COOK’S PETREL: 1.
Fairy Prion: >100 (30). Mostly in deeper offshore waters but up to 20 pelagic.
WHITE-CHINNED PETREL: 12 (10).
Sooty Shearwater: 2 (1).
Short-tailed Shearwater: 1,000 (200). 700 inshore, 250 offshore & 50 pelagic.
Fluttering Shearwater: 2 inshore in a.m.
Wandering Albatross: 3 exulans. One stage 4 & two stage 5.
Black-browed Albatross: nom. race 2 sub-adults.
Impavida, 4 (3), 2 adults, 2 sub-adults.
Shy Albatross cauta: 30 (12). 5 inshore, 5 offshore, 20 pelagic.
25 adults & 5 sub-adults.
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel: 1.
GREY-BACKED STORM-PETREL: 25 (12).
White-faced Storm-Petrel: 5 (2).
Australasian Gannet: 30 (5), 20 inshore, 9 offshore, 1 pelagic. All adult.
Black-faced Cormorant: 4 on LJPI.
PACIFIC GULL: 4 including 1 pair possibly prospecting on LJPI. Not usually
seen here and not known to nest.
Kelp Gull: 10 on LJPI.
Silver Gull: ~ 40 on LJPI where some nesting.
Crested Tern: 13 (5). 5 inshore, 2 offshore, 1 pelagic & 5 on LJPI.
Also, 18 Australian Shelduck were seen flying W several km from shore.
Mike Carter
30 Canadian Bay Road
Mt Eliza VIC 3930
Ph: (03) 9787 7136
Email:
==============================www.birding-aus.org
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