Dear Birders
I was out on a SOSSA pelagic from Wollongong yesterday and discovered a new way
to get a tick!
SOSSA trips (normally the 4th Saturday in the month - see the SOSSA
International web site) are always great birding but yesterdays trip had an
extra attraction. A Westland petrel had been found in a distressed state at
Narrabeen and given to the Taronga Zoo for rehabilitation. The time had come to
release the bird back into the wild and it was on board in a "cat box". We were
also accompanied by the veterinary nurse from Taronga who had nursed the bird
back to health was also aboard to see her charge put back into it's natural
environment.
On the way out to the shelf we saw quite a variety of birds among which were 4
black petrels. One of these was caught for banding providing a wonderful
opportunity to compare the black and the Westland petrels in the hand. I
understand that the Westland bird was only a few months old whereas the black
was probably a mature adult. The Westland seemed overall a bit larger but
otherwise almost identical apart from the bills. The bill of the Westland was
considerably larger and had a lot more black on it. The tip of both bills was
black. The saddle of the Westland was also strongly black and the nostrils were
a dark grey. By contrast the saddle of the bill of the black was yellow and
nostrils were also yellow. In the Westland the non-black portions of the bill
were bone coloured rather than black.
Both birds were then released. The black flew off immediately whereas the
Westland stayed preening and washing itself vigorously for some time. It then
lifted off briefly before dropping back onto the sea. It appeared that the
weight that the bird had put on might have been weighing it down. We left if
looking quite comfortable bobbing around on the ocean. I felt it appropriate to
tick the Westland as it was alive and free after its release - any disagreement
will be considered if in writing and accompanied by a $50 application fee :-).
Other birds seen included Gibson's albatross (1 banded but 5 seen), Australian
gannet, wedge tailed shearwater (in large numbers and a number banded), short
fly-bys of Buller's shearwater, white necked petrel and common noddy, a number
of sooty terns, flesh footed shearwater, and short tailed shearwater.
In summary a great days birding made even more exciting by the release into
tickability of the Westland petrel.
Regards
Peter Marsh
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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