From: Roger McGovern
Sent: Monday, 14 May 2007 10:47 AM
To: birding-aus (birding-aus)
Subject: Sydney Pelagic Report May 12, 2007
SYDNEY PELAGIC TRIP REPORT
May 12, 2007
Conditions
A very pleasant Sydney late autumn day with mostly sunny conditions
throughout and air temperatures offshore reaching a maximum of 21degC
Water temperature inshore was around 21.1degC and reached as high as
23.0degC at the shelf break which is still very warm for this time of the
year
Departed at 0700hrs and returned at 1515hrs
0.5m sea on a 1.5m swell easing to an oily calm in the early afternoon
Winds were light southwesterly in the morning backing around to the
northeast and remaining light in the afternoon
Trip Summary
The MV Halicat left Rose Bay with only nine passengers on board in perfect
autumnal conditions - blue skies, light winds, cool temperature and benign
sea conditions. With the summer shearwaters (Wedge-tailed, Short-tailed,
Sooty and Flesh-footed) supposedly departed by now, we were curious to see
what would fill the void given the warm sea temperatures which still existed
as we approached winter.
We departed the heads and searched along the coast for early-migrating
Hump-backed Whales, picking up several Australasian Gannets, Crested Terns
and Fluttering Shearwaters along the way. With no sign of whales, we headed
out towards the continental shelf at Brown's Mountain with few birds sighted
except for a single Short-tailed Shearwater, a Black-browed Albatross and
then another Black-browed Albatross of the race impavida (Campbell Island).
Shortly before reaching the shelf break, a single, very late Wedge-tailed
Shearwater flew by followed shortly by a second.
As we commenced drifting and berleying at Brown's Mountain, our first couple
of Providence Petrels flew by and then our bird of the day, an intermediate
morph KERMADEC PETREL passed by at some distance and kept going. In the next
twenty minutes, the bird re-appeared twice but never approached the boat at
a satisfactory distance. A fly-by Shy Albatross put in a brief appearance
along with several more Providence Petrels and we then decided to head
eastwards into deeper water to try and find more birds.
As we motored slowly east, more species were added to the day's list with
Sooty Shearwaters passing by, an early Fairy Prion making a very close pass
and our only Wandering Albatross of the day seen at some distance. A second
berleying stop produced more Providence Petrels and a couple of very late
Flesh-footed Shearwaters.
As we headed back towards Sydney in flat calm conditions, a large pod of
Long-finned Pilot Whales was sighted and everybody enjoyed excellent views
as the group of 60 or so just meandered along on the surface apparently
unconcerned with our presence. It was a very pleasant end to a lovely day on
the ocean.
Bird List
(Note that numbers in parenthesises represent the maximum numbers seen at
any one time)
Providence Petrel 20 (2)
KERMADEC PETREL 1 (1) intermediate morph
Fairy Prion 1 (1)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 2 (1)
Short-tailed Shearwater 2 (1)
Sooty Shearwater 3 (1)
Flesh-footed Shearwater 2 (1)
Fluttering Shearwater 12 (8)
Wandering Albatross 1 (1)
Black-browed Albatross 2 (1) one impavida
Shy Albatross 1 (1)
Australasian Gannet 24 (10)
Silver Gull 60 (20)
Crested Tern 12 (5)
Cetaceans
Long-finned Pilot Whales 60
Next Sydney pelagic trip will be on Saturday 9 June, 2007 departing Mosman
Ferry Wharf at 0645 and Rose Bay Public Wharf at 0700. Call Hal on 0411 311
236 to make a reservation
Cheers
Roger McGovern
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