SYDNEY PELAGIC TRIP REPORT
September 12, 2009
For some images courtesy of Tony Palliser of the birds and cetaceans seen on
this trip, you can go to
http://www.pbase.com/tony_palliser/sydney_pelagic_12sep09
Overview
We had a beautiful early summer day to look forward to on the water,
although the consistent northerly winds of the past few days were not
encouraging for expectations of unusual species from the south. For once,
the day turned out somewhat as expected with sixteen species recorded for
the day and none of them unusual for the time of the year. However, the day
was anything but uninteresting and the young lad on board for his first
pelagic trip who had ten lifers for the day certainly had a great time - as
did everyone else! The Humpback Whales had started their southerly migration
and were moving through quite slowly and well offshore - we probably saw
close to 30 of them during the course of the day. With the Humpbacks,
Risso's Dolphins, Short-beaked Common Dolphins and probable Pygmy Killer
Whales, it was a memorable cetacean day.
The weather for the day was clear sunny skies with unseasonably warm air
temperatures reaching the high 20's on land but probably only low 20's
offshore. Water temperature at Sydney Heads was 15.4degC and it became
progressively warmer as we travelled eastward, reaching 17.8degC at the
shelf break. We departed from Rose Bay at 7.05am and returned at 3.55pm. The
winds were from the north all day at about 5-10 knots in the morning and
freshening to 10-15knots in the afternoon. Conditions on board were quite
comfortable with a half metre sea on a one metre swell and there were no
cases of sea sickness.
Trip Summary
A good contingent of 30 local, interstate and overseas birders departed
Sydney Heads in ideal conditions and we initially had a plan to track up the
coast before heading offshore. However, it quickly became clear that this
was not going to be productive as the only species recorded in the inshore
area were Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Australasian Gannets, Crested Terns,
good numbers of Fluttering Shearwaters and a few Hutton's Shearwaters. With
no Humpbacks showing in the inshore zone either, we set course for Brown's
Mountain at an early stage meeting a pod of 30 Short-beaked Common Dolphins
at a short distance into the Abysmal Plain. After a couple of immature
dark-headed Shy Albatross (almost certainly of the White-capped NZ race)
gave good views, we had brief looks at an early arrival jaeger which at
first seemed to have the grey plumage and jizz of a Long-tailed but which,
on examination of photographs, seemed more likely to be an Arctic. As we
continued further to the ESE, we began to see some Humpback Whales and
another pod of Short-beaked Common Dolphins joined us for a while. A Cape
Petrel was briefly seen by a couple of observers on board and then, as we
approached Brown' Mountain, we began to see our first Providence Petrels and
Wandering Albatross. We cut the motors and set up a berley trail which
slowly attracted more and more birds to the boat. We had a couple more
immature Shy Albatross, small numbers of Black-browed and Yellow-nosed
Albatross, large numbers of Wandering Albatross (all gibsoni except for one
bird that showed the characteristics of antipodensis) and, the highlight for
most of us, a Northern and a Southern Giant-Petrel feeding together (and
occasionally fighting) right next to the boat. Another Cape Petrel was seen
and obligingly settled on the slick for a while and a couple of Great-winged
Petrels were briefly seen by only a couple of observers.
During all of the action of the feeding birds around the boat, Humpbacks
continued to show well around us with some tail slapping and semi-breaching.
We then set off into deeper water to look for more birds and to try and find
the Sperm Whales which are known to inhabit that area of the ocean. We found
our only adult Shy Albatross of the day sitting on the water and had
magnificent looks at a pod of about 30 Risso's Dolphins which some observers
thought also included a number of Pygmy Killer Whales. The journey back to
Sydney did not produce any new species but everyone seemed to have had a
splendid day on the water.
Bird List
(Note that numbers in parenthesises represent the maximum numbers seen at
any one time)
Southern Giant-Petrel 1 (1)
Northern Giant-Petrel 4 (2)
Cape Petrel 2 (1)
Great-winged Petrel 2 (1)
Providence Petrel 30 (6)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 460 (60)
Fluttering Shearwater 120 (20)
Hutton's Shearwater 16 (4)
Wandering Albatross 28 (10)all gibsoni and one probable
antipodensis
Black-browed Albatross 2 (1)
Yellow-nosed Albatross 5 (2)
Shy Albatross 8 (2)
Australasian Gannet 22 (5)
Jaeger sp 1 (1) probably Arctic
Silver Gull 100 (35)
Crested Tern 10 (2)
Cetacean Sightings
Short-beaked Common Dolphin 50
Humpback Whale 30
Risso's Dolphin 25
Pygmy Killer Whale (?) 6
Next Sydney pelagic trip will be on Saturday 10 October, 2009 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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