Hi all,
I would just like to mention how wonderful it is to get out on a boat and
watch pelagic seabirds, as well as the coastal species that sometimes turn
up 20 or more kilometres off our coast. A sunny day adds to the pleasure, as
do a few waves and a bit of a swell. Wind is needed for waves and swell but
it is a debatable point as to how much is enough. A breeze that will satisfy
a fisherman is rarely enough for a bird watcher, a full gale is usually too
much. What is needed is enough wind to allow the storm petrels and prions to
wheel and swoop with joyful abandon, but not so much that the driving spray
and lurching boat means you can’t see them.
I mention this because the trip out of Eden last Sunday, 31/07, was one of
those dodgy days. When we arrived at the dock the sun was just up and a few
clouds hid the blue. What wind there was was coming gently from the
north-west and didn’t even jangle the rigging on the boats in the harbour. I
had been warned by a fellow birder that we would struggle for a good birding
wind; “I’m going to Port Macdonnell”, he said, “we’re going to have a good
wind all day but you will have nothing.” The weather maps suggested that he
would be proved right.
Heading out past the breakwater I heard his words in his email and wondered.
The sea was calm and all the way out to the shelf, some 35 kilometres, we
rarely saw a bird, no gannets, no terns, no mollymawks – nothing. The day
was beginning to look like a disaster. Then the petrels started to appear,
distantly, above the horizon.
Out at the shelf the day became a dream. While the number of species was not
huge the quality was there. The petrels were Providence Petrels and they
were around us all day, both coming to the boat and wheeling way off in the
distance. An estimate would be some 50 or more counted and many more in the
distance.
Prions were plentiful too but out at the shelf they were not your common or
garden Fairy Prion, but Slender-billed Prion. With a count of 25 or more
this was more than I have ever seen at one time. They were accompanied by
the ubiquitous Shy (4 +) and Black-browed Albatross (15 +), mainly young
ones, and one Wandering Albatross identified as the New Zealand race, *
antipodensis*. Buller’s (2) and Yellow-nosed Albatross (10 +) rounded out
the *Diomedia* representatives for the day. There was also a prion that I
could not identify, and so its photo has gone to the experts for ID.
To add to the diversity we had Crested Terns (10) and White-fronted Terns
(5) feeding on the burley and eventually resting on the bow rail and seats
at the front of the boat. How good can it get.
All this bird life, a 2 knot southerly current, gentle north-west winds to
maybe 10 knots, sunshine, hot chocolate-chip muffins cooked on board, cups
of tea and good company. How hard we struggle to lull the fears of the
dreaded Dipidus!
Returning to port we had a continuous stream of Fairy Prions flying south to
north and Gannets feeding and resting. One Brown Skua and a couple of
distant fluttering-type shearwaters added to the bird count. Some blowing
whales, probably Humpbacks, two pods of Common Dolphins and a few fur seals
rounded out the day.
Motoring up to the dock we passed one White-bellied Sea-eagle, some Pacific
Gulls, one immature Kelp Gull and all five Cormorants, Black-faced, Black,
Pied, Little Pied and Little Black. Wonderful.
We hadn’t had the wind I wanted but we did have a magic day. As usual there
will be some photos on BOCA but as the birds were so close and the weather
so good it may take a day or two to get them all put up, so keep checking.
Cheers
Jenny
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