Below is the late trip report for the Wollongong SOSSA pelagic on the
28th January 2012.
For anyone interested, SOSSA now has over 170 Wollongong trip reports
from 1999 on the website
http://www.sossa-international.org/forum/content.php?114-pelagic-reports
We also have 28 Southport reports from 2006
http://www.sossa-international.org/forum/content.php?133-pelagic-reports-southport
and we now have 15 Port Stephens trip reports from 2010
http://www.sossa-international.org/forum/content.php?414-pelagic-reports-port-stephens
Thanks
Brook
*Saturday 28th January 2012,*SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, WOLLONGONG, NSW, AUSTRALIA.
Report prepared by: Lindsay E. Smith.
*Departed: *0705 hrs
*Return*1610 hrs**
**
*Sea conditions*: Below 1 0m on a 1.5m swell from the east.
*Weather:*Overcast for most of the morning 6/10 cloud clearing in the
afternoon.
**
*Temperature range:*20-25 °C.
*Barometric pressure:*1016Hp
*Wind:*ENE east 10 - 15 knots. **
**
*Sea surface temperature:*21.0°- 24.6°
**
*Primary chumming location: 250 Fathoms *
**
*Summary: *
An excellent summer's days birding off Wollongong. Birds were about in
good numbers including some "wished for" tropical species. The severe
weather occurring along the northern NSW and south-east Queensland coast
and a strong East Australian Current had the birds coming south. We were
very lucky with the weather.Persistent heavy rain had been falling south
to Sydney for almost a week! The winds had abated to 10 knots before
increasing to 12-15 knots in the afternoon. We headed out under the
influence of a high pressure system 1016hp over the coast
There were very few birds inshore, a few Crested Terns and the
occasional Fluttering, Hutton's and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. The Silver
Gulls were conspicuous by their absence! (Most were on-shore, foraging
no doubt, on earth worms in flooded playing fields.)
Conditions for birds were generally good, however the early light was
very poor making conditions far from ideal for seeing the birds.Five
Black Swans flying north over the sea towards Sydney and 3 returning
south soon after, were a quite unexpected sight!
As we neared the Trap reef, a *Black-winged Petrel* created a bit of
excitement as it appeared amongst the Wedge-tailed Shearwaters following
the boat.Although it was distant, it gave all on board good, but all too
brief views of this seldom encountered species.
The banding team set to catching and marking Wedge-tailed and
Flesh-footed shearwaters and Grey faced-petrels as part of our ongoing
research programmes into these species.
As we approached the shelf break we were soon accompanied by a throng of
species, albatrosses, shearwaters, petrels, jaegers and terns. Sooty
Terns both adults and juveniles were observed in pairs, consisting of an
adult and a juvenile. A single White-necked petrel came in to join the
melee coming in close to the boat giving all on board great views. A
white Tern sighted in 80 fathoms on our return journey completed the
list of tropical species for the trip.
Birds recorded according to the Environment Australia Reporting Schedule:
*Species code: Species name: *
069 Wedge-tailed Shearwater /Puffinus pacificus/
068 Fluttering Shearwater /Puffinus gavia/
913 Hutton's Shearwater /Puffinus huttoni/
069 Short-tailed Shearwater /Puffinus tenuirostris /
070 Sooty Shearwater /Puffinus griseus/
072 Flesh-footed Shearwater /Puffinus carneipes/
075 Grey-faced Petrel /Pterodroma m. gouldi/
*774 White-necked Petrel **/Pterodroma cervicalis /*
*955 Black-winged Petrel /Pterodroma/****/nigripennis /*
088 Black-browed Albatross /Thalassarche melanophris/
091 Shy Albatross /Thalassarche cauta /
106 Australian Pelican /Pelecannus conspicillatus/
115 Crested Tern /Sterna bergi/
120 Sooty Tern /Sterna fuscata/
*972 White Tern /Gygis alba/ *
125 Silver Gull /Larus noveahollandia/
981 Kelp Gull /Larus dominicanus /
945 Pomarine Jaeager /Stercorarius pomarinus /
128 Arctic Jaeger /Stercorarius parasiticus /
933 Long-tailed Jaeger /Stercorarius longicaudis /
Many thanks to Graham Barwell for keeping notes on the day.
The banding team was hard at work during the day and managed to capture
and band a number of shearwater's and petrel's for the day, these
included some interesting recaptures.
*__*
*_http://www.sossa-international.org <http://www.sossa-international.org/>_*
*Future Trips*:
All Pelagic Trips from NSW are operated at no profit to the organizers,
being operated as group boat charters for the benefit of all who wish to
join us. If you would like to join one of these trips please contact us
as detailed below:
*To make a booking on the regular SOSSA Wollongong Pelagic Trips.*Which
departs on the *4th* *Saturday* of each month. Contact:*SOSSA: Phone 02
4272 4626Email: <> for further
information in regards to other trips.*
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