SYDNEY PELAGIC TRIP REPORT - SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2012
OVERVIEW
After a two month break since the last Sydney pelagic trip, we were treated
to an archetype summer outing with some really excellent 'tropical' birds.
The star bird of the day had to be the intermediate morph RED-FOOTED BOOBY
which approached from behind the boat, flew past, and kept going quickly
disappearing from sight. As a result, there were some observers on board who
missed the bird , which was a great pity, but images of this bird and the
other good birds of the trip can be seen on Raja Stephenson's website at
http://www.adarman.com/Pelagics/2012-February-11-Sydney This is the first
ever sighting of this species from the Halicat and, if accepted by NSW ORAC,
will become only the 10th confirmed record for NSW. We also saw our first
Streaked Shearwater from the Halicat for at least four years. Amazingly, the
value of photographic evidence was again underlined when Raja later examined
her photographs of this bird only to discover that there were two
individuals - the very different underwing patterns can clearly be seen. At
the time the birds were seen, they were mixing with large feeding flocks of
Wedge-tailed and Flesh-footed Shearwaters and it was therefore very hard to
pick up the fact that there were two individuals. A very obliging
White-necked Petrel stayed around the boat for a while giving great views
and three Sooty Terns rounded out a very nice selection of summer species.
Surface water temperatures had been very high a couple of weeks ago but the
really warm water had moved back to the north - temperatures were around
19.6degC as we departed the heads rising to 22.4degC at the continental
shelf break. We departed from Rose Bay at 7.20am and returned at 3.20pm. Sea
conditions as we departed Sydney Heads were quite choppy with a 1 metre sea
on a 1.5 metre swell but conditions moderated continuously during the day
and it became a very pleasant day to be on the water. Having said that,
there were two or three cases of sea-sickness to report. In the morning, the
wind was from the SSE at 10 - 13 knots and, by lunchtime, it had backed to
the south and moderated to 5 - 10 knots.
TRIP SUMMARY
We headed out of the harbour with a complement of 25 passengers on board,
comprising a couple of overseas visitors, but mostly local and interstate
birders. David started the berley trail before we left the harbour and the
attendant Silver Gulls soon attracted a following of Wedge-tailed and a few
Short-tailed Shearwaters as we headed out to sea. Several Pomarine Jaegers
joined the feeding shearwaters, the odd Flesh-footed Shearwater began to
appear and we had our only Arctic Jaeger of the day fly past the boat. A
Fluttering-type Shearwater was called at some distance and, a few minutes
later, the only Fluttering Shearwater of the day gave good views. Around the
ten-mile mark, a pod of 30 Short-beaked Common Dolphins joined us and rode
on the bow for a while.
As we began to approach the shelf break, a Streaked Shearwater flew in and
spent some time with the large numbers of Wedge-tailed and Flesh-footed
Shearwaters behind the boat giving everyone on board the opportunity to view
the bird well. Although I did notice somebody watching the Streaked
Shearwater in a different direction to the one that I was watching, the 'two
bird' theory did not enter my brain until Raja examined her photographs and
confirmed that we indeed had two individuals! Shortly afterwards, a distant
Sooty Tern was seen by some on board, but we were to have two more sightings
later which provided much closer views. A distant whale blow was seen by
Steve and we were frustrated not to locate the animal as it could have been
something interesting at this time of the year.
We set up a berley trail at Brown's Mountain and eventually began to get a
few Great-winged Petrels to the boat along with Wedge-tailed, Short-tailed
and Flesh-footed Shearwaters. After some time with no new species, a
White-necked Petrel approached the boat and delighted everyone by staying
within a reasonable distance of the boat for several minutes. With nothing
new coming to the berley, we set off for a cruise to the north and east of
Brown's Mountain where the highlight was the brief but spectacular
appearance of the RED-FOOTED BOOBY. The only other sighting of note during
this period was a single Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin which came and rode on
our bow wave for a short time.
The journey back to Sydney was uneventful but, as we neared the heads, a
group of three Hutton's Shearwaters flew across the bow giving good views
and we saw a pair of Australasian Gannets, the only ones of the day. A
spectacular rainstorm hit us as we passed through the heads and a fur seal
which was seen was not investigated further due to the terrible weather
conditions. All in all, it was as good a day of pelagic birding on a
summer's day off Sydney as could reasonably be expected.
BIRD LIST
(Note that the numbers in parentheses represent the maximum number of that
species in view at one time)
Great-winged Petrel 20 (4) all gouldi
White-necked Petrel 1 (1)
STREAKED SHEARWATER 2 (2)
Short-tailed Shearwater 18 (2)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 400 (150)
Flesh-footed Shearwater 60 (7)
Fluttering type shearwater 1 (1)
Fluttering Shearwater 1 (1)
Hutton's Shearwater 3 (3)
Australasian Gannet 2 (2)
RED-FOOTED BOOBY 1 (1)
Arctic Jaeger 1 (1)
Pomarine Jaeger 12 (3)
Silver Gull 20 (5)
Crested Tern 3 (2)
Sooty Tern 3 (1)
OTHER
Short-beaked Common Dolphin 30
Oceanic Bottlenose Dolphin 1
Fur Seal (sp) 1
The next Sydney pelagic trip will be on Saturday 10 March 2012 departing
Mosman Ferry Wharf at 6.45am and Rose Bay Ferry Wharf at 7.00am. Call Hal at
0411 311 236 to make a booking.
Cheers
Roger McGovern
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