The Great-winged Petrels were the NZ form gouldi and not marcoptera (of
course). Thanks Nikolas for keeping me honest.
Following strong westerly winds and lashing rains in Sydney, and a massive
snow-storm in the Blue Mountains the day before, we decided to head out a
little later than usual, leaving Rose Bay at 9:15 (not 7:00) to avoid the worst
of the wind and seas. The Halicat was full to the brim with 42 passengers and 4
crew. The berley trail struggled to pick up a following of birds initially and
when we stopped for some cavorting Humpbacks Whales only 5 miles SE of Sydney
Heads there were only half a dozen Black Browed Tross and a few Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters in attendance. As we continued out the albatross numbers steadily
rose to about 40, mostly Black-browed, with a single Wanderer and a few
Shy/White-capped. Plankton patches (mostly krill but also ctenophores and
whatever else) were frequent. We made a single berley stop close to Browns
Mountain (34 deg 01 min S, 151 deg 39 min E) where we stayed for 1.5 hrs. This
produced 17 seabird species including about 150
albatrosses of 6 taxa in 3 species groups, 3 species of Pterodroma petrels,
some charismatic Cape Petrels, 2 storm-petrel species and 2 shearwater species.
The highlight was a single Cook’s Petrel that appeared 3 times over an hour and
approached to within 40 m, cutting back and forth along the beam repeatedly on
each occasion, to provide great views of a species that is rarely seen close
and well. In the end we saw 20 to 25 seabird species (depending on how you like
to divide your albatrosses) and 3 cetacean species.
==============================
The water temperatures registered between 16-17 deg C but were probably a
little higher. The winds were 10-20 knots W; swell 2-3 m S; seas 2-3 m, W-SW.
The Halicat handled the sloppy conditions very well and provided a remarkably
stable and almost dry platform, except for those riding the bow as we chased
dolphins.
SPECIES LIST
(The larger the number, the more approximate it is; + indicates a high count)
Wandering Albatross (gibsoni) 6
Wandering Albatross (antipodensis type) 1
Black-browed Albatross (melanophris) 150
Black-browed (Campbell) Albatross (impavida), adult 7+
Shy Albatross (cauta) 10
Shy (White-capped) Albatross (steadi), all juveniles 7+
Northern Giant Petrel, juvenile 1
Cape Petrel
2+
Fairy Prion
1
Great-winged Petrel (macroptera) 20
Providence Petrel 40
COOKS PETREL 1+
Sooty Shearwater 10
Short-tailed Shearwater 400
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 150
Flesh-footed Shearwater 1
Fluttering Shearwater 3
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel 5+
White-faced Storm-Petrel 5+
Australasian Gannet 2
Brown Skua 1
Pomarine Jaeger 1
Silver Gull (inshore) 50
Crested Tern
5
‘comic’ tern (White-fronted type) 1
MAMMALS
Humpback Whale 25
Short-beaked Common Dolphin 10
Oceanic Bottlenose Dolphin 50
OTHER
(Southern) Ocean Sunfish 3
The next Sydney pelagic trip will be on Saturday 10 November departing from
Mosman Bay at 6.45 am and Rose Bay at 7.00 am. Book now to avoid dipping by
calling Hal on 0411 311 236 or visiting http://www.halicat.com.au/
Happy seabirding
David James,
Sydney
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