Just back from an eventful trip on Heritage Expedition?s ?Spirit of Enderby?
from Albany to Hobart, then Hobart to Macquarie Island, continuing through
several Subantarctic Islands of NZ. Three weeks of vomit-less ship travel
was a welcome surprise ? and the sea-birding was simply incredible. The
most significant sighting may well have been the three congregations of
Broad-billed Prions, ranging from 500 to 1,000 birds, beginning 140 nautical
miles south of Hobart. The most unforgettable highlight however was the
dramatic David Attenborough scene on Macca, where true-to-cliché, legions of
King Penguins, Royal Penguins and Elephant Seals mixed it up with no
apparent concern about the stunned punters. Unforgettable. A good range of
additional birds were encountered within Australian waters over the extended
period, and some fantastic seabirds that I?d really looked forward to
seeing. Also some wonderful birding on the NZ subantarctic islands. I very
much recommend having a look at Heritage Expedition?s website to consider
future trips ? it is an impressively slick and effective operation.
The slow pace of the past few weeks at sea have effectively snuffed my
frenetic pace of the previous 11 months, and quite frankly, I don?t think I
can find the chutzpa to get the revs back up to launch the intended all-out
efforts to find BBBQ and Western Ground Parrot during these final ten days
of 2012 ? though I do still plan on searching for both in calmer, more
calculated circumstances during 2013. One continuingly elusive species that
I will be seeking however, is Australasian Bittern. I received some good
information from Birding-Aus contributors earlier in the year, which was
gratefully appreciated and is likely to guide my search at end of month. If
anyone has any additional, very recent intel on sighted birds ? anywhere in
SE Australia, that information too, would be very much appreciated. Please
email me off-list.
Regards to all; thanks for the help this year; and very best wishes for
Christmas!
John Weigel
PS Apologies re blog ? will try to update before Xmas. Following species
seen since last installment:
25 Nov Hodgson?s Hawk-Cuckoo West Island Cocos Keeling (732)
3 Dec Little Shearwater Australian Bight, WA (733)
3 Dec Gould?s Petrel Australian Bight, WA (734)
11 Dec Broad-billed Prion Sth of Hobart, Tas (735)
11 Dec Antarctic Prion Sth of Hobart, Tas (736)
12 Dec Mottled Petrel Sth of Hobart, Tas (737)
13 Dec Macquarie Island Shag Macquarie Island (738)
13 Dec Grey-headed Albatross Macquarie Island (739)
13 Dec Light-mantled Sooty Alb Macquarie Island (740)
14 Dec Royal Penguin Macquarie Island (741)
14 Dec King Penguin Macquarie Island (742)
14 Dec Gentoo Penguin Macquarie Island (743)
14 Dec Rockhopper Penguin Macquarie Island (744)
14 Dec Redpoll Macquarie Island (745)
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