Hi Russell
What you describe reminds me more of Fluttering Shearwaters. They tend to flap
a lot & then glide. Fluttering are blackish above white below, prions are
blue-grey above with a distinct M marking across the upperparts & white below.
Prions have a more buoyant flight with lots of gliding and pattering on the
surface. I suppose the other possibility is Diving Petrels, but they are rarely
seen from shore. They are tiny compared to the other two & their flight is not
dissimilar to a quail with a whirr of wings, although they do glide a little as
well in a strong breeze.-Kevin Bartram
> Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2014 22:34:09 +1000
> From:
> To:
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Small seabirds of Blue Rocks
>
> Also late this afternoon, close to sunset, very hazy ...
>
> There was a group of 45-50 smallish dumpy seabirds about a kilometer off
> the beach. They would head in one direction, then wheel around and head in
> the other. They did this for a few turns then headed westwards. Flight
> usually began with fast wingbeats followed by short glides very low over
> water. Some birds landed briefly. White contrasting with darker grey, but I
> couldn't pick up any clearer markings. Fairy Prion? Or too hard to call?
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