SYDNEY PELAGIC TRIP REPORT ? MARCH 14, 2015
OVERVIEW
I would like to preface this report by saying a big ?thank you? to the
Sydney area birders who supported this trip. Our five man Sydney Pelagic
Co-op were once again stuck for a vessel for this March trip and we decided
to take the risk and charter the Bass & Flinders MV Explorer even though the
probability was that we would take a financial loss on the venture. However,
the local birding community came through and supported the trip to the point
where we had 42 passengers on board ? surely a Sydney record for a pelagic
trip. It means that we will have the cushion to use for another trip with
the Explorer later in the year, perhaps in July, and keeps the pelagics
viable for the rest of the year. We plan to use the MV Avalon for most of
this year ? it is a monohull game fishing boat with a capacity of only 23
passengers so if you are keen to go out in a particular month, please book
early.
This pelagic trip was blessed from a weather standpoint ? a rare event in my
experience! We had very strong winds for the two preceding days and then 30
knot winds on the day after the pelagic ? we would have had to cancel on any
of those days. However, the day itself was a perfect late summer day with
bright sunshine and very warm water temperatures again ? conditions that
would suggest the appearance of some tropical species, and so it turned out.
Although we recorded 21 species on the day (which is very good), the birds
were well fed and generally had no interest in the boat or the berley. This
caused many of our sightings to be brief and distant and, with a large boat
and the consequent time lapse in communication, this inevitably caused most
people to miss one or two species that were recorded during the trip. The
highlights of the day were a RED-TAILED TROPICBIRD, two WHITE-TAILED
TROPICBIRDS, a WHITE TERN and a Buller?s Albatross. The frustration of the
day was a fregetta storm petrel which appeared very briefly and did not
allow any ventral views. The appearance of very white underparts and lack of
leg projection beyond the tail would strongly suggest White-bellied Storm
Petrel but, unless anyone comes up with better diagnostic photographs, it
will have to remain a fregetta (sp).
We left the heads in the predicted sea condition of a 1.5m sea on a 1.0m
swell which was reasonably comfortable in a large boat ? however a small
number of people suffered from mild sea sickness. The winds were from the
south and south east for the whole day and both the wind and the sea state
decreased throughout the day. We left the heads at around 7.35am and arrived
at Brown?s Mountain at about 9.45am and, with nothing much happening there,
we continued for about 6NM eastwards into deeper water at the beginning of
the deep canyon area. We berleyed there for over an hour and then did a slow
trip back up the long slick that had formed. We set off back to Sydney at
12.30pm and, after a look around Chowder Bay and Shark Island for the South
Island Pied Oystercatcher, we arrived at Rose Bay Wharf at 3.30pm. The
vessel did not have the means to measure the sea water temperature but the
BoM seawater temperature charts indicated that the temperature would have
been around 24.5degC.
TRIP SUMMARY
We departed from Rose Bay Wharf at 7.10pm with 42 passengers, mostly locals
but with visitors from the UK, Canberra and Gloucester, and we spent the
first 15 minutes circumnavigating Shark Island in an unsuccessful attempt to
relocate the South Island Pied Oystercatcher that has been reported from
here and Chowder Bay for the past couple of weeks. We left the heads at
7.35am and, contrary to our usual practice of berleying all the way to the
shelf, we decided to head straight out to Brown?s Mountain and beyond to
maximise our time in deep water. As we left the heads, some people spotted a
Long-tailed Jaeger on the water (the only one of the day) and shortly
afterwards, a Pomarine Jaeger made a pass of the boat. There were
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters around but not in great numbers and a couple of
Fluttering Shearwaters were well seen. Our only Australasian Gannets of the
day were seen quite high and then our first albatross, a Buller?s Albatross
was seen but again at some distance. A single Short-tailed Shearwater showed
well near the boat and at about the 8 mile mark, we saw a small bird ahead
of the boat which looked remarkably like a prion but it disappeared before
it could be identified. The size and flight pattern , together with the time
of year (they have a post breeding dispersal from their NZ breeding grounds
from January through March) and water temperature, all suggested that
Broad-billed Prion could be a good fit for the bird but we will never know!
The first of several Shy Albatross was seen but again not approaching very
close to the boat. Our first group of dolphins, about 25 Short-beaked Common
Dolphins, came and checked us out and rode on the bow wave for a while. As
we neared Brown?s Mountain, the first major excitement of the day occurred
when a white bird was distantly seen and we set off to try and track it
down. After looking at a fuzzy blown up shot of the bird on someone?s
camera, I called it as a tropicbird. We initially lost the bird then
re-found it a couple of minutes later and when we got closer, it turned out
to be a White Tern which everyone saw very well. Somewhat puzzled, I had
another look at the original photo and there were two white birds in the
same frame! Fortunately one of the group of young birders on board had a
better shot of the tropicbird which was identified as a Red-tailed
Tropicbird but it was never seen at a range where it could have been
identified with binoculars.
We continued on into deeper water and began to see Great-winged Petrels
(race gouldi or ?Grey-faced? Petrels) and, as we started the berley trail,
we added Wilson?s Storm Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater and a couple of
Providence Petrels to the tally. A pod of about50 Oceanic Bottlenose
Dolphins came and swam around the boat for a while much to everybody?s
enjoyment. A sharp-eyed young birder picked out a very high tropicbird in
the sky which a lot of people had trouble seeing with the naked eye ? it
turned out to be a White-tailed Tropicbird and was a lifer for many on
board. Our only wandering-type albatross of the day, an Antipodean Albatross
(ssp gibsoni) came by giving great views to all on board and a Mako shark
came swimming through the berley trail close to the boat. Another group of
dolphins, this time a pod of 20 Short-beaked Common Dolphins, came close to
the boat to check us out. With time pushing on, we motored slowly back up
the slick and encountered a fregetta storm petrel which frustratingly did
not properly show a ventral view and which departed very quickly. The
impression of very white underparts and the lack of leg projection beyond
the tail strongly suggested that it was a White-bellied Storm Petrel but,
unless any better photographs come to light, it will have to remain a
fregetta species. The trip back to Sydney was largely uneventful but was
highlighted by the sighting of three Black-browed Albatross, a species not
previously recorded on the day. As we approached the heads, two Sooty
Shearwaters were seen, bringing the day?s species count to 21 which is
excellent for March. We detoured via chowder Head and Shark Island in
another vain attempt to locate the SIPO and finally arrived at Rose Bay at
3.30pm.
All in all it was an excellent and absorbing day on the water with some
outstanding birds ? it just would have been good if we had had better views
of some of them.
BIRD LIST
(note that the numbers in parentheses represent the approximate number of
that species in view at one time)
Antipodean Albatross 1 (1) ssp gibsoni
Black-browed Albatross 3 (1)
Shy Albatross 5 (1)
Buller?s Albatross 1 (1)
Great-winged Petrel 15 (3) all gouldi
Providence Petrel 2 (1)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 40 (8)
Sooty Shearwater 2 (2)
Short-tailed Shearwater 1 (1)
Flesh-footed Shearwater 4 (1)
Fluttering Shearwater 4 (1)
Wilson?s Storm Petrel 8 (3)
(Fregetta species) 1 (1) probably
White-bellied Storm Petrel
Red-tailed Tropicbird 1 (1)
White-tailed Tropicbird 2 (1)
Australasian Gannet 2 (2)
White Tern 1 (1)
Silver Gull 90 (60)
Greater Crested Tern 3 (1)
Pomarine Jaeger 2 (1)
Long-tailed Jaeger 1 (1)
OTHER
Oceanic Bottlenose Dolphin 50
Short-beaked Common Dolphin 45
Mako shark 1
Flying fish 100+
The next Sydney pelagic trip is scheduled for Saturday 11 April, 2015
departing from Mosman at 6.45am and from Rose Bay at 7.00am. Please book
early to assist our planning and to avoid missing a spot. All details of our
trips and contact details are in the website at
http://www.sydneypelagics.info/ and you can also find us on Facebook as
well as post photos: https://www.facebook.com/sydneypelagics/
Cheers
Roger McGovern
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