A big weekend for seawatching at Pt Lookout!
Saturday’s seawatch from 8 – 12 produced a Yellow-nosed Albatross lazily circling north and a Providence Petrel initally shearing south against the wind, only to turn and hammer north as well, with the 15 – 20 know southeasterly behind it. 2 Artic Skuas together, 1 light phase and 1 dark, chasing terns and 2 seperate Pomarine Skuas passed the headland as well. (Stuart Warren and myself)
Sunday and a Wilson’s Storm Petrel was the first bird the observer saw on his arrival at 7.00 as it flew south low across a relatively calm sea. During the next 2 hours a Little Shearwater was spotted twice, mixing with a flock of Fluttering Shears providing excellent comparisons to support ID. (Andy Jensen)
Monday and a Great-winged Petrel shearing south was the best bird in the first three hours, before an immature Buller’s Albatross flew close to the headland providing great views, followed some time later by a more distant Yellow-nosed. 4 Prion sp were also recorded in the 6 hour seawatch. (Stuart Pickering, Rob Dougherty, Andy Jensen and myself)
Sunday and Monday also provicded numbers of Fluttering and Fluttering/Hutton’s types and Aust Gannets were seen on all days. The oddest bird was a White Ibis heading south…. presumably only for a short distance!
Cheers
