Hi All,
In 2012 I’m organizing a number of pelagic trips out of Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania. These will operate under the banner of the newly formed Birdlife Australia. While we don’t insist on it, it therefore helps if you are a member of Birdlife Australia, given the association between these boat trips and Birdlife Aust.
I have scheduled three trips in 2012 on:
Sunday 19 February Sunday 16 September Sunday 2 December
I am currently taking bookings for these trips if anyone wishes to register an interest. As the boat often fills quite rapidly there is a waiting list established when a trip is fully booked because, for various reasons, we have people who have to pull out.
The cost of the boat trip is in the order of $120, depending on the number of people on the boat – it is dearer if we don’t fill the boat as the hire cost is divided between the sea-birders. Because participants come from a variety of locations and many interstate visitors make a weekend or more of it, participants organize their own accommodation and transport to Eaglehawk Neck (about an hour from Hobart).
The east coast of Tasmania is unusual because boat trips get out in weather conditions that would be considered extreme in many other places such as Port Fairy/Portland, Vic (where I have a bit of experience). The land mass of Tasmania itself provides lots of protection for the east coast waters and the boat gets out most times – quite safely.
If you want to know what birds we see off Eaglehawk Neck, trip reports have been consistently posted to Birding-Aus. You can search in the archives at http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/birding-aus/ In 2011 our Feb trip produced a European Storm-Petrel, a Great Shearwater (the first of the unprecedented influx) plus Bullers and Little Shearwater, Gould’s and Soft-plumaged Petrel, our September trip produced a Grey Petrel plus many albatross and our November trips produced numbers of Mottled and Soft-plumaged Petrels, a Cooks Petrel, Black-bellied Storm-Petrels, Bullers Shearwaters and Long-tailed Jaegers.
So, if you are interested in a pelagic off of Tasmania please let me know.
Regards, Rohan
Rohan Clarke www.wildlifeimages.com.au
