Hey all,
We had a great day on sunday on the Port Stephens pelagic.
Highlights were a Cooks Petrel, 6 Black Petrels, 6 Long-tailed Jaegers, a Sooty Tern and large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters.
A report will soon follow.
Something we havent seen before were the large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters at the shelf. On the trip out to the shelf we had many Short-tailed Shearwaters flying south in small groups of up to 30 birds, upon reaching the shelf we noticed larger groups of shearwaters (up to 200 birds) heading in a south-easterly direction. All these birds were gliding slower than shorts with slower wing beats, some closer visuals and some blurry photos revealed longer wings to a sharper point, bull chested and a heavier ‘look’, also long bills and all birds showing consistent silvery flashes and contrast.
All these Sootys were at the shelf and beyond. Around ten or so flocks moved through over an 1-2hrs. During this period we also had the 6 Black Petrels arrive together in one flock and then the Cooks Petrel.
These three species are all NZ breeders. Could we have come across a NZ bound migration of mixed species?
Has anyone witnessed on the east coast, large numbers of Sootys or Black Petrels in small flocks?
Steve Roderick.
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