Dear Birders, Heritage Expeditions took their 50 passenger ship “Spirit of Enderby” to Heard Island , in the deep southern Indian Ocean, in November carrying a select group of keen birders. They were not disappointed!
The ship left Fremantle on November 8 and took a course slightly South of West to the vicinity of Amsterdam Island. On the way good sightings included a lone Atlantic Yellow Nosed Albatross and a small number of Barau’s Petrel, both well outside Australian waters. More common at this stage were Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, Great-winged Petrel, White-headed Petrel, Soft-plumaged Petrel and White-chinned Petrel.
We were not permitted by the French authorities to land on Amsterdam Island however the day of rough weather preceding our arrival justified our ‘seeking refuge’ in the lee of the island. While within Amsterdam waters at least one Amsterdam Albatross came close enough to the boat that its leg band number could be seen in photographs. Amsterdam albatross No. 347 turned out to be a female bird born on Amsterdam Island in 2002 and banded on 9 December 2002. She first returned to the island in 2007. She bred unsuccessfully in 2011 and has bred again in 2012. What a wonderful experience to have prolonged and close views of one of the world’s rarest albatross.
Turning South towards Heard Island we passed West of St Paul Island however St Paul Prions, a sub-species of Salvin’s were photographed from the boat. Photographs that caused many on board to query current taxonomic thinking! As we proceeded South with a huge following sea Prions became plentiful, along with Wandering Albatross, Soft-plumaged Petrel, the ubiquitous White-chinned Petrel and Wilson’s Storm Petrel. As we passed Kerguelen away to the West, Kergulen Petrel became relatively common, soaring up high and dropping suddenly back to sea level.
Excitement rose as we crossed the Antarctic Convergence and entered into Australian waters between Heard and Kerguelen on 19 November 2012. That first day within Australian Waters yielded, among others, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, Wandering Albatross, Southern Royal Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, White-chinned Petrel, Blue Petrel, Antarctic Prion, Salvin’s Prion, Fulmar Prion, Kerguelen Petrel and Black-bellied Storm Petrel. We arrived at Heard Island early on the morning of 20 November 2012 to be greeted by a howling gale from the South West. The ship was unable to anchor and spent the next 24 hours doing laps in the lee of Heard Island while the sleet flew past horizontally and visibility was a few hundred meters. There were hundreds of birds around the ship among which were South Georgian and Common Diving Petrel, Southern Fulmar, Cape Petrel, Heard Island Shag and Brown Skua. A very few lucky birders caught sight of a Snow Petrel as it flashed past the ship in the storm.
The following day, 21 November, saw the wind moderate sufficiently for us to go ashore in the afternoon. Walking around Atlas Cove and added Black-faced Sheathbill, Southern Rockhopper, Macaroni, Gentoo and King Penguin, and Kelp Gull to the trip list. Southern Giant Petrel were pulling a young Elephant Seal carcass apart while Prions and Cape Petrel fished on the surf break on the beach of Corinthian Bay. As the afternoon turned to evening the cloud cleared and the last of the wind dropped revealing the 10,000ft high glacier clad peak, Big Ben, the highest mountain and only active volcano in Australia (remember that for your next trivia night!). What a glorious sight, the towering mountain painted pink and blue by the evening light, a soft plume issuing from an unseen vent in the volcano, the bay of Atlas Cove mirror smooth. Such a contrast with the howling gale and low cloud of the previous day.
The 22nd November dawned with strong winds and low cloud precluding another landing. The ship headed off to the Macdonald Isands 30 nautical miles or so to the North West. As we steamed there the predominant Prion species changed from Atlantic to Slender-billed raising the question of whether the latter species has begun breeding there. The Macdonald Islands have been the scene of extensive volcanic activity within the last 30 years. As the surrounding waters have not been charted since the latest eruptions the ship could not approach closer than 3 nm of the Islands. It was thus difficult to see any nesting activity however large numbers of what appeared to be Rockhopper Penguins were standing around on a spit extending from the main island.
Our last day around Heard was 23 November. We had as alternatives in the morning a couple of hours on the island, again in Atlas Cove, or a Zodiac trip around a bit of the foreshore. I chose the latter and we had wonderful views of all of the resident species including a number of nesting birds. Light-mantled Albatross were doing paired nuptial flights over our heads and Sheathbills scuttled around the penguin colonies. Then it was time to start the long, non-stop journey back to Albany. Within Australian waters Northern Royal Albatross was a surprise addition to the list.
The Aussie birders, at least, had hopes of something special within Australian waters off Western Australia but it was not to be. 1 December was a clear sunny day with very little wind and commensurately limited bird activity. A young Wanderer with mottled brown plumage got the heart racing at 5:30 am but we couldn’t conjure up the dark cutting line on the upper mandible to turn it into an Amsterdam Albi. It was downhill from there despite a 13 hour vigil by all interested parties.
In summary then a long but interesting and rewarding trip. We were very fortunate with the weather as the strong winds were largely from the stern or occurred while we were in the lee of Heard Island. We were extremely fortunate to get ashore and to see the mountain cloud free. Reports talk of research parties spending 7 months in Atlas Cove and seeing the sun briefly on a handful of occasions. For all the good sightings it was still a hell of a long way. Someone was heard to say “10,000 km is a long way to go for a Shag!” , which might be the most succinct summation of this trip.
Many thanks to the Aussie and Overseas birders, the staff, the crew and the non-birding passengers (yes, there were a number of them) whose company added to the pleasure of the trip.
good birding all
Peter Marsh
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