Kimberley Birdwatching
Ashmore Expedition 2010, 16-23 October; Summary
By Mike Carter & Rohan Clarke 28 October 2010.
Trip Details.
In 2010, the annual Kimberley Birdwatching’s eight-day Broome-Ashmore-Lacepedes-Broome expedition ran from 16-23 October. Logistics and permits were organised by George Swann. Personnel were Jim Allen, Xenia Dennett, Jan England, Dougald Frederick, Greg Harewood, Geoffrey Jones, Geoffrey Lane, Bill Ramsay, Joy Tansey, Tom Wheller, Barb Williams, Albert Wright, Eleanor Wright, Rohan Clarke, George Swann & Mike Carter. Our boat was the air-conditioned 21 m MV Flying Fish V skippered by George Greaves. Jacqui fed and nurtured us and Maurice O’Connor assisted in numerous ways. All three skippered dinghies when required.
We sailed from the beach near Gantheaume Point in Broome on 16 October (Day 1) at 07.35 and spent the next two days and nights travelling at sea. We maintained a NW course throughout Day 1 but at night changed our heading to NNE. By dawn on Day 2 we were in 500m deep water and cruised along the continental slope in waters of similar depth throughout the morning and then veered to pass just to the west of Scott Reef in the afternoon. During the morning of Day 3 we adopted a more NE course heading directly to Ashmore Reef entering the lagoon at ~11.30 where we joined the Australian Customs Vessel ‘Ashmore Guardian’, with it’s complement of federal government wardens (erstwhile DEWHA), at the inner mooring.
Our berth for the next three nights (Days 3, 4 & 5) was at the inner mooring (12º14.33’S 122º58.95’E) just off West Island. All members of the party went ashore daily on West Island each afternoon and early morning of our stay, ferried there by three dinghies that were also used to make landings on Middle Island, East Island and a sand bar (a high-tide wader roost) near East Island. A warden escorted us ashore on Middle and East Islands. Neap tides limited the time we could spend ashore on all but West Island, water depth within the lagoon being inadequate for navigation except at high tide. On our first afternoon ashore, 18 Oct., we met Chris Doughty, Simon Mustoe and other members of their group, who were enjoying their last visit ashore after a three-day stay.
After a last visit ashore on West Island, we released our mooring at Ashmore at 09.00 on Day 6 (21 October) and sailed on a SSE heading through waters of depths between 500-770 m. By dawn on Day 7, we were approaching the shelf break on a direct course just east of south for the Lacepedes and for most of that day we were over shelf waters of less than 100 m deep. We anchored off West Island, Lacepedes (16º50.44’S 122º06.35’E) around 19.15 that day. Next morning, Day 8 (23 October), we were ashore on West Island, Lacepedes, from 04.50 to 08.15. Back aboard and tenders stowed, we sailed for Broome, berthing at the wharf (18º00.09’S 122º12.96’E) at 16.45.
Cloudless skies subjected us to relentless sunshine but temperatures were moderated by cooling breezes so it was never unbearably hot and unusually for this season, not humid. When we boarded on Day 1, there was a 35-knot SE wind, much stronger than previously experienced on these trips, but this had moderated by noon and by evening was only 8 Kts. For much of the rest of the trip winds fluctuated between 8 & 15 Kts. Luckily, nearly calm conditions prevailed on our arrival at the Lacepedes and the next morning so smooth conditions facilitated an easy landing.
Sea states were rougher than usual with wave heights often 0.3-0.5 m and up to 1.5 m at times with foaming crests. The sea was always at least rippled and the usual glassy to flat seas not experienced. One or two were a little queasy at times but none was sick.
Observations
92 species of bird identified (with another ‘warbler’ awaiting determination) indicate exceptional diversity. These included 34 seabirds, 28 shorebirds, 6 waterbirds and 21 landbirds.
Whilst at sea a continuous log of position and faunal observations was recorded manually and on computer.
At-sea highlights included:
Abbott’s Booby: 1 on 17 Oct. is our 3rd record and believed to be the 6th for mainland Australian waters. Like birds last year, it circled our boat inquisitively for several minutes.
Jouanin’s Petrel: 1 seen well on 17 Oct.
Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrel: Single birds on 16 & 17 Oct.
On-land seabird highlights:
Lesser Noddy: 3 on Middle Island, one photographed with Black & Common Noddies. These are the first seen on land on these trips but probably previously overlooked. In April this year the species was found breeding on both Middle and East Islands.
Roseate Tern: 30,000 roosting in the lagoon at the Lacepedes!
Shorebird highlights:
Long-toed Stint: 1 on West Is. on 18 Oct. Not previously reported at Ashmore.
Wood Sandpiper: 1 on 19 & 20 Oct. on West Is. Not previously reported at Ashmore.
Asian Dowitcher: 4 on a sandbar on 20 Oct.
Landbird highlights on West Island, Ashmore (all photographed), were:
Grey-streaked Flycatcher: NEW FOR AUSTRALIA. At least one juvenile and one adult daily.
Arafura Fantail R. dryas semicollaris: NEW SUBSPECIES for AUSTRALIA of this taxon from the nearby islands of Roti and Timor. 1 daily.
Tiger Shrike: 1 or 2 juveniles daily. This is the 4th or 5th record for Australia and the 2nd for Ashmore following one seen here in April.
Middendorff’s Warbler: We saw from 1-3 birds daily and obtained excellent photos. There are four previous spring records and in April this year, three birds were singing.
Warbler spp.: The identity of a bird photographed on 18 Oct. to be determined.
Island Monarch: 1 juvenile known to be present when we arrived was joined by an adult. These are the 5th & 6th Australian records, all at this site.
Arctic Warbler: 1 or 2 daily. 8th record for Ashmore.
Oriental Reed Warbler: 1 daily.
Grey Wagtail: 1 daily.
Collared Kingfisher: 1 daily of the nominate race and therefore of Indonesian origin, not recognised as having occurred in Australia but we saw one here in 2009.
Oriental Cuckoo: 4-6 daily.
Australian Koel: 1 male on 18 Oct.
Eastern Yellow Wagtail: Daily to a max. of 8 on West Island and 1 on Middle Island, Ashmore and 1 on West Island, Lacepedes.
Barn Swallow: Daily to a max. of 3 on West Island and 1 on Middle Island.
Yellow White-eye: 2 daily often associating with the Fantail. Both surprisingly brilliant yellow and vocalisation sounded different but when Yellow White-eye calls were played, they reacted immediately and uttered similar notes.
(Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoos were notable by their absence!)
The usual local tropical seabirds, Masked, Red-footed & Brown Boobies, Great & Lesser Frigatebirds, Common & Black Noddies, Bridled, Sooty, Crested, Lesser Crested, Roseate and Little Terns were seen. The first ten of these had or were nesting on Middle or/& East Islands. Many species, including Lesser Crested Terns, were also nesting on the Lacepedes. On West Island, Ashmore, there were 5 Red-tailed Tropicbird nests. Two pairs of White-tailed Tropicbird were seen over West Island and one over Middle Island.
Other migrant Seabirds of note included: Tahiti Petrels 9, Bulwer’s Petrels 15, Streaked Shearwater 92, Hutton’s Shearwater 587, Wilson’s Storm-Petrel 27, Pomarine Jaeger 1, Arctic Jaeger 4 and Long-tailed Jaeger 1. The first ever Flesh-footed Shearwaters on an Ashmore trip were seen at sea; 5 birds just north of the Lacepedes. This follows the first ever reports of this species off northern WA south of Browse Island in April.
Disturbed seas meant that Cetaceans were difficult to detect so were apparently less numerous and diverse than recent trips with only three species of dolphin identified and two unidentified whales.
Reptiles included Green (abundant on the Lacepedes) and Australian Flatback Turtles and various sea snakes.
Other observations included numerous fish and other critters, particularly by those that went snorkelling, added interest to another superb trip.
Photos of many of the species mentioned above have or will be posted on http://www.pbase.com/wildlifeimages/vagrants and http://barraimaging.com.au/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=lastup
The dates for the 2011 spring cruise will be advised when arranged. Persons should register their interest with Kimberley Birdwatching or Mike Carter.
Mike Carter 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Tel (03) 9787 7136 ============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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