Just back from an eventful trip on Heritage Expeditions Spirit of Enderby from Albany to Hobart, then Hobart to Macquarie Island, continuing through several Subantarctic Islands of NZ. Three weeks of vomit-less ship travel was a welcome surprise and the sea-birding was simply incredible. The most significant sighting may well have been the three congregations of Broad-billed Prions, ranging from 500 to 1,000 birds, beginning 140 nautical miles south of Hobart. The most unforgettable highlight however was the dramatic David Attenborough scene on Macca, where true-to-cliché, legions of King Penguins, Royal Penguins and Elephant Seals mixed it up with no apparent concern about the stunned punters. Unforgettable. A good range of additional birds were encountered within Australian waters over the extended period, and some fantastic seabirds that Id really looked forward to seeing. Also some wonderful birding on the NZ subantarctic islands. I very much recommend having a look at Heritage Expeditions website to consider future trips it is an impressively slick and effective operation.
The slow pace of the past few weeks at sea have effectively snuffed my frenetic pace of the previous 11 months, and quite frankly, I dont think I can find the chutzpa to get the revs back up to launch the intended all-out efforts to find BBBQ and Western Ground Parrot during these final ten days of 2012 though I do still plan on searching for both in calmer, more calculated circumstances during 2013. One continuingly elusive species that I will be seeking however, is Australasian Bittern. I received some good information from Birding-Aus contributors earlier in the year, which was gratefully appreciated and is likely to guide my search at end of month. If anyone has any additional, very recent intel on sighted birds anywhere in SE Australia, that information too, would be very much appreciated. Please email me off-list.
Regards to all; thanks for the help this year; and very best wishes for Christmas!
John Weigel
PS Apologies re blog will try to update before Xmas. Following species seen since last installment:
25 Nov Hodgsons Hawk-Cuckoo West Island Cocos Keeling (732)
3 Dec Little Shearwater Australian Bight, WA (733)
3 Dec Goulds Petrel Australian Bight, WA (734)
11 Dec Broad-billed Prion Sth of Hobart, Tas (735)
11 Dec Antarctic Prion Sth of Hobart, Tas (736)
12 Dec Mottled Petrel Sth of Hobart, Tas (737)
13 Dec Macquarie Island Shag Macquarie Island (738)
13 Dec Grey-headed Albatross Macquarie Island (739)
13 Dec Light-mantled Sooty Alb Macquarie Island (740)
14 Dec Royal Penguin Macquarie Island (741)
14 Dec King Penguin Macquarie Island (742)
14 Dec Gentoo Penguin Macquarie Island (743)
14 Dec Rockhopper Penguin Macquarie Island (744)
14 Dec Redpoll Macquarie Island (745)
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