Eaglehawk Pelagic Trip Report 13/07/2014

Report from last Sunday’s trip. Looking forward to reading about what this weekend’s trips turn up after the strong southerlies off SE Tas over the last couple of days. Eaglehawk Pelagic Trip Report 13/07/2014 Participants: Kevin Bartram, Ian Halliday, JJ Harrison, Martin Havlicek, Scott Linnane, Michael Vaughan, Peter Vaughan, George Vaughan, Els Wakefield, John Weigel and Paul Brooks (organiser & report compiler) Boat: The Pauletta, skippered by John Males, with deckhand Adam. Conditions: A cold, gusty wind in the bay had us expecting a bumpy ride but the seas were quite benign out to the Hippolyte and the journey to the shelf was also fairly smooth with very little spray. None seasick. Swell was around 2 metres with seas generally below 2 metres for much of the morning. Winds were south-westerly at 15 knots. As we moved south, the swell increased to around 2.5 metres; after midday, seas increased to 3 metres as the south-westerly picked up with some gusts to 25 knots. The day turned out to be fairly fine with none of the possible showers. Water temperature was 13.9 deg C inshore, rising to 15 deg C out wide. Activity: Departed Pirates Bay at 0730 hrs and headed south to circumnavigate the Hippolytes before heading east to the shelf (after an almost birdless trip over offshore waters). After a brief stop, over 600 fathoms, we headed south to berley over 750 fathoms. We drifted north-easterly from this point for the rest of the day before heading back to port to dock at around 1510 hrs. Mammals: Australian Fur Seal: c. 12 on the Hippolyte. New Zealand Fur Seal: 1 male on the Hippolyte. Other: Blue Shark: 2 in pelagic waters. Birds (IOC v 4.2, max at one time in brackets): Antipodean Albatross: 2 (1) Both pelagic. One bird had a fairly dark cap, which the other bird lacked. Southern Royal Albatross: 4 (3) All pelagic. Black-browed Albatross: 1 An adult bird in pelagic waters. Black-browed-type Albatross: 1 A juvenile which was only seen briefly. Campbell Albatross: 3 (2) Two adults and one immature bird, all in pelagic waters. Shy Albatross: c. 80 (31) Only a handful in inshore and offshore waters but common off the shelf. Buller’s Albatross: 8 (4) Five birds inshore and offshore and three or four that followed the boat around off the shelf. Northern Giant Petrel: 3 (2) Two juveniles that arrived early on and hung around and an adult that arrived towards the end of the day. BLUE PETREL: 2 (2) A single bird flew in from the south and shot past before turning around and disappearing from where it appeared. Not long after it, or another bird, was back and dancing in the slick just at the back of the boat. A second bird materialised and they both proceeded to give excellent views for the next ten minutes or so. One of the birds followed the boat for a short way as we motored for home. SLENDER-BILLED PRION: 1 (1) Flew in from the south and stopped in the slick, just out of range of decent views. Disappeared for a short while before reappearing and foraging in the slick at the back of the boat, a little closer than previously. Great-winged Petrel: 16 (6) All pelagic. Largely absent until later on, when several birds began to appear from the south. White-headed Petrel: 8 (1) All pelagic. Mainly flying from the south. A few birds seemed inquisitive and made close passes of the boat. GREY PETREL: 1 Pelagic. Made a couple of passes of the boat. Sooty Shearwater: 3 (2) Pelagic. Grey-backed Storm Petrel: 1 Pelagic. Common Diving Petrel: 6 (1) Four inshore and offshore, two in pelagic waters. Australasian Gannet: 9 (2) All inshore apart from a couple in pelagic waters. Black-faced Cormorant: 8 (3) All inshore. White-faced Heron: 2 (1) The Hippolyte. Silver Gull: 5 (2) Inshore. Pacific Gull: 6 (2) All adults between Pirate’s Bay and the Hippolytes, except for one juvenile which followed the boat with the Kelp Gulls. Kelp Gull: 27 (12) All inshore. Had a dozen or so birds follow the boat between Pirate’s Bay and the Hippolytes, which is unusual. Greater Crested Tern: 42 (c.30) Mainly inshore, including a flock of around thirty foraging near the Hippolyte. PB _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org