Chris, Your birds are Short-tailed Shearwaters and it is not unusual for them to appear in the St Vincent Gulf after strong south to south-west winds. If strong southerly winds coincide with with migratory movements in September or April many thousands can be diverted into the Gulf. On the southern side of the Fleurieu Peninsula after the persistent strong southerlies on 15th and 16th Oct I counted c. 100 Short-tailed Shearwaters in 40 minutes on the 17th close inshore off Parson’s Head, all heading west. Nearby on Waitpinga Beach there were 10 freshly dead STS and several more on the small beaches around Encounter Bay.
Neil Cheshire Encounter Bay, South Australia. ============================== 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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