Hi all,
Raja and I had a look at Raja’s photos.
The White-tailed Tropicbird was an immature bird.
The South Polar Skua looks actually quite good for an intermediate morph South Polar Skua – even at the pale end of the intermediate morph.
The petrel, however, is not an easy one. If the first two pictures, indeed show the same bird, then we can clearly rule out White-headed Petrel, although all the remaining pictures make this bird look like a White-headed Petrel. I think that I was the second person who got on the bird after Tom called it, and my immediate impression was “mid-sized Pterodroma shape” and “Hutton’s Shearwater plumage”. I.e. Dark upperparts including head (or at least cap), white underparts, and mostly dark-looking underwings, which in certain angles showed some white flash. This white flash did not appear like the white primary bases in a Providence petrel and was definitely not as extensive as in a White-necked Petrel or most Cookilarias (neither White-necked Petrel nor Cookilarias fit the overall impression anyway). Therefore, I was thinking “pale or intermediate morph Soft-plumaged Petrel”. Unfortunately, this ID is not really supported by the pictures. Comments?
http://www.adarman.com/Pelagics/2011-April-09-Sydney-Pelagic/16536883_XqDhB#1245100099_F8sx9
Cheers, Nikolas