We had a great day out today on our second Sunshine Coast pelagic. See here for some nice pictures from Paul Barden: http://sunshinecoastbirds.blogspot.com/.
Starting Point: Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast
Date: 5/11/2011
Vessel: 10m catamaran, the Cat-A-Pult, skippered by Paddy Dimond
Other Participants: Paul Barden, Rob Dougherty, Emily Johnson, Dave Metcalf, Colin Reid, Greg Roberts (organiser), Brian Russell, Ged Tranter, Paul Walbridge, Brian Willey.
We departed Mooloolaba Harbour at 0640 hours, with the air temperature a balmy 19C and a brisk 14-knot ESE blowing with a moderate swell. The wind speed remained constant throughout the day, with the direction trending towards E in the afternoon. These were ideal conditions, fine and clear with just the right wind speed – a little uncomfortable perhaps but a bit of chop in the sea can do wonders for the birds, as it did today.
We reached the Mooloolaba Wide area at the edge of the continental shelf at 0910 hours, the trip taking a little longer than our July excursion due to the stronger winds. A juvenile Australasian Gannet showed inshore but nothing else of interest. That changed quickly once we reached the shelf at 355m, 36 nautical miles offshore (26.32.431; 153.46.040), with the first Tahiti Petrel of the day showing well as Paddy began laying a berley trail of shark liver.
We soon had a Mottled Petrel, and this turned out to the most common bird of the day, with about 50 seen – an extraordinary number for this species in Australia. Presumably the birds were en route from wintering grounds in the North Pacific to their New Zealand breeding colonies. Wilson’s Storm-Petrels were also in good numbers, and a single Black-bellied Storm-Petrel passed closely behind the boat. This bird showed a clear white belly and was thought initially to be a White-bellied, but photographs betrayed a very thin line of black.
At one point, as we had 10Mottled Petrels flying about, a single Pterodroma turned up which we thought at first was a Gould’s Petrel, but closer inspection of photographs indicated some unusual plumage features, so other possibilities including Collared are under consideration. The first of several Pomarine Jaegers for the day appeared late in the morning along with a single Red-footed Booby – always a difficult bird in southeast Queensland. We drifted on the shelf for 4.5 hours before heading back at 13.40, arriving at the harbour at 15.40.
Species Total – (Maximum at one time)
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel 30 (5)
Black-bellied Storm-Petrel 1 (1)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 20 (3)
Short-tailed Shearwater 30 (6)
Flesh-footed Shearwater 8 (2)
Mottled Petrel 50 (12)
Red-footed Booby 1 (1)
Australasian Gannet 1 (1)
Pied Cormorant 3 (1)
Crested Tern 12 (2)
Silver Gull 6 (2)
Pomarine Jaeger 8 (3)
Mammals –
Humpack Whale 4 (2),
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin 12 (6)
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