– Show quoted text –
> As last year, a number of species are “in the wrong place” but have
> still seen an excellent range of seabirds with some serious surprises.
> Here is info on first few days:
> 20 April: Hauraki Gulf
> Far more albatrosses than first few trips plus an NZ mega, ie Great
> Shearwater, which was seen in the Hauraki Gulf. If you could ask Chris G > how many previous NZ records there are, we would be interested to know > please. Also had some nice looks at NZSP. > Gibson’s Wandering Albatross 4 > Campbell Albatross 3 > White-capped Albatross 7 > Salvin’s Albatross 1 > Buller’s (presumed Pacific based on photos and location) Albatross 3 > Grey-faced Petrel B > Cook’s Petrel 4 > Fairy Prion A > Black Petrel low A > Flesh-footed Shearwater high A > Buller’s Shearwater B > Fluttering Shearwater low A > Little Shearwater 6 > Great Shearwater 1 (position 35 37S 175 11E and well photographed) > Wilson’s Storm-petrel 4 > NZ Storm-petrel 4 birds seen together but believed that at least 10 seen > with all out at 200m contour (same area as where we always have success). > White-faced Storm-petrel 2 > Common Diving-petrel B (lots more than usual) > Grey Ternlet very low A (ie 10+)
> 21 April NZ-> Norfolk Island Day 1 > Gibson’s 6 > Campbell 8 > White-capped 1 > Grey-faced Petrel B > White-necked Petrel 3 (this species is being seen in lower numbers than > usual) > Gould’s Petrel A (one person counted 44 but likely that many of the > unidentified distant pterodromas were also this species but either way, the > count is exceptional this far south with all birds in NZ waters). > Black-winged Petrel 4 > Black Petrel 4 > Flesh-footed Shearwater 4 > Short-tailed Shearwater very low A > Wilson’s Storm-petrel 2 > White-faced Storm-petrel very low A > White-bellied Storm-petrel 3 (very high day count by WPO standards) > Grey Ternlet 1
> 22 April NZ-> Norfolk Island Day 2 > Gibson’s 4 > Grey-faced Petrel low B > Kermadec Petrel 3 > Gould’s Petrel 3 (surprisingly low number given large number the previous > day). > Black-winged Petrel A (one person’s count was 51) > Wedge-tailed Shearwater high B > Little Shearwater very low A (ie 10+) > Short-tailed Shearwater B (one count of 280) > White-faced Storm-petrel very low A > Red-tailed Tropicbird 6 > Masked Booby A > Grey Ternlet A > White Tern low A
> 23 April Norfolk Island > Saw all the key landbirds and endemics despite a horribly wet day. Alarming > decline in parakeets but still found this species. > We sailed at about 3pm and had spectacular numbers of Little Shearwaters > plus two Providence Petrels a species we have missed completely several > times on recent voyages. > Grey-faced Petrel low A > Providence Petrel 2 > White-necked Petrel 1
> Gould’s Petrel 1 > Black-winged Petrel A > Wedge-tailed Shearwater B > Little Shearwater B (with one count being 187 birds – massively more than > usual). > Red-tailed Tropicbird 7 > Masked Booby A > Brown Booby 1 > Great Frigatebird 2 > Black Noddy high B > Brown Noddy low A > Grey Ternlet A > 24 April Norfolk Island -> New Caledonia > Tahiti Petrel A (one count of 51) > Grey-faced Petrel low A > Kermadec Petrel 4
> White-necked Petrel 4 > Gould’s Petrel low A > Collared Petrel 8 (with at least six in Australian waters where this species > is still regarded as mega rarity) > Black-winged Petrel 3 > Wedge-tailed Shearwater low A > White-faced SP 3 > Polynesian SP 1 (distant and not seen by all) > Red-tailed Tropicbird 1 > White-tailed Tropicbird 1
> 25 April Arrive New Caledonia > ‘New Cal Storm-Petrel’ > We are pleased to say that we have once again seen the “New Caledonian > Storm-Petrel” off Noumea although unfortunately there are no better photos
> than in 2010. We watched the bird on and off over approximately 30 mins or > so this morning on a chum/oil slick approximately 30nm south from Noumea. > On this occasion, the bird was seen flying in close association with > approximately a dozen Wilson’s Storm-petrels and as on the two previous > instances when we have seen it, it was judged to be bigger than the WSPs. > Given the views, we have nothing new to add about the bird but the four of > us who have seen it previously (ie Rodney Russ, Steve Howell, Adam Walleyn > and myself) consider it to be the same taxon as we have seen previously. > For more information, see the article by SNGH and CPC in Birding World
Regards
John Brodie-Good WildWings UK
For the very best selection of ocean voyages please visit
===============================
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
http://birding-aus.org ===============================