Pelagic Day-Trip off Australia part 1

Part 1 Australia.

Pelagic birding currently enjoys a wave of interest that has reached the shores of all continents and their oceans. Pelagic trips typically come in two forms. One is ship-based with a duration of two

or more days (e.g., the Portsmouth to Bilbao Ferry, England-Spain) or even weeks (e.g., Subantarctic and Antarctic cruises). The other is land-based involving day-trips on more modest sized boats and nowadays such a trip is becoming the highlight of an increasing number of overseas bird­ing vacations. Almost legendary amongst these are trips out of Cape Town, South Africa and Wollongong Australia.

White Chinned Petrel

 Some years years ago my friend Bob Flood and I decided to sample several one-day pe­lagic trips in Australia and New Zealand, from subtropical Southport, near Bris­bane, Australia in the north, to the cold waters of Stewart Island, New Zealand in the south. We timed the trip to coincide with the Austral spring/summer when many of the breeding birds are present and some of the wintering species may not have departed. The trip was planned using web searches and email enquiries that established when and from where trips were departing. Arranging charters with just two people would have been far too expensive. We did not have time to join every pelagic trip operating in November and so selected those most likely to run and in combination yield the greatest number of species

This article of course celebrates the seabirds that enthralled us, but also offers a rough guide to pelagic day-trips in the region that will be useful to visiting birders. I of­fer more or less a north to south account covering each trip that we participated in.

Southport,

near Brisbane, Australia

Southport is situated on the south coast of Queensland adjacent to the southwest Coral Sea. The waters are dominated by the warm south flowing East Australian Current, which runs well to the south eventually breaking eastward as the Tas­man Front. In most winters, cold wa­ter moves up along the coast from the south, pushing the warm water further offshore. This can lead to an interesting mix of tropical and cold-water species. Since 1995, when the pelagic venue was switched from Brisbane to Southport a total of 68 species of seabirds have been identified; some regularly logged here are rarely seen elsewhere in Australian wa­ters.

The star attraction that made Southport a must for our venture is the Tahiti Petrel Pterodroma rostrata, which has been seen off this port in every month except July. We departed port at 07.00 at the start of a c.40 kilometres steam past the conti­nental shelf. Over the next ten kilome­tres we encountered Short-tailed Puffinus tenuirostris, Wedge-tailed P. pacificus and Flesh-footed Shearwaters P. carneipes, species that were seen throughout the day. Excitement was tangible with just 10 kilometres to go before the continen­tal shelf and, hopefully, Tahiti Petrels. At about this point on the trip, organiser Paul Walbridge of SOSSA (Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association), who proved to be very knowledgeable and extremely helpful, called a Black-winged Petrel Pter­odroma nigripennis.

 Black-winged Petrel

 Shortly after this he called a Gould's Petrel P. leucoptera. Then he called a Mottled Petrel P. inexpectata. Wow! We had scored with a hat-trick of the enigmatic Pterodroma petrels including the highly prized Mottled Petrel.

 Gould's Petrel.

We reached the turning point at about 11.00 and drifted with chum deployed. Shortly after this Bob picked-up a large, dark, long-winged Pterodroma petrel and my heart rate increased because, surely, this could be nothing other than a Tahiti Pet­rel. It banked and revealed a white belly allowing Bob had the privilege of calling the first of eight or so Tahitis that put on an impressive show over the next few hours, although they did not approach very close for the photographers. I still managed to get a few reasonable photos.

Tahiti Petrel

  A Black-bellied Storm-petrel Fregetta tropica fed over the chum for about ten minutes and up to five Wilson's Storm-petrels Oceanites oceanicus put in an appearance; however, I remained preoccupied with the Tahiti Petrels. It was the bird I came to see, and having travel halfway round the world for.  Only a Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni, one of just five Procellaria petrels, drew my at­tention away from the Tahiti Petrels. Black Petrel is very rare and a total surprise of the day, with our individual just the second ever reported from Southport.

Black Petrel

Black Petrel

 We started the steam home at 13.00 and saw plenty more shearwaters to keep us occupied to the end of the trip at around 16.00.

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Southport definitely was the surprise package of our venture. There may not have been the quantity of seabirds avail­able at other locations, but the quality of the species seen is in no doubt. We went to Southport only because of the Tahiti Petrels, but discovered on the day that this port promises more Pterodroma pet­rel species in each season than other ports and a wealth of other seabird species. This is not yet well publicised in the literature and is worth summarising below.

September—November

A few winter birds remain such as Providence Petrel Pterodromasolandri, Fluttering Puffinus gavia and Hutton's P. huttoni Shearwaters with the occasional 'Wandering' Albatross. Summer birds like Wedge-tailed and Flesh-footed Shearwaters and Tahiti Petrels start to re-appear. The period is notable for passage birds, particularly Short-tailed Shearwater. Wilson's and Black-bellied Storm-petrels numbers increase before they head south. In recent years, however, Soft-plumaged Pterodroma mollis, Kermadec P negkrta, Mottled, Gould's and Black-winged Petrels have been logged.

Short-tailed Shearwater

December—February

This period is dominated by breeding wedge-tailed Shearwaters. Tahiti is the commonest Pterodroma petrel. Species often sighted include White-necked Pterodrma cervicalis and Gould's Petrels and occasionally Lesser Frigatebirds Fregata ariel Streaked Shearwaters Calonectris leucomelas arrive from Japan. Tropical terns such as Sooty Sterna fuscata and Bridled Terns, and Common Anous stolidusand Black A. minutus Noddies also feature.

March—May

A 'reverse passage' period, with March in particular turning-in some freakish re­sults; e.g., March 2002 turned up seven Pterodroma petrels on one day — Tahiti, Great-winged Pterodroma macroptera, White-headed P lessonii, Kermadec, White-necked, Black-winged and Gould's Petrels! Tahiti Petrels start to congregate, White Terns Gygis alba are seen in small numbers and plenty of Wilson's Storm-petrels move northwards.

Tahiti Petrel

June—August

With a mix of cold and warm water, this is the period of greatest species diversity for Procellarufbrmes. Providence Petrels and Black-bellied Storm-petrels arrive, with Kermadec Petrels frequently sighted. Also likely are Northern Macronectes halli and Southern M. giganteus Giant Petrels, Cape Petrel Daption capense, up to four species of `mollynnawk' (small Albatrosses), five species of prion, and Brown Skua Cathar­acta [antarctica] lonnbergi (Subantarctic form). Herald Petrel Pterodroma heraldica is occasional.

Flesh-footed Shearwaters

Additional

White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus can turn up at any time of year. Recently, Black Petrel and South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki have been logged in both spring and autumn.

A Southport pelagic trip is highly rec­ommended and would complement an itinerary from Brisbane that in any case is a must for birders visiting Australia

Wollongong, New South

Wales, Australia

As stated earlier, pelagic trips from Wol­longong onboard MV Sandra K are near legendary amongst sea birders. This is so much the case that several major TV programs on birds have incorporated one or more of these day-trips within their schedule, including David Attenborough's monumental Life of Birds-, and to prove it there is a photograph posted inside the cabin of MV Sandra K of Attenborough on the boat's deck with an albatross on his lap. The organisers Lindsay Smith and 'Milburn' of SOSSA are extremely knowledgeable and very helpful. Also, Wollongong is one of only a few pelagic trips where chum is thrown over the side throughout the voyage. Bob and I joined the November 2001 pelagic trip and were not disappointed with amongst other things Indian Yellow-nosed Diome­dea [chlororhynchos] bassi/carteri and Shy D. cauta Albatrosses,

Black Petrel and Great-winged Petrel, and thus looked forward very much to the trip

We steamed out of port at 07.00 on a blustery day into persistent rain and a choppy sea. This was a great shame, but experienced pelagic birders know all too well that fine weather on pelagic trips is far from guaranteed. Unfortunately, we did not make the continental shelf. Despite the conditions, however, many quality seabirds were seen.

Brown Skua
(Subantarctic form).

Common shearwaters were Wedge-tailed, Short-tailed and Fluttering; whilst Flesh-footed, Sooty Puffinus griseus and Hutton's were present in small numbers. Getting soaked had soaring rewards, however, with a Gibson's Albatross Di­omedea [exulans] gibsoni close-up to the boat. Several Great-winged Petrels inspected the chum and two Providence Petrels teased participants by holding off at mid-range. A November speciality at this location is Black Petrel and two were seen to confirm their status. We were just two kilometres offshore on the return leg when finally there was a half-hour break in the rain and immediately seabirds came in close to the boat in large numbers, having mainly kept their distance throughout the morning. An immature Campbell Albatross Diomedea [melano­phris] impavida, provided a real bonus, and landed just off the stern. Crested Terns followed us into port where we arrived early at around 14.00; an early return because of poor weather. Sadly, the wet conditions on the day made pho­tography nearly impossible.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater