We had a great trip in perfect weather into Cook Strait on Thursday with a bunch of Massey University ornithology students and associated uni hanger-ons, with Colin Miskelly joining us from Wellington. We headed out into the strait and tailed a trawler that had a long line of albatrosses spread over a km or so behind it, and had a fabulous time picking up species. The birds weren't that interested in hanging around our boat, even with fish scraps heading their way, but later in the day we had a good selection behind the boat. 18 tubenose taxa were seen if you count forms of Wandering Albatross separately, with the bird of the day undoubtedly being an
Antarctic Fulmar. It was hard to get a good gauge on numbers, but with 200+ albatrosses, 100-odd Cape Petrels and 500+ Westland Petrels over the day, there was no shortage of birds. The same skipper will be taking out the Birds NZ conference trip on Queens Birthday Monday, so it augurs well for a great trip.
Colin may have more accurate numbers, but here's the list:
Antipodean Wandering Albatross (1)
Gibson's Wandering Albatross (2)
Northern Royal Albatross (5+)
Southern Royal Albatross (1)
Salvin’s Albatross (1; only Colin saw it)
Buller’s Albatross (1)
White-capped Albatross (uncountable, but c. 200)
Black-browed Albatross (1)
Northern Giant Petrel (2+)
Cape Petrel (100+)
Antarctic Fulmar (1 - spotted sleeping with Cape Petrels, then awesome views when it came behind the boat)
Westland Petrel (500+; plenty behind the trawler, but bigger groups sitting as we headed back towards land)
Grey-faced Petrel (2; again spotted by Colin)
Fairy Prion (2, including one that winged around behind the boat for a bit)
Fluttering Shearwater (groups inside Wellington Harbour)
Sooty Shearwater (half a dozen?)
Short-tailed Shearwater (a couple, including one that swam up behind the boat)
Common Diving Petrel (10+)
Also 40-odd Little Blue Penguins in the harbour, Little, Little Black, Pied and Black Shags, Red-billed and Black-backed Gulls, White-fronted Terns and several Black-fronted Terns crossing the strait, including one with a leg-flag just visible!
Was really great to have so many giant albatrosses in view at one time, and I even got some sound recordings of chattering Cape Petrels and a grunting Wandering Albatross! Plus a big Sperm Whale photobombed the birds...
Cheers, Phil
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Bird of the Day: Antarctic Fulmar