Cook Strait

[michaelgreeny]

Hi All,

Having recently spent 11 months in NZ and now back in Aus I happened to miss out on my Kaikoura Pelagic trip during a SI trip (only day with bad weather as luck would have it)

As such, the only "seabirding" I got in were ferry trips on the Cook and Foveaux Straits.

I have so far managed to ID all the species apart from 1. And even by my own accounts the photo is far from the greatest for numerous reasons. So I'm putting it up here to see if anyone can shed any light on the situation, I'm not expecting a definite answer as there just isnt that much information in the photo but would be nice to have a vague idea??

Info for this particular photo is:

Taken about 9am on the Interislander Ferry.
Calm and cloudy weather
Seen from a long way off
Seen at least 20 minutes of ferry speed apart from any other species.

Cheers

Michael

[igor]

I would guess white-faced storm petrel for the top photo and the bottom bird of the bottom photo. How many birds were there and did you think they were the same species? Interested to see what others think.

[michaelgreeny]

Hey Igor,

There were 3 birds, all the same species (each of the 3 is shown once in the above photos)

[Brent Stephenson]

Hi Michael,
Nice to meet you at the Manawatu Estuary. All birds photographed are indeed white-faced stormies. Good sighting as I have never seen them off the ferry. Bummer you missed Kaikoura! Next time.
Cheers,
Brent

[michaelgreeny]

Cheers Guys,

White Faces was my initial instinct, nice to know what they are tho.

Nice meeting you Brent. Looking forward to my next NZ trip!

Michael