Trip Report
17 January 2004
The weather was forecast to blow later but started at negligible and variable as we headed out LBI. 12 pax all up including the skipper
Sandspit to Little Barrier Island
Wind NE variable, SST 21.5C
A few Fluttering Shearwaters
10s Bullers' Shearwaters
A few Flesh-footed Shearwaters
4 White-faced Storm-Petrels
2 groups of Pterodromas sitting on the water (20-30 each) we approached these quietly to try to sort out any Pycrofts. None apparent.
Several Blue Penguins
several gannets
Little Barrier Island to Mokohinaus
Wind increased during this leg. 10-12 knots, SST at Moks 20.6C
Large numbers of flying Cook's Petrels. Some had been just resting on the water and would fly up as the boat approached. Also several Flesh-footed Shearwaters.
Travelled for a few km north of LBI and stopped to chum.
10-12 White-faced Storm-Petrels
5 New Zealand Storm-Petrels
1 Black Petrel
Several Bullers' Shearwaters
20 Flesh-footed Shearwaters
The black and white stormies caused lots of excitement, as usual, with lots of theories being tossed around. This comment from Ray Pierce (scientist who has worked on seabirds breeding in the Hauraki Gulf):
Any scepticism I had regarding the stormies is now gone! The consistent
morphology and plumage (small size, scimitar shaped wings, tapered white
underwing wedge, trailing toes, variable belly streaking always present) all
indicate they are not a variant of one of the BBSP subspecies - if they were
you would expect more normal BBSP plumaged birds amongst them.
They could, however, end up being described as a subspp of BBSP depending on genetic results - the small size at this latitude would be consistent with
Bergmann's Rule.
After tossing around for a while watching the birds coming in to the chum, we headed off to the Mokohinaus with an increasing sea swell. Once again we found the grey ternlets on Maori Rock on the smallest stack. 10-12 birds. Again no signs of breeding.
The Gannet colony was doing well - some of the largest juveniles were nearly as big as their parents. This colony is quite a sight perched on top of the rock with great viewing as we cruise along side. White-fronted terns and Red-billed Gulls complete the picture at Maori Rocks.
Eventually found a quiet cove for a bite of lunch a cuppa and a snorkel for one person. Red-crowned parakeet and tui could be seen from the boat and Pied Shags roosting on top of one high rock along with BBG
We decided to head for Grouper Rock and try our luck chumming in its shelter. More Buller's Shearwaters were evident along this stretch as well as one White-faced stormie.
Chumming at 2.45PM brought in:
10 + White-faced Storm-Petrels
Buller's sw
1 fairy prion flew through
There were large numbers of Pterodromas flying through between LBI and the Moks so we decided to move back into that area and try our luck again.
Mokohinaus to Little Barrier Island
The wind was more easterly about 15knots. A few Flesh-footed sw flying through plus 3 White-faced stormies as we steamed towards LBI
Another chumming session at 3.35PM. This time we decided to time how long it took for the NZSP to come in. It took 10 minutes for one to come in.
Other species:
8 wf Storm-Petrels
4 Buller's sw
Approx 12 Flesh-footed sw
3 or 4 Black Petrel
We moved again to another spot closer to LBI (at 4.26PM chummed again. This time it took 5 minutes for the first NZSP to fly in. We saw a total of 4 this time with some amazingly close views a few metres behind the boat. A really gorgeous little bird when seen so close. There were also several wf Storm-Petrels present.
Moving even closer to LBI at 5.08PM, but this time no NZSP came in although we only chummed for about 20 minutes. Did see:
3 Fluttering sw diving around the boat
3 wf Storm-Petrels
wf terns
1 grey-faced petrel swooped in for a look
1 Buller's sw competing with the Fluttering sw for fish
several Flesh-footed sw.
Finally headed off for a sheltered spot inside LBI for a late afternoon tea and swims. En route saw;
4 wf Storm-Petrels
1 sooty sw
Many Cook's Petrels.
--Karen Baird
Pterodroma Pelagics - Hauraki Gulf Seabird Tours
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