Trip Report
Trip Report
Saturday 30 October 2004
We departed Sandspit at 8:50AM aboard 'Assassin' with 5 of us all up.
Skipper Brett Rathe, Brent Stephenson, Don Hobern, John Kendrick and Karen
Baird. The forecast South-westerly was beginning to blow 10-15 knots.
As we headed out A. Gannets could be seen well spread around the inner
gulf with a few Fluttering Shearwater, White-fronted Terns and a couple
of Flesh-footed Shearwater keeping us interested, along with a pair of
Paradise Shelducks(!) heading off to an unknown island destination?
Off Takitu Point the wind was getting up and well-spread groups of fluttering
Shearwater could be seen rising high above the sea's surface in the rising
wind. As we steamed out towards Little Barrier Island a few Grey-faced
Petrels, one Sooty Shearwater and the occasional White-faced Storm Petrel
flew by. Several kilometres off LBI the first Cook's Petrels shot past,
followed by a Buller's Shearwater and a few Common Diving Petrels. A couple
of Little Shearwater were also spotted.
We decided to stop and chum when we picked up more White-faced Stormies
NW of LBI. White caps were everywhere and the sea was very disturbed with
swells coming from different directions. Flesh-footed Shearwater were
the first to come in with a group of 20-30 quickly appearing around the
boat. A few Buller's Shearwater also flew in and we were treated to fantastic
views of good numbers Cook's Petrels as they shot past.
After 20 minutes we spotted our first NZ Storm Petrel of the season and
welcome sight after no sightings since May! Over the next hour between
3 and 6 birds were seen, exact numbers hard to determine as birds fly
off but may return or circle out of sight around the boat. This is particularly
so in rough conditions with birds disappearing in the troughs. Three birds
were seen relatively close together. A few Black Petrels also paid a visit
along with a handful of Fluttering Shearwater.
Having achieved our goal the intention was to head further out towards
Hen and see if we could pick up some more NZ Storm Petrel, but we soon
realised that sea conditions were too bad for comfortable travel and decided
to head to the shelter of the coast. Huge numbers of diving petrels lifted
of the sea as we made our way back inshore. Off Takitu Point again dispersed
flocks of Fluttering Shearwater were seen and also a mixed flock of White-fronted
Terns and Fluttering Shearwater.
After a cup of tea following our pounding on the way back we decided
to have a look at the birds on Beehive Island. Brett anchored us off the
tiny island and we rowed ashore. Two male Shore Plover are left in the
Gulf and are resident on this island. They may have been making their
presence felt by breeding with NZ dotterel which are also present on the
island. One Shore Plover spent quite a bit of time chasing NZ Dotterels
off his designated territory. One poor Shore Plover is missing half a
leg, which led to a debate over the possible cause - banding? Or just
an unfortunate accident - eg rat trap. These birds have been resident
on this island for a few years now and really deserve a couple of females
to keep them company! With all the translocation work going on with birds
heading hither and yon all over the country surely someone can shift a
female Shore Plover or two? As well as at least 3 pairs of NZ Dotterel
and 8 pairs of Variable Oystercatchers there was a pair of Caspian Terns
with their well grown chick, and a couple of Welcome Swallows. While were
getting ready to leave and pair of Paradise Shelduck flew in - were they
the same pair we had seen earlier in the day heading out to sea?
Two NZ Dotterel were banded white/green/orange and red/white/blue.
We finished off the day with a stop in Mansion House Bay on Kawau Island.
The giant Moreton Bay Fig Tree on the shore was host to quite a number
of NZ Pigeons. NI Weka are always a delight to see and we were surprised
by the presence of a couple of Wallabies one with a well-grown joey as
we had thought that an eradication programme had been completed?
The day was a huge success as the presence of the NZ Storm Petrels back
in the gulf has been confirmed and their presence last summer is now not
just an aberrant event. We are looking forward to following the activity
these birds again this summer.
--Karen Baird
Pterodroma Pelagics - Hauraki Gulf Seabird Tours
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