Port Stephens Pelagic

Birders are weird people, bird photographers slightly weirder and those who not only go on but enjoy pelagic boat trips are simply perverse! Paying for the privilege of spending eight hours on a small, cramped, uncomfortable boat - pitching, rolling and rocking on choppy seas - with one or more people getting seasick, all while trying to frame and focus on birds flying past or sitting on the surrounding water would be torture to most sensible people. To others it is paradise!

14 such sturdy characters boarded the good ship Argonaut at Nelson Bay just after sunrise and headed out to sea on this misty Thursday morning.

Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 400, f/5.6 1/2000

As we left Port Stephens, we spied a fishing boat engulfed in a cloud of seabirds. The skipper assured us that our experience would soon be the same.

Fishing boat, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/3.5 1/3200

First to arrive was a Wedge-tailed Shearwater - my first confirmed lifer for the day (while this bird is common on the central eastern coast of Australia, I'd never managed to confirm an ID of sightings in the past, having only ever seen 'shearwaters' from shore; I am pretty sure I saw many of these at Stockton Breakwater yesterday but could not confirm the ID)

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/4.5 1/6400

shortly followed by a Pomerine Jaeger - lifer number two!

Pomarine Jaeger, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/4 1/5000

Mick, our tour leader, started 'berleying' to attract the birds with immediate effect - Wedge-tailed Shearwaters soon appeared from all directions

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/5 1/2000

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 92.5mm, ISO 400, f/4.5 1/1250

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/4.5 1/2000

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 140mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/2500

some staying still long enough among the chaos to allow close-up portraits

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/4.5 1/1250

before taking off.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/4.5 1/1600

Whilst all this was going on, two more rarities were spotted, making Buller's Shearwater and Black Petrel lifers three and four for the day.

Buller's Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/4 1/3200

Black Petrel, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 400, f/3.5 1/2000

There must have been something wrong with this bird's right eye as it was an opaque blue colour in every shot I took so it's not an artefact of the reflection off the ocean.

We were underway again, being followed by a team of shearwaters. 

Shearwaters, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 107.5mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/3200

The rolling swell and inconsistent chop on the surface made for some 'interesting' photography with many shots turning out like this

Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 150mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/3200

but occasionally scoring a good fly-by shot.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 107.5mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/3200

Several Pomerine Jaegers were following the boat, circling around us providing great views of their highly variable neck, breast and belly plumage.

Pomarine Jaeger, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/4 1/4000

Pomarine Jaeger, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/3.5 1/6400

Pomerine Jaeger, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 115mm, ISO 400, f/3.5 1/4000

One 'landed' and squabbled among the shearwaters for a feed.

Pomarine Jaeger and Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/4 1/1600

When we reached the continental shelf, we stopped the boat and drifted for a couple of hours and waited for more birds... 

A Shy-type Albatross flew by for a look. This is the best of the photographs I have and it looks more like a White-capped Albatross (Thallasarche steadi) than the Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) typical of the Southern Ocean. I find it really difficult to tell the difference as there seems to be a fair bit of variation in the bill and facial colouration of both but I'm going with White-capped Albatross until convinced otherwise...

White-capped Albatross, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/4 1/14000

Lifer five for the day was this Flesh-footed Shearwater (again, I am sure we had seen these earlier but had not managed an ID-worth photograph until now)...

Flesh-footed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 130mm, ISO 400, f/6.3 1/1600

Flesh-footed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/4.5 1/1250

Flesh-footed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/4 1/2500

...soon followed by number six. The Grey-faced race of the Great-winged Petrel has recently been split off as a separate species by Birdlife Australia. While I have seen and photographed Great-winged Petrels before, I've never seen or photographed the Grey-faced Petrel so will take it as a new species pending the split being confirmed.

Grey-faced Petrel, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/4 1/1250

Grey-faced Petrel, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/4000

As we were admiring this new find, a Wandering Albatross flew in

Wandering Albatross, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/4 1/6400

Wandering Albatross, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 170mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/8000

and took a few practice runs to clear the runway for landing (large albatross, like the Wandering and Royal Albatross, will often make repeated test landing and take-offs before settling on open water because they are unable to take off from water if there is insufficient wind)

Wandering Albatross and Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/8000

Wandering Albatross, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/6400

Wandering Albatross and Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 122.5mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/6400

before settling among the shearwaters.

Wandering Albatross and Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 87.5mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/5000

Wandering Albatross and Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 180mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/8000

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/1600

As we headed back to port, we were followed by hundreds of shearwaters

Shearwaters, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 87.5mm, ISO 400, f/6.3 1/1250

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 130mm, ISO 400, f/6.3 1/800

and at least three jaegers that put on some aerial acrobatics trying to catch berley in the air

Pomarine Jaeger, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/6.3 1/1250

Pomarine Jaeger, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 92.5mm, ISO 400, f/6.3 1/2500

Pomarine Jaeger, off Port Stephens
Pentax K-5, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 140mm, ISO 400, f/4 1/8000

Port Fairy Pelagic

One of my long-standing birding ambitions has been to go on a pelagic trip so when one was being organised by the Melbourne Photography Group of BirdLife Australia through Birdswing Birding & Wildlife Tours, I jumped at the chance and was not disappointed.

15 hardy souls assembled with cameras, binoculars and warm and weather proof clothing at Port Fairy wharf at 7:15 for a 7:30 boarding of the Perceive.

Perceive docked at Port Fairy wharf
(at the end of the trip - I was too busy chatting to get the early morning photograph)

Once all were aboard we headed down the Moyne River into Port Fairy Bay, rounded Griffith Island and headed SW into the rolling swell of the Southern Ocean. The sky was heavily overcast but there was almost no wind which made for fairly pleasant travel albeit with lots of up and down (I have never suffered from sea-sickness but took the precautionary pharmaceutical prophylactic before hand just in case...thankfully, I have still never suffered from sea-sickness).

We cruised for 2-3 hours out past the continental shelf, stopping when there were birds to be seen, burleying to attract the birds in closer to the boat. For some reason, few were keen to "land" on the water (an interesting, oxymoronic expression) for a feed but many were happy to fly around the boat.

First to fly by were several Shy Albatross (at one stage we counted at least 10)

Shy Albatross, Southern Ocean

including this immature bird

Shy Albatross (immature), Southern Ocean

and one alighted close enough for some good close-ups

Shy Albatross, Southern Ocean

Among the Shy Albatross, there were also several White-chinned Petrels (my first lifetime tick for the day)

White-chinned Petrel, Southern Ocean

We were also lucky enough to see a lone Campbell Albatross. I believe that the discussion about the taxonomic status of this bird continues re whether it is elevated to its own species or remains a race of the Black-browed Albatross. Regardless, it was a pleasure to see it and clearly identify it by its "honey-coloured eye" (the poetic description courtesy of Pizzey & Knight).

Campbell Albatross, Southern Ocean

Next stop there were more Shy Albatross and White-chinned Petrels but the highlight was this Wandering Albatross that cruised gracefully around the boat

Wandering Albatross, Southern Ocean

before alighting (more like a crash landing - it's amazing how graceful these birds are in flight and how clumsy they are landing and taking off) 

Wandering Albatross, Southern Ocean

settling for several minutes within a few metres of the boat

Wandering Albatross, Southern Ocean

closely followed by several Great-winged Petrels (far more graceful - taking off like ballet dancers).

Great-winged Petrel, Southern Ocean

This immature Black-browed Albatross spent a long time circling and following the boat.

Black-browed Albatross (immature), Southern Ocean

We also spotted several smaller seabirds including Fairy Prion and Wilson's Storm-Petrel but they remained too far away for good photographs. However, this Grey-backed Storm-Petrel (another life-time tick for me) came close enough for a few ID shots.

Grey-backed Storm-Petrel, Southern Ocean

All too quickly, time caught up with us and we headed back into Port Fairy - 3 hours cruising but much easier surfing the swell than climbing into it on the way out.

One last gem awaited us right at the entrance to the Bay - difficult to shoot backlit by the (now) bright afternoon sun but worth including as another lifetime tick for me making three for the day.

Northern Giant-Petrel, Port Fairy

Thanks to Neil of Birdswing Birding & Wildlife Tours for his guiding, Russell and Paul for their skipper and mate duties on board the Perceive and John for organising our participation.