Trip Report
Hauraki Gulf Seabirds
– 6 October 2007
Eight of us (including skipper Steve and myself) headed out into the Hauraki Gulf yesterday from Ti Point (10AM) - a blustery but fine day (wind S 15kns rising to 25kns), sea up to 3m out towards the Mokohinaus. Off Cape Rodney we picked good numbers of gannets, white-fronted terns and fluttering shearwaters, but then as we headed further out the bird numbers really dropped away - occasional fluttering shearwaters, gannets, very occasional Buller's and flesh-footed shearwaters and two northern giant petrels. Our first chumming stop NW of Little Barrier/Hauturu gave us four black-backed gulls - so much for an attempt to tease something out from the troughs between waves! Then about halfway between LBI and the Mokes the whole scene changed, it was like sailing into a totally different day with birds milling about as far as the eye could see (northwards): Buller's streaming through, white-faced stormies, Cook's petrels (not big numbers), common diving petrels, more fluttering shearwaters, flesh-footed and sooty shearwaters. Three more chumming sessions in a line from near Simpson's Rock to the western edge of the Shipping Channel gave us plenty to celebrate! By 6.30PM were docked at Leigh after a long bash back.
So what did we see:
- Northern giant petrel - two seen
- Buller's shearwater* - many seen well north of LBI
- Flesh-footed shearwater* - up to 30 seen during the day
- Fluttering shearwater* - many seen throughout the day
- Sooty shearwater* - up to 10max seen north and west of LBI
- Grey-faced (Great-winged) petrel* - up to about 20 seen well north of LBI
- Cook's petrel* - up to about 30 seen, often (frustratingly) just glimpses quite distant; a number came in close at chumming stops
- Fairy prion* - up to about 100 seen, plentiful at chumming sessions
- White-faced storm petrel* - many seen well north of LBI, plentiful at chumming sessions (up to 50 birds at one point and more pouring in); then as we traveled east to west across the gulf the sea was alive with these beautiful little birds skipping over the waves
- New Zealand storm petrel - seen at two chumming locations well apart (approx 5nms); three birds in one glance at one point; probably 5 or 6 at one location, two at the other
Common diving petrel* - many seen well north of LBI
- Australasian gannet* - seen throughout the day but no spectacular work-ups, just a lot movement to and fro; good numbers inshore near Ti Point and Cape Rodney
- Pied shag* - Ti Point (Whangateau Harbour) and Leigh Harbour
- Black-backed gull* - turned up at three chumming locations and fairy common close to shore
- Red-billed gull* - on the wharf and rocks at Leigh
- White-fronted tern* - seen off Cape Rodney and also crossing between LBI and mainland later in the day
Also:
- Far-eastern curlew - two see at sea north of LBI
- Godwit sp - a group of about 15 dark birds flying in a tight group low over the water towards the mainland (Pakiri or Mangawhai) were probably eastern bar-tailed godwits
I've placed asterisks * with each of the species breeding in the Hauraki Gulf (includes Poor Knights). With sooties, there are small numbers breeding in the Gulf but most seen at present are probably birds on migration south.
So, at a time when many of the Hauraki Gulf's summer breeders have returned, or are returning to breed on the islands; when winter and spring breeders are one, two or even three months away from leaving the Gulf; when there are few visitors to the Gulf waters (we expect giant petrels through winter and spring months and also an increase in numbers of sooties at this time) we pick up a number of NZ storm petrels in the Hauraki Gulf. This is the earliest they have been see (9 Oct previously). They weren't picked up last weekend off North Cape (Sav's report) and Steve and I didn't see any off East Cape (admittedly we tried only one chumming session NE of Ranfurly Banks to see if we could find any lurking over that way although we had excellent conditions before that to see storm petrels). What does all this tell us?
Happy seabird birdwatching.
Chris Gaskin
Pterodroma Pelagics
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