Western Pacific Odyssey 2013 NZ - New Caledonia
John Brodie-Good
Some nice surprises (eg multiple Band-rumped Storm-petrels off New Caledonia and good numbers of Blue Whales off North Island, NZ). Unfortunately the only NCSP was very distant and extremely brief but we had some good Polynesian Storm-petrels today.
Have used the usual numbering system, ie A=10-100; B=101-1,000 etc.
26 March – North from Lyttelton, nr Christchurch, New Zealand
Little Penguin 2
Gibson’s Wandering Albatross 2
Southern Royal Albatross 2
Northern Royal Albatross low A
White-capped Albatross A
Salvin’s Albatross low A
Buller’s Albatross 6
Northern Giant Petrel 2
Westland Petrel 3
Buller’s Shearwater low B and then daily for next three days
Hutton’s Shearwater A with smaller numbers following day
Fluttering Shearwater 2 with higher numbers the following day
27 March Cook Straight, Tasman Bay, off SW North Island
White-capped Albatross B
Fairy Prion 1
Westland Petrel A
Flesh-footed Shearwater low A
White-faced Storm-petrel 4
Blue Whale 4 one of the more unexpected sightings to date were four Blue Whales in and north of Tasman Bay off the SW corner of North Island, New Zealand. All were seen in relatively shallow water of c100-200 metres.
28 March – west of North Island
Campbell Albatross 1
Grey-faced Petrel A
Kermadec Petrel 1
Cook’s Petrel low A
Black-winged Petrel A
Wilson’s Storm-petrel 4 with single figure counts on 50% of following days.
White-faced Storm-petrel 3
Red-tailed Tropicbird 3 with birds then seen on the subsequent three days. The first sightings were in New Zealand waters where this species has apparently been only occasionally recorded.
Blue Whale 4
Orca 20+
29 March – north of North Island
Gibson’s Wandering Albatross 2
Grey-faced Petrel A
Providence Petrel 1
Kermadec Petrel 3
Herald Petrel 1 (photographed in NZ waters)
White-necked Petrel A
Black-winged Petrel A
Black Petrel 5
Flesh-footed Shearwater 1
30 March – at sea, afternoon on Norfolk Island
Kermadec Petrel 1
White-necked Petrel 3
Black-winged Petrel A
Wedge-tailed Shearwater B+ and daily since
Little Shearwater low A
White-bellied Storm-petrel 1
Grey Ternlet low A with a lone bird the previous day.
All three extant endemics well seen whilst ashore
31 March – Day 1 Norfolk Island – New Caledonia
Tahiti Petrel A
Providence Petrel 1
Kermadec Petrel 1
White-necked Petrel 1
Gould’s Petrel low A
Collared Petrel 1
Black-winged Petrel A
Flesh-footed Shearwater 2
Short-tailed Shearwater B and then good numbers on daily basis since
Sperm Whale 8
1 April – at sea off New Caledonia coast
Tahiti Petrel A
Gould’s Petrel low B
‘New Caledonia Storm-petrel’ a bird believed to be this was seen distantly by some on one of our oil slicks off southern New Caledonia, however, it disappeared very quickly.
During the recent week long seabird expedition to New Caledonia organised by Chris Collins and Aaron Russ, this bird was seen on 3 occasions with prolonged views for c1 hour on one slick. Despite oiling on multiple occasions along the south-eastern coast of New Caledonia, birds were only found in one comparatively small area.
Plenty of photos were taken which confirmed what has been previously reported, ie there are consistent differences from NZSP. We hope to publish a paper on the results of the expedition in due course.
Due to inclement weather attempts to capture the bird proved unsuccessful and as a result, a follow up expedition is being organised.
2 April – ashore on New Caledonia, sail late pm
Gould’s Petrel low B
A visit to Riviere Bleue National Park proved highly successful with many participants seeing 12 of the endemics including great looks at Kagu.
3 April – along western coastline of New Caledonia
Tahiti Petrel A
Collared Petrel 6 (including dark and ‘smudgy’ individuals)
Band-rumped Storm-petrel 2 one was well photographed with five the following day. These records continue the trend of recent WPOs of sighting this species off New Caledonia. It is interesting to speculate where these birds are originating from given the closest known breeding populations are in Hawaii and Japan.
4 April – off north reef system north of New Caledonia in morning and then heading north
Tahiti Petrel 1
Providence Petrel 3
Magnificent Petrel 1
Flesh-footed Shearwater 1
Atoll/Tropical Shearwater 2
Polynesian Storm-petrel 4
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