For the April Bird Club
outing we were once again venturing out to sea, hoping to get about 20 km
offshore, beyond the reef, to get to grip with some of the seabirds otherwise
only rarely recorded. Fifteen bird club members gathered before dawn at the yacht
club. Coffee and biscuits were served as we motored through the sheltered
waters inside the barrier reef but few birds were seen in the pre-dawn
half-light. Several Brown Boobies were gathered around the Basilisk Passage
marker, but little else of note.
Once outside the reef, the
heavy swell generated by the recent storms raised hopes of some interesting
seabirds even if we were forced to hang on in the bumpy conditions. Brown
Noddies were seen in increasing numbers and an occasional Lesser Frigatebird
cruised over. About two miles beyond the reef the first Streaked Shearwaters
were planning the waves and remained with us for most of the day, often flying
close to the boat giving us excellent views.
Shortly after the first Streaked Shearwater appeared, Ian Burrows
noticed an all dark Wedge-tailed Sheawater off the front of the boat. While I
was trying to get on to this bird, the boat hit a rough patch and my binocular
strap broke; I was lucky they did not disappear over the side.
A few minutes later a
different shearwater or petrel put in an appearance. It passed close by the
boat allowing us good views. It seemed to be smaller and slighter than the
Wedge-tailed Shearwater; head, face and upper breast were dark; remainder of
the upperparts were uniform dark greyish-brown; underparts were white; centre
of the wings was also white contrasting strongly with the dark leading and
trailing edges to the wing. We felt sure we could identify such a distinctive
bird but nothing in the available guide resembled our bird.
More Brown Noddies appeared
and also one or two Brown Boobies. Just before we turned to head back an all
dark, small skua flew past. Its light build and streamlined shape identified it
as a dark phase adult Arctic Skua. Shortly after a burly, pale phase Pomarine
Skua, with twisted central tail feathers, zoomed past helping to confirm the
earlier identification of the Arctic Skua.
The return trip was much
more comfortable and we caught up with the unidentified petrel again, allowing
us to confirm its field characters. Also seen was a school of dolphins, a shark
and several flying fish. As we approached Basilisk Passage through the reef we
noticed a large, mixed flock of birds on and around the reef marker. The
skipper throttled back and allowed us to drift closer. The Brown Boobies were
still there but now accompanied by a variety of terns: c.20 Crested Terns, a
few Common Terns, c.15 Brown Noddies, 1 Black Noddy, 4 brilliant white
Black-naped Terns and 4 very rosy Roseate Terns. Once inside the reef, any
feelings of sea-sickness dissipated and we were treated to an on-board
breakfast while anchored off Local Island.
Subsequent correspondence
with John Mckean in Australia identified our mystery shearwater as a Tahiti
Petrel: “‘your unidentified shearwater/petrel is clearly a Pterodroma on flight behaviour. Plumage wise it is identical to the
Tahiti Petrels P.rostrata that we see
off SE and NE Queensland. It has been seen before off PNG. Birds off Queensland
have a well marked underwing stripe and may originate from New Caledonia. Field
guides do not show or indicate this feature”.
Species List:
Streaked Shearwater,
Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Tahiti Petrel, Lesser Frigatebird, Brown Booby,
Eastern Reef Egret, Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua, White-winged Black Tern, Common
Tern, Roseate Tern, Black-naped Tern, Bridled Tern, Little Tern, Crested Tern,
Brown (Common) Noddy, Black (White-capped) Noddy
