Galapagos of the Southern Oceans: Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia Keith Barnes
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Galapagos of the Southern Oceans: Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia Keith Barnes 31 October – 18 November 2011 King Penguin: A breeding colony of several thousand birds on Macquarie Island, a world class experience for any birder, photographer or naturalist. www.tropicalbirding.com Introduction: This is undoubtedly the finest seabirding trip on Earth. The statistics simply don’t lie! The Subantarctic Islands, sandwiched between the great white continent and New Zealand and Australia, have an identity of their own, and they are packed to the rafters with penguins, albatrosses and petrels, as well as several endemic landbirds and fascinating marine mammals. In November 2011 Keith Barnes was lucky enough to venture onto the remarkable boat, the Spirit of Enderby, for Tropical Birding’s inaugural experience of this remarkable wilderness area. This trip is not really about numbers. It is about amazing wilderness experiences. But here are some impressive numbers regardless. We tallied some 42 species of tubenose seabirds, including all 14 forms of albatross available and 24 species of shearwater, petrel and prion, as well as 9 species of penguin and 10 shags! We also saw three Taiko’s, the Critically Endangered Magenta Petrel (one of six Pterodromas on the trip) that is estimated to number a grand total of 150 odd individuals. In terms of endemics we also fared exceptionally well, with 15 local seabirds and penguins, 6 endemic shags and 20 landbird and shorebird taxa restricted to these remote islands. In addition, these remote archipelagos are a nexus for threatened birds, and we saw some 46 species represented in BirdLife International’s Red data list. That is a serious quality selection of birds. But like I said, this trip is not about numbers, but about experiences. An ultimate lifetime experience is spending time with breeding ‘Great Albatrosses” (Will Carter) www.tropicalbirding.com Our day on Enderby Island will go down as one of the finest in my life. Our first experience of life on a Subantarctic Island. The Hooker’s Sea-Lions marauding along the beach were superb value and then the view of the mouse-like Subantarctic Snipe followed by nesting Giant Petrels was phenomenal. Macquarie Island revealed thousands of King Penguins packed together, their chicks begging from them while they craned their necks skywards in a nuptial display. A mixed party of Giant Petrels dismembering a seal pup carcass, blood forming crimson hoods over their heads was equally impressive. Gentoo Penguins waddling past giant proboscis-endowed elephant seals, and the high piping calls of Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses flying in a parallel display flight against the high cliffs, hanging like pterodactyls, and eyeing you with their Siamese-cat faces are memories never to be forgotten (below). Campbell Island also yielded two lifetime experiences with the same species. At first we thought that a Southern Royal Albatross, floating on the windless lagoon, was waterlogged, but further investigation revealed that it was being eaten alive, from underneath, by a Sea-lion. The drama played out over a 10 minute spell as the marauding pinniped returned for renewed attacks as the albatross clacked its bill helplessly before succumbing to a massive hit by the seal. As the primary breeding area for these birds we also enjoyed a fabulous few hours watching pairs courting, spreading their wings, pointing the beaks skywards and bill-clacking before canoodling and nibbling each-others necks in a very romantic scene. Finishing that off with seeing Campbell Island Teal, a Critically Endangered duck seen by fewer than 200 people, was amazing and unexpected to say the least. The huge colonies of breeding Salvin’s Albatrosses on the Bounties, and striking Chatham Albatross on the Pyramid were awe-inspiring, as were the spectacular colonies of breeding Erect Crested and Snares Crested Penguins. Our time on www.tropicalbirding.com the Chatham’s was also spent chasing endemic shorebirds like the scarce but spectacular Shore Plover and Chatham Island Oystercatcher. Phenomenal photo opportunities abounded, and frequently one just had to be strict and stop yourself from shooting so as not to over guild the lily. Most birds on land were ridiculously approachable, and those seen on the sea were super photogenic too, often coming within an arms-length of the ship. With good reason these remote islands are called the “Galapagos of the Southern Ocean”, though if anything, with the sheer variety of opportunities possible, they eclipse that description. Those paying attention on deck while sailing between the islands were also treated to an impressive cetacean show, as we saw 6 species including Fin and Gray’s Beaked Whales. These types of trips are often described in a cliché way as “Once in a lifetime trips”. The problem is, that once you go on one, your desire to go back is stronger than it was before you went initially. This is without doubt one of the most incredible trips to one of the most remarkable of Earth’s dwindling wilderness areas. In collaboration with the Heritage Expeditions team, Tropical Birding will be offering several trips through this region from 2012. Please stay updated as booking with Tropical Birding will not cost you a cent more than booking directly with Heritage and there are bunch of advantages to doing it this way, including getting your own dedicated guide if the tour numbers reach 8 participants and also be enjoying the pre and post-tour options we offer. The spectacular Pacific (Buller’s) Molymawk dives onto some chum behind our boat in the Chatham Islands group. www.tropicalbirding.com Itinerary: 29-31 October Christchurch - Arthur’s Pass - Invercargill 1 November Depart Bluff 2 November Snares Islands, New Zealand 3 November Enderby Island, Auckland Islands New Zealand 4 November Carnley Harbour, Auckland Islands – Macquarie Island, Australia 5 November At sea 6+7 November Macquarie Island, Australia 8 November At sea 9 November Campbell Island, New Zealand 10 November At Sea 11 November Antipodes Island, New Zealand 12 November Bounty Islands, New Zealand 13 November Pyramid Rock, Chatham’s Group, New Zealand 14 November Southeast Island, Chatham’s Group, New Zealand 15 November Chatham Island, Chatham’s Group, New Zealand 16-18 Steam to Dunedin November ISLAND LOG Rather than do a daily log it made more sense to treat this trip as an island to island experience with the excursions on each stop detailed instead. 29 – 30 October: Christchurch and Arthur’s Pass. After landing in Christchurch we made a quick jaunt up into the nearby Arthur’s Pass region to connect with some of ‘mainland’ New Zealand’s better known bird species. It rained a lot and we were slowed down as a result, but we did connect with a few great birds, most notably the amazing Kea and sleek Blue Duck. We also nailed some other great species though including New Zealand Falcon, Brown Creeper, Tui, Grey Warbler, Tomtit, New Zealand Pigeon, Bellbird, New Zealand Pipit, and a variety of introduced things like Blackbird, Starling, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Magpie and Skylark. At night we heard but did not see the amazing Greater Spotted Kiwi. On our return to Christchurch we bumped into some widespread species like White-faced Heron, Paradise Shelduck and Australasian Shoveller, Great Cormorants and Royal Spoonbill. Fields held Masked Lapwing, South Island Pied Oystercatcher, Purple Swamphen, Black-billed and Kelp Gulls. www.tropicalbirding.com The spectacular Kea (above) and Paradise Shelduck (below) were New Zealand endemics that we were very glad to catch up with on our day out of Christchurch in the spectacular Arthur’s Pass. www.tropicalbirding.com 31 October: Christchurch – Invercargill. Invercargill is reminiscent of a slightly remote outpost in the Outer Hebrides, and the people shake hands firmly, and bark a loud welcome. However the lamb is still some of the finest on Earth and our collective crew on the vessel ‘The Spirit of Enderby’ soon assembled for our first meeting and briefing in the nice hotel. Our voyage leader Rodney Russ gave us info on the remote set of islands that we would be visiting, the Snares, the Auckland Islands, Macquarie Island, Campbell Island, the Antipodes Islands, the Bounty Islands and the Chatham Islands. Rodney has dubbed these the Galapagos of the southern Ocean, and they do provide an experience that is at least the equal of those famous tropical Ecuadorian jewels – especially for seabird aficionados. 1 November: Invercargill – Bluff and departure. Before departure from Invercargill, we enjoyed the splendors of the Southland Museum, where we could enjoy the displays and exhibits of all the things we might be seeing over the next fortnight. The weather was a suitable blustery mizzle, which got us into the mood immediately for what lay ahead. After passport clearance and luggage checking we drove the short distance to Bluff Harbour and with mounting excitement boarded the Professor Khromov (renamed as Spirit of Enderby by our New Zealand tour operator). We set sail in the late afternoon. Although some people settled in several of us were on deck because this narrow stretch just out of Bluff is a great place to see the southern nominate subspecies of Buller’s Albatross. Those that persisted in the poor weather were rewarded with three individuals of this species/subspecies, the only views of the trip. We also managed out only looks at a nearby Fiordland Crested Penguin (a write in) along with a single surprise but welcome Southern Fulmar and one Hutton’s Shearwater. So all in all a wonderful start. We also enjoyed our first White-capped and Salvin’s Albatrosss, Sooty Shearwaters, a single White-chinned Petrel, many Cape Pigeons, Northern Giant Petrels, Fairy Prions, White- faced Storm-petrels and Common Diving Petrels, Stewart Island and Spotted Shags, and two Blue Penguins.