5/6 Mar 2023
THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT
To celebrate the 50th pelagic seabird trip out to The Petrel Station, we went out on Sunday and Monday for two great days of stunning seabirds (offshore from Tutukaka in northern New Zealand). Conditions on both days were overall fine, with a good steady 15kn+ wind throughout the day, and a solid 2m swell.
Some of the highlights of the trips were:
2 Black-winged Petrels
The discovery of a new Grey Noddy (Ternlet) roost on an offshore rock pinnacle, and a new record sighting of 225 Grey Noddy in total!!
On the 5th March the trip we encountered 16 seabird species, and on the 6th March trip we had 18 seabird species. The full species list is below. Over the 2 days we enjoyed watching over 15,000 stunning seabirds in total.
Here’s the full trip results from both days:
5th MARCH 2023:
1 x White-capped Albatross
8 x White-faced Storm-Petrel
40 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel
75 x Cook's Petrel
6 x Pycroft's Petrel
15 x Black Petrel
145 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
2 x Fairy prion
7,500 x Buller's Shearwater
350 x Fluttering Shearwater
375 x Australasian Gannet
54 x Grey Ternlet
120 x White-fronted Tern
350 x Red-bill Gull
6 x Black-backed Gull
42 x Pied Shag
6th MARCH 2023:
1 x White-capped Albatross
15 x White-faced Storm-Petrel
40 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel
95 x Cook's Petrel
5 x Pycroft's Petrel
2 x Black-winged Petrel
18 x Black Petrel
140 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
1 x Sooty Shearwater
5,250 x Buller's Shearwater
60 x Fluttering Shearwater
2 x Common-diving Petrel
450 x Australasian Gannet
225 x Grey Ternlet
150 x White-fronted Tern
240 x Red-billed Gull
2 x Black-backed Gull
53 x Pied Shag
Other marine life included:
1 x Hammerhead Shark
2 x Manta Ray
40 x Common Dolphin
1 x Sunfish
3 x Flying Fish
3 x NZ Fur Seal