9 May 2022

THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT

Had a great day out at 'The Petrel Station' on our latest pelagic seabird trip out of Tutukaka (in northern New Zealand). We had overcast conditions, with a solid 10 to 15+ knot winds all day and some decent swell which had the birds up and swirling around super close to the boat and putting on a fantastic display.

The highlights of the trip were:

• A massive number of approx 1,750 Grey-faced Petrels! Most we've ever seen here!

• 2 Brown Skua

• 18 Grey Noddy (Ternlets) which we've never recorded here this late in the season

• Approx 25 New Zealand Storm Petrels off the back of the boat at once

During the trip we saw 23 different seabird species, and over 3,700 seabirds in total. The full seabird species list is below.

If you’re interested in coming out to The Petrel Station then check out the upcoming trip dates and get in touch – it’s always a great day out.

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Brown Skua

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Grey-faced Petrel

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Campbell Mollymawk

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Campbell Mollymawk

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New Zealand Storm Petrel

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Buller's Shearwater

Here’s the full trip results from the day:

Seabirds seen:

• 1 x Northern Royal Albatross

• 16 x Campbell Albatross (Mollymawk)

• 1 x White-Capped Albatross (Mollymawk)

• 600 x Fairy Prion

• 2 x Cook’s Petrel

• 1,750 x Grey-faced Petrel

• 20 x Black Petrel

• 60 x Flesh-footed Shearwater

• 1 x Sooty Shearwater

• 30 x Buller's Shearwater

• 25 x Fluttering Shearwater

• 21 x Little Shearwater

• 1 x Wilson’s Storm-Petrel

• 25 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel

• 3 x White-faced Storm Petrel

• 25 x Common Diving-Petrel

• 750 x Australasian Gannet

• 18 x Grey Noddy

• 2 x Brown Skua

• 5 x Black-backed Gull

• 300 x Red-billed Gull

• 49 x Pied Shag

• 1 x Little Black Shag