10 Dec 2022

THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT

What a way to finish 2022, with a bunch of super scarce vagrant seabirds turning up!! We had another outstanding day out at the 'Petrel Station' on our latest pelagic seabird trip out of Tutukaka (in northern New Zealand). Conditions on the day were overcast, with steady 10 knot winds throughout the day, and a 2m swell.

The highlights of the trip were:

  • A Gould's Petrel

  • A White-naped Petrel

  • A Chatham Albatross

  • A South Polar Skua

  • A Long-tailed Skua

  • The Grey Noddy (Ternlets) are back for summer.

The Gould's Petrel is a new species for the 'Petrel Station' trips, and we've now recorded 48 different tube-nose seabird species, and 65 seabird species in total!

During the trip we saw 28 different seabird species, and enjoyed watching over 32,000 stunning 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.

Here’s the full trip results from the day:

Seabirds seen:

  • 1 x Northern Royal Albatross

  • 1 x Wandering Albatross (Exulans)

  • 2 x NZ Wandering Albatross (Gibson's)

  • 1 x Chatham Mollymawk

  • 2 x Buller's Mollymawk

  • 10,000 x Fairy Prion

  • 1 x Grey-faced Petrel

  • 1 x White-necked Petrel

  • 120 x Cook's Petrel

  • 1 x Gould's Petrel

  • 2 x Pycroft's Petrel

  • 40 x Black Petrel

  • 120 x Flesh-footed Shearwater

  • 20,000 x Buller's Shearwater

  • 300 x Fluttering Shearwater

  • 6 x Little Shearwater

  • 5 x Sooty Shearwater

  • 7 x Short-tailed Shearwater

  • 20 x White-faced Storm-Petrel

  • 3 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel

  • 80 x Common Diving-Petrel

  • 1 x South Polar Skua

  • 1 x Long-tailed Skua

  • 1,200 x Australasian Gannet

  • 20 x Grey Noddy (Ternlet)

  • 900 x Red-billed Gull

  • 4 x Black Backed Gull

  • 42 x Pied Shag

Other marine life included:

  • Pod of Common Dolphins

  • Whale (unknown sp)

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17 Nov 2022