11 Nov 2024
THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT
Had an outstanding day out on the latest pelagic seabird tour to The Petrel Station, offshore from Tutukaka (in Northland, New Zealand).
Highlights of the tour were:
3 Skua species (South Polar, Long-tailed and Arctic)
24 Mottled Petrel (a new record)
Several big feeding workups of Fairy Prion
During the tour we recorded 29 different seabird species, and enjoyed watching just 73,500 stunning seabirds in total! And one of our guest onboard got 27 lifers for the day!! Conditions on the day were overcast with some late rain, solid 10-15k knot winds and a 1-1.5m swell. See below for the full list of seabirds recorded on the tour.
If you’re interested in coming out on a pelagic seabird tour to The Petrel Station (offshore from Tutukaka, New Zealand) then check out the upcoming tour 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 Antipodean Albatross (ssp. Gibson's)
9 x White-capped Albatross
1 x South Polar Skua
1 x Long-tailed Skua
1 x Arctic Skua
69000 x Fairy Prion
134 x Cook's Petrel
5 x Pycroft's Petrel
24 x Mottled Petrel
4 x Grey-faced Petrel
17 x Black Petrel
250 x Buller's Shearwater
650 x Fluttering Shearwater
1 x Hutton's Shearwater
20 x Little Shearwater
68 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
28 x Sooty Shearwater
20 x White-faced Storm Petrel
18 x New Zealand Storm Petrel
3 x Wilson's Storm Petrel
825 x Common Diving Petrel
3 x Little Blue Penguin
2 x White-fronted Tern
2000 x Australasian Gannet
585 x Red-billed Gull
2 x Black-backed Gull
64 x Pied Shag
2 x Little Black Shag
1 x Little Pied Shag
Other marine life seen:
1 x Mako Shark
1 x Flying Fish
Huge schools of Trevally fish surface feeding