12 Oct 2024

THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT

Had a fantastic spring day out on the latest pelagic seabird tour to The Petrel Station, offshore from Tutukaka (in Northland, New Zealand). Conditions on the day were mostly fine, with a solid 20 knot SW wind and a 1.5-2m swell.

Highlights of the tour were:

  • 6 species of Albatross

  • Southern Giant Petrel (scarce up our way)

  • Thousands of Fairy Prion and Buller's Shearwater (standard for this time of year :)

The tour was scheduled to tie on with eBird's Global Big Day ( #GlobalBigDay ) so some of NZ's northern seabirds could be added to the global sightings for the day, which wouldn't be recorded anywhere else.

During the tour we recorded 25 different seabird species, and enjoyed watching just short of 39,000 stunning seabirds in total! 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:

  • 2 x Antipodean Albatross (ssp Gibsons)

  • 2 x Northern Royal Albatross

  • 4 x Salvin's Albatross

  • 2 x Buller's Albatross

  • 1 x Black-browed Albatross

  • 32 x White-capped Albatross

  • 1 x Southern Giant Petrel

  • 3 x Northern Giant Petrel

  • 15,750 x Fairy Prion

  • 47 x Cook's Petrel

  • 65 x Grey-faced Petrel

  • 9 x Black Petrel

  • 20,500 x Buller's Shearwater

  • 13 x Little Shearwater

  • 31 x Flesh-footed Shearwater

  • 40 x Fluttering Shearwater

  • 3 x Sooty Shearwater

  • 800 x Common Diving Petrel

  • 9 x White-faced Storm Petrel

  • 35 x New Zealand Storm Petrel

  • 1 x Wilson's Storm Petrel

  • 1,200 x Australasian Gannet

  • 325 x Red-billed Gull

  • 3 x Black-backed Gull

  • 46 x Pied Shag

Other marine life seen:

  • 1 x Mako Shark

  • 6 x Bottlenose Dolphin

  • 12 x NZ Fur Seal

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