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