24 Oct 2020
THE PETREL STATION TRIP REPORT
Had another great day out at The Petrel Station on the latest pelagic seabird trip out from Tutukaka (in northern New Zealand). Conditions were calmer than expected with only light winds of 5-10 knots throughout the day, and a small swell.
The highlights of the trip were:
A dark morph South Polar Skua came in close for great views and awesome flybys. Dark morph plumage is extremely rare in New Zealand with only one ever confirmed record!
2 Wilson's Storm Petrels, and the always entertaining NZ Storm Petrels that were constantly flitting around the boat
During the trip we saw 21 different seabird species, and over 10,000 seabirds in total, and had another fun day out.
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 Campbell Mollymawk
1 x SOUTH POLAR SKUA (dark morph)
1 x Cape Petrel
4,000+ x Fairy Prion
30 x Cook's Petrel
4 x Grey-faced Petrel
40 x Black Petrel
4500+ x Buller's Shearwater
25 x Flesh-footed Shearwater
2 x Sooty Shearwater
150 x Fluttering Shearwater
35 x Little Shearwater
26 x New Zealand Storm-Petrel
2 x Wilson’s Storm Petrel
5 x White-faced Storm-Petrel
350 x Diving-Petrel
700 x Australasian Gannet
450 x Red-billed Gull
6 x Black Backed Gull
47 x Pied Shag
1 x Little Pied Shag
Other marine life included:
1 x Blue Shark