I was lucky enough to spend the last week in Tasmania, mostly birding, but also a weekend in Hobart with great food, wonderful whisky and the best company I know of!
During the birding part of the trip I was luck enough to go on a Pelagic Trip from Eaglehawk Neck. While I have been out on a few whale watching trips, this was my first pelagic trip (3 others have been cancelled!)
One of the advantages of a trip from this destination is that the continental shelf is reasonably close to the shore - maybe 1.5 hours out from shore. This means yo can spend more time looking for the 'pelagic' species and less time just getting there and getting back. Even if we had to cut and run about an hour early because of increasingly bad weather we still had a great trip.
The most frequent albatross we encountered was the Shy Albatross (also called White-capped Albatross) (Thalassarche cauta). At times we had close to 40 birds around the boat. Wonderful!
Here are some pictures.
In a number of these pictures you can see the back 'thumb print' in the 'arm pit' of the bird which is characteristic.
I'll try not to spam WBW with albatross for the next couple of weeks - but you may be seeing a few more of these wonderful birds!
As ever, to join in with WBW click the link below. SM
Greetings from Puerto Rico. What a grouchy face!
ReplyDeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteDefinitely have a look of the gangsta boys about them! Gorgeous birds and lucky you... YAM xx
My first ringneck parakeet visited my LANAI yesterday after I had already crafted and posted. But I will come back tomorrow or share it next week. Your trip sounds marvelous. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Aloha!
ReplyDeleteBonjour Stewart.
ReplyDeleteQue de merveilleux souvenirs j'ai avec ma sortie bateau au large de Bruny Island. j'aurai aimé avoir autant d'albatros à cape blanche. Ces oiseaux sont fantastisques.
C'est une très belle série.
Amitiés
Pelagic trips are among the most exciting birding experiences.
ReplyDeleteI like the in-flight bird photos
ReplyDeleteGreat photos!
ReplyDeleteThe second photo of the group is my favorite.
They are interesting birds! I saw some when we went to Stewart Island a few years back.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like an amazing trip Stewart. Thanks for hosting and I hope you have a great week ahead
ReplyDeleteQuite the wing span! Beautiful birds. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteExcellent shots! The second one is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI would love to visit Tasmania but it is never going to happen now! Cheers Diane
ReplyDeleteHello Stewart :=)
ReplyDeleteThe Shy Albatross, doesn't look so shy to me! :=) What a thrill to see so many. Fantastic shots!
These are fantastic. I love the one with the other bird overhead. and the one skimming the water
ReplyDeleteI've never done a pelagic trip. I am just about totally ignorant of pelagics so would need a lot of work ahead of time to even know what I needed to look for. Did just get back from High Island, Texas though. Been six years since i was there last and lots of changes in the area.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing opportunity and what a wonderful bird to see. Incredible.
ReplyDelete