Sunday 31 December 2023

Late December around Shoreham (28-31 December)

Thursday 28 December. Southwick Canal with Megan and Cookie: Great Northern Diver (close views but no photos as my camera battery was dead - I'd forgotten to recharge after New Zealand).

Friday 29 December. Adur/Downslink with Cookie: 23 Lapwings, Yellow-legged Gull, 20 Redwings & Grey Wagtail (heard).

Yellow-legged Gull on the Adur, considered a near adult due to dark on bill and dull legs


size suggested female

Saturday 30 December. Mill Hill with Megan and Cookie: Single Red Kite and Buzzard.

Sunday 31 December. Brooklands with Megan and Cookie: 2 Little Grebe, 2 Long-tailed Tits and a Chiffchaff.

I finished the year seeing 160 species locally (my second best of year since 2020 when I started counting. A rather dismal 202 in Sussex (21st= out of 53) and 239 in Britain (17th= although my second best year since 1994). Local highlights were finding a Barred Warbler on Beeding Hill on 31 October and the big Leach's Petrel day on 2 November while finding a male Pied Wheatear, American Golden Plover, Dusky Warbler and 2 Hornemann's Arctic Redpolls with Dave Cooper on Unst and another Hornemann's there on my own, all during 08-10 October!

Sunday 10 December 2023

Birding Down Under part 5: Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island (10 December 2023)


Sunday 10 December. Today would be penguin day. At dawn we were off the sheltered eastern side of Macquarie Island. Despite being a small barely inhabited island 1500km SE of Tasmania and 1200km south of Bluff (our departure/return port) we needed Australian visas and strict biodiversity supervision of our time there. Although this was made available from 07:00 Macquarie time, that was 2 hours behind New Zealand/ship's time. It was frustrating to be sat offshore waiting to land although we saw a few birds and watched the zodiacs being lowered from the deck. Once boarded we zodiac cruised a short way along the coast to an Eastern Rockhopper Penguin colony. Jonathan Rossouw was our driver on this occasion and a bit further along the coast he spotted a small group of Gentoo Penguins on the beach. Views weren't great for photography as the swell kept us at a distance and I failed to keep the birds in frame. We wet landed in Sandy Bay which was covered with King and Royal Penguins and Elephant Seals. Four new penguins in less than an hour! Our morning with the penguins at Sandy Bay was truly amazing, one of my best mornings ever. I reluctantly returned for lunch and would have stayed if it had been allowed even though we would be returning for the afternoon. It was more of the same, with slightly better Gentoo Penguin views on the way, but I was reluctant to leave after our second visit too and was one of the last off. Macquarie was somewhere I'd wanted to visit for many years, I had great expectations and it easily exceeded them. Absolute wow! Back on board there was time for some seawatching before dusk as we slowly followed the coast south. Birds I saw, with penguin numbers being wild guesses, were Kelp Gull 30, Brown Skua 15, King Penguin 5000+, Gentoo Penguin 9, Royal Penguin 30000+, Southern Rockhopper Penguin 200+, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross 7, Black-browed Albatross 4, Grey-headed Albatross 1, Southern Giant Petrel 5, Northern Giant Petrel 10, Blue Petrel 1, Antarctic Prion 50, White-headed Petrel 3, Soft-plumaged Petrel 7, Sooty Shearwater 3, Cormorant 1, Macquarie Shag 9 and Lesser Redpoll 3. We also saw a pod of at least 8 Orcas patrolling a little way offshore although they were distant and only surfaced occasionally.

Photos taken from Heritage Adventurer before leaving for Macquarie:

Southern Giant Petrel off Macquarie Island
white morph Southern Giant Petrels are much easier to identify
Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses off Macquarie Island

Photos taken during our morning visit to Sandy Bay:

Eastern Rockhopper Penguins near Sandy Bay
the sea and rocks didn't allow a closer zodiac approach
 Macquarie Shags near Sandy Bay
King Penguins and Elephant Seals on the beach at Sandy Bay












Kelp Gull at Sandy Bay
Paul at Sandy Bay
Sandy Bay
Royal Penguins at Sandy Bay




that's a nice looking pebble

Royal Penguins heading for the sea while Elephant Seals sleep
Brown Skua and me at the Royal Penguin colony

Royal Penguin colony, up a boardwalk about 500m from the beach
too many to count



lots of comings and goings along the edge of the colony
lots of arguments in it



so much going on it was hard to know where to look
penguins returning to the sea






boy band rehearsals


it's big boys only here





Elephant Seals on the beach

all too soon our first visit was over

Photos taken during our afternoon visit to Sandy Bay:

Gentoo Penguin from an unstable zodiac on the way, my only image showing the whole bird
King Penguins welcoming us back with their dance routine



more Royal Penguins, definitely my favourite

back at the Royal Penguin colony and I'm still too overwhelmed to estimate numbers

plenty of large chicks despite attentions of marauding skuas and giant petrels



Brown Skua
Southern Giant Petrel chick
returning to the beach from the Royal Penguin colony
Nick back on the beach
me too, but still time for a few more penguin photos



strange encounter
my bird of the trip, though any inquisitive Royal would do



Macquarie Island from the Heritage Adventurer as the light faded and the weather closed in