birding never sleeps: Birding Down Under part 2: The Snares (07 December 2023)

Thursday, 7 December 2023

Birding Down Under part 2: The Snares (07 December 2023)

Thursday 07 December. Our first night on board was fairly choppy and I rolled about a bit as we voyaged south. My berth was perpendicular to the ship's sides although I'm not sure if that was advantageous or not. We were up soon after 05:00 and on deck 6 overlooking the stern seawatching from 05:30-09:00 when we arrived off the Snares. There were lots of seabirds although it was hard to find shelter, commonest were Cape Petrels, unidentified prions, Sooty Shearwaters and Common Diving Petrels.

After a quick breakfast we were back on deck watching the Zodiacs being winched from the rear deck down onto the sea. One appeared to deflate on the way but the others were prepared and came alongside to the gangway in turn to be loaded, 10 per boat. This was a slow process with 13-14 Zodiacs to load and each passenger being guided by two crew (one on each arm) from the loading platform to two in the boat. For us, in one of the last Zodiacs, it took almost two hours before we departed. We were on the Zodiac for almost 3 hours, cruising close, sometimes very close up and down the Eastern coast of the main island. It was brilliant, allowing close views of hundreds of Snares Penguins, one the rocky shore and it the water. Other highlights were good views of Snares Fernbird and the all black Snares Tomtit but it was only when we were back on board the Heritage Adventurer that we learned, despite all Zodiacs being in radio contact with each other and the mother ship, that several Zodiacs had encountered a Snares Snipe (seen by a few, heard by more) and others a vagrant White-throated Needletail. This was disappointing although our driver being a botanist probably didn't make a difference to whether we saw those species or not. Not matching clients interests to the expertise of the guide with them was the one area where the expedition arrangements could have been better, for birders as well as non-birders. Despite the cruise being called Birding Down Under many of the clients were not particularly keen birders with fewer than 25% appearing on deck with any regularity. It shouldn't have been difficult to arrange for the keen birders to always be in Zodiacs with bird guides. As it was it was pot luck whether one's Zodiac driver's expertise matched the interests of those with them.

We were back on board for a late lunch by 14:00 and soon after we headed south. Seawatching from deck continued to be excellent (Black-bellied Storm-Petrels, various Albatrosses, Northern Giant and Mottled Petrels) although we realised that the rear of deck 5 or alongside the bridge on deck 6 were more sheltered. Seawatching was interrupted late afternoon by a biosecurity check as the following day we would be going ashore at Enderby (one of the Auckland Islands). Depending on who was checking you this could be an easy process although on my first go I was sent away to remove some tiny seeds from velcro and webbing. Velcro is the main culprit, something I wished I'd known when choosing what to bring. I returned to deck for more seawatching, with a break for dinner, writing up brief notes after dark (22:00). A long day! There was a programme of talks with one or two most afternoons, many of which sounded interesting and it would have been nice had they been recorded so one could see them at a later date. As it was none beat the draw of seawatching so I missed them all. Neither did attending a bird log although if we were landing somewhere the following day we turned up to hear what the options were.

Birds I saw during a brilliant first day proper were (new birds in red): 20 Red-billed and a Kelp Gull, White-fronted Tern, 30 Antarctic Terns, 8 Brown Skuas, 1000+ Snares Penguins, 40 Black-bellied Storm-Petrels, a probable Gibson's, 8 Southern Royal,2 Campbell, 40 Shy, 15 Salvin's and a poor view of a nesting Buller's Albatross, 6 Northern Giant Petrels, Southern Fulmar, 500+ Cape Petrels, 2+ Broad-billed, 50+ Fairy and 2 potential Fulmar Prions, Mottled Petrel, 15 White-chinned Petrels, 200+ Sooty Shearwaters, 150+ Common Diving-Petrels, 30 Cormorants (vagrants from Australia?), 8 Snares Tomtits, 2 Welcome Swallows, 4 Snares Fernbirds, 2 Blackbirds and Lesser Redpoll heard.