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+, Eastern 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

Southern Giant Petrel at Macquarie (photo: Paul Noakes)

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 but that didn't stop Paul getting a decent photo, below

Eastern Rockhopper Penguin near Sandy Bay (photo: Paul Noakes)

 Macquarie Shags near Sandy Bay

Macquarie Shags near Sandy Bay (photos: Paul Noakes)

King Penguins and Elephant Seals on the beach at Sandy Bay

King Penguins at Sandy Bay (photo: Paul Noakes)

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

King Penguin at Sandy Bay (photo: Paul Noakes)

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

Gentoo Penguins as I'd hoped to take them from a Zodiac, adult being chased by hungry youngsters (photo: Paul Noakes)

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

Royal Penguin colony (photo: Paul Noakes)

a happy couple (photo: Paul Noakes)

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

Soft-plumaged Petrels off Macquarie (photos: Paul Noakes)

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

[blog enhanced May 2024]