birding never sleeps: Birding Down Under part 10: Chatham Islands (17-18 December 2023)

Sunday 17 December. I was on deck from 05:25. Visibility was poor with sea mist more on than off. We sailed towards Pyramid Rock with the bottom quarter becoming visible as we approached. We circumnavigated the rock several times with more and more of it emerging as the fog slowly lifted. It was not the way I had hoped to see one of the most spectacular seabird colonies and it left me feeling a bit disappointed although the numbers of Chatham Albatrosses on the only colony in the world was impressive. Attempts to relocate some to another nearby island have been unsuccessful with birds soon returning to the Pyramid. We continued north to the almost completely wooded South East Island. After lunch with the sun having burned up all the fog we had a two hour Zodiac cruise along the shore, landing being not allowed. We were in one of the last Zodiacs to depart but soon saw a very obliging Buller’s Albatross sat on the sea, some rather shy Little Penguins that briefly surfaced nearby and Shore Plover and Chatham Oystercatcher on the rocky beach. We followed the Zodiac ahead of us into a bay and were almost alongside it when they shouted 'Black Robin' and Zodiacs converged from every direction. We were in a good position with the bird flicking back and forth several times across a dark wooded gully that opened out onto the beach. The Black Robin stayed within the forest about 60m away and most of the time seemed to settle out of sight but I saw it perched in the open once before it flew again. Although the views weren’t special and the bird hardly spectacular its history more than made up for it. Seeing Black Robin encouraged me to hunt out OLD BLUE The Rarest Bird in the World by Mary Taylor on my return. The species was down to just two females (named Blue and Green for their colour rings) and three males in 1980. Green's eggs rarely hatched and when they did the chicks didn't survive. Blue was just as unsuccessful until she paired with a younger male Yellow. Don Merton and a pioneering new conservation technique known as cross fostering brought them back from the brink and the population is now about 300. All descended from Old Blue, as she became known living to 13 years, and Yellow. Back on board we cruised around the coast of Pitt Island, past Little Mangere Island (a brief look for Forbes’ Parakeet, seen distantly in flight by some) before positioning off the Main Island's ‘Horns’ in the hope of a Magenta or Chatham Petrel returning to their burrow in the Sweetwater Reserve. Our lack of success was unsurprising when we learned the following day that for both species at this time of year one parent would be incubating while the other forages in deep water and returns to their burrow in the dark. We hung on until dusk and then headed around Main Island to anchor in Waitangi Bay.

Birds seen: 4 Chatham Oystercatchers, 12 Shore Plovers, Chatham Snipe heard, 20 Red-billed and 20 Kelp Gulls, 30 White-fronted Terns, 6 Brown Skuas, 5 Little Penguins, 625 White-faced Storm-Petrels, 2 Southern and 9 Northern Royal, 2000+ Chatham, 2 Salvin’s and 6 Buller’s Albatrosses, 5 Northern Giant and 20 Cape Petrels, 20 Antarctic Prions, a Buller’s and 1500 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Common Diving-Petrels, 20 Pitt and 50 Chatham Shags, Swamp Harrier, Red-crowned Parakeet, 4 Tui, New Zealand Fantail, Black Robin and 4 Starlings.

first views of Pyramid Rock as the fog very slowly cleared

Chatham Albatross at Pyramid Rock

Northern Royal Albatross at Pyramid Rock

Buller's Albatross at Pyramid Rock

Buller's Albatross at Pyramid Rock (photo: Paul Noakes)

Chatham Albatrosses nesting on Pyramid Rock (photo: Paul Noakes)

Chatham Albatrosses on Pyramid Rock

Chatham Albatross at Pyramid Rock (photo: Paul Noakes)

Chatham Albatrosses off Pyramid Rock

Northern Royal Albatross off the Chathams

White-fronted Tern (photo: Paul Noakes)

Buller's Albatross from our Zodiac

Pitt Shag on South East Island

Subantarctic Fur Seals

Subantarctic Fur Seal on South East Island (photo: Paul Noakes)

Tui on South East Island

Shore Plovers on South East Island

Shore Plover on South East Island (photos: Paul Noakes)

Black Robin on South East Island (unknown photographer in the Zodiac to our left!)

Chatham Oystercatcher on South East Island

Pyramid Rock

repositioning past a heavily grazed Pitt Island

Monday 18 December. Today was hopefully Magenta Petrel day and we along with almost 80 others had signed up for the Taiko tour to the Sweetwater Reserve. We were in the first group and at 06:15 were shuttled by Zodiac to Waitangi Wharf, although it was still a wet landing. A bus was waiting to take us (now 27 strong) to the Awatotara Reserve where the tarmac ended. Waiting or arriving soon after were seven 4x4s, including the Islands Police’s, that had been roped in to ferry us to Sweetwater 25 minutes drive away. There, after a brief introduction, Dave Boyle took us through the impressive predator fence and into the reserve. We followed him to a small clearing where we squeezed around him in a semicircle. Behind him was a burrow occupied by a non-breeding male Magenta Petrel. He carefully reached in and lifted the bird out, showing it to us while telling us about the history of the project and a few facts about the bird’s behaviour. It didn’t seem agitated and many photos later he returned it to its burrow, told us to wait and disappeared a bit further into the reserve. He returned a few minutes later with a non-breeding male Chatham Petrel from a less accessible burrow and gave us similar information about the species. We had been privileged to see two ultra rare petrels (estimated populations of 200 and 2000 respectively). Two other groups went in after us making it a busy day, although Dave and the other locals involved clearly enjoyed showing off their island and its unique wildlife. We were returned to the Awatotara Reserve where we birded along the road for a couple of hours. The endemic Chatham Gerygone took a while but after a couple of unsatisfactory views along the road I pished in a pair near the start of the trail. We returned to Waitangi and after a bit of negotiation were taken back to the Heritage Adventurer via a small Chatham Shag colony, our views the previous day being rather distant. We were back on board by 16:45 and seawatching on deck either side of dinner. The Chathams had certainly delivered.

Birds seen: 5 Chatham Pigeons, 5 Red-billed and 8 Kelp Gulls, 7 White-fronted Terns, 100 White-faced Storm-Petrels, 2 Northern Royal, Campbell, 2 Shy, Chatham, 4 Salvin’s and 2 Buller’s Albatrosses, 4 Northern Giant Petrels, 40 Prion sp., Magenta and Chatham Petrels, 150 Sooty Shearwaters, 3 Pitt and 11 Chatham Shags, 2 White-faced Herons, 2 Swamp Harriers, 2 Chatham Gerygones, 7 New Zealand Fantails, 4 Skylarks, 3 Welcome Swallows, 3 Silvereyes, Song Thrush, 2 Blackbirds, 2 House Sparrows and Chaffinch heard.