KIAMA PELAGICS

It seems a very long time since I've been on a pelagic. In fact, it's been seven months. Last March, I did a Southport pelagic, hoping for a New Caledonian Storm Petrel. I will hope for one again next year. I'd booked to do back-to-back pelagics out of Kiama in October and I particularly wanted to go because I knew it would be my last SOSSA trip. I've been doing pelagics with the Southern Ocean Seabird Study Association for many years and have enjoyed the company of the experts on board and learnt a great deal from them all. SOSSA has decided to dissolve itself and it will be sorely missed. Lindsay Smith has been synonomous with SOSSA and I will certainly miss his endless patience and tolerance of my ignorance. I needed to say goodbye and thankyou for his years of patient assistance. His wife, Janice, also deserves great appreciation for her organization skills. Where would we have been without them? I met many seabird experts on SOSSA trips, mainly on the 'Sandra K' out of Wollongong, once on the MV Banks out of Ulladulla, and more recently on the 'Kato' or 'Kiama' out of Kiama. And I've made several good friends, most notably Brook Whylie (who established this blog for me) and Graham Barwell, who has found me several lifers over the years. Their knowledge of seabirds is extraordinary. Thank you, SOSSA!

My photographer mate, Ken, was to accompany me to Kiama. We left early on Thursday, both eager to get out to sea after our unsuccessful trip to Tasmania in September. We drove straight to Gerroa, not too far from Kiama, where we'd stayed last time we'd done a Kiama pelagic in February 2023. On Friday we birded at Jerroa Dam, where, in my very limited experience, the birding has always been good. I declared the Black-faced Monarch to be the Bird of the Day. Saturday morning saw us standing on the Kiama wharf, eager to get out to sea. Alas, there was an atmosphere of gloom, and we did not pay as usual before we boarded the boat. This was because three metre swells were forecast, and the captain expected us to be returning to shore very soon. If we made it to the shelf, we could pay later. So it was with mixed emotions that we set off. I was cold at the start and gradually got colder all day. We did make it to the shelf. We saw lots of birds. It wasn't a bad day at all. Others complained it was rough; I didn't think it was especially bumpy. Two people were seasick. I saw 17 species, which isn't bad. Everyone was excited by a Grey-backed Storm Petrel (unusual for NSW, not too hard in Tasmania). I didn't realize until I got back home that the White-chinned Petrel we saw was my first for NSW. We saw Black-browed and Shy Albatross, and a large number of Buller's. In fact they banded a Buller's. This photo is by Ken Haines, not taken on this trip, but still a nice picture of the bird.

There were Australasian Gannets of course, and three confirmed species of shearwaters (Flesh-footed, Short-tailed and Wedge-tailed) as well as one fluttering-type. One Brown Skua flew past, and a few Grey-faced Petrels put in an appearance. Several individual Wilson's Storm Petrels flew by throughout the day, or perhaps there were just a couple of birds returning individually. I know that they're common, but I got a lot of pleasure out of the Greater Crested Terns. They flew just above our heads, looking very beautiful against the blue sky. Sunday was a totally different day: fewer birds, more species. Strangely, not one Buller's Albatross, which had been quite numerous the day before. And it wasn't cold. We added Campbell's and Yellow-nosed Albatross to the list, as well as a Kermadec Petrel and a Long-tailed Jaeger. We saw one or two Providence Petrels (Brook: if you change this reference to 'Solander's' I'll know it was you!) and another White-chinned. Perversely, I had a landbird as my Bird of the Day. Four Channel-billed Cuckoos flew over the boat before we left port, calling. I'm not used to seeing these huge, odd creatures and I thought they were pretty exciting. I was very pleased that I went. I'm very sorry to see the last of SOSSA. It's the end of an era for me.