The Big Blue Paddock MkV........with special guests

After the Great Floater Twitch of 2017 things went a bit quiet for us the following weekend as I was on call for work which gives us zero opportunities for birding. The thought of another pelagic on the horizon though is one of those things that got us through that birdless weekend. During the week leading up to the trip we paid close attention to the prevailing weather conditions. You tend to check "MetEye" and the "BOM" website for constant updates on wind speed and wave height every half hour, I swear I can change professions and become a weather man after this year is done and dusted!. As it was a series of cold fronts passing through meant we weren't sure if it was going to go or not, but as it turned out a break in the weather lined up perfectly with the Sunday. Anticipation was high!

Travelling down on the Saturday Sue and I checked out a few spots with no real expectations of anything new and so it turned out to be. Arriving at Port MacDonnell we parked up on the Headland at Cape Northumberland gazing out to sea watching a few Shy Albatrosses and a line of "Fluttering type" Shearwaters pass by when the phone rang..... it was Bob Green. "Are you guys in town yet?..........My mate Wayne has got Grey Goshawk at Valley Lake..........NOW!"...Well alrighty then!. Cups of tea were hastily thrown out and stuff packed away and we were back off up the road to Mt Gambier. This was a bird that just wasn't on our radar at all given how rare and random their appearances are in the south-east of the State. It was reported earlier in the year from the same location and we did try once from the lookout overlooking the lake but never had any real expectation of seeing it  Driving down in to Valley Lake we parked up near the edge of the lake opposite the eastern rim of the long extinct volcano and started to scan. Within minutes we spotted it sitting up in a tree on the northern rim. Good scope views but quite distant for photos. It moved several times around the edge of the lake and I managed to snatch a few dodgy pics of it. Bob phoned again as he was looking down on it from the ridge line above as it was obscured from our view. I rang Colin and Stuart and they headed up from Port Mac as soon as they could. We moved up the entrance road to meet them but the bird sadly did not reappear from this angle. They did get poor views later after the bird was relocated buried deep within the vegetation on the far side of the lake and it appeared to have caught something. Happy campers all around although poor views for Colin and Stuart.

Me Bob Sue Wayne Colin and Stuart. Happy tickers!

Distant male "White" Goshawk inside an extinct volcano. Very cool!

We had to stay up in Mt Gambier overnight as the caravan park in Port Mac was closed for winter so that meant leaving a little earlier than normal in the morning to get down to the boat ramp in time. Heading out at first light we slowly cruised past the loafing Terns on the breakwater, picking out several White-fronteds among the Cresteds

Wintering White-fronted Terns on the breakwater

Rounding the breakwater we cruised for a while before approaching "The Bank" which is an area of the sea floor that rises up creating a rich feeding zone for inshore birds, cetaceans and pelagic fish. There were literally hundreds of Fluttering Shearwaters with a few Huttons Shearwaters in with them and above those were lots of Terns including White-fronteds. Jeff Davies was the first to spot the red bill on one of the Terns and called it immediately as an Antarctic as it flew past the boat on rapidly beating wings. A stunning adult in winter plumage and the 4th or 5th record for South Australia. There is an increasing realisation amongst those of us in SA that this species has either been under reported up to this point in time or is genuinely increasing its presence in our waters during winter. Future winter pelagic trips may provide an answer to that question.

Feeding frenzy just offshore

Adult winter Antarctic Tern. Photo by Colin Rogers

Antarctic Tern. Photo supplied by Colin Rogers

Huttons Shearwater picked out of the crowd

Anticipation was high

With all the activity inshore we were convinced we were going to have a great trip so carried on out to the shelf break and started to chum the water. After a time it was evident the birds were just not interested and we were struggling to attract much at all. Initially a few Shy Albatross and some Great-winged and Grey-faced Petrels were joined by Black-browed and an "odd" looking Yellow-nosed Albatross with a subtle grey hood and white forecrown that raised some discussion. Very few of these birds would actually stop on the slick with most wheeling about and moving off just as quickly.

An "odd looking" Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross

There were none of the smaller species like Storm-petrels or Prions around and we were perplexed as to why, given what we thought were ideal conditions leading up to this trip. Eventually a single Giant-Petrel flew in and it turned out to be a Northern. A distant fly past of a "Wandering type" was as brief as it was inconclusive. We were becoming a bit despondent! Lunch was taken before a lone Brown Skua flopped down on to the slick at the back of the boat. He couldn't believe his luck that none of the other birds seemed hungry...........more for him!

Brown Skua incoming

Heavily moulting and hungry to boot

I'm a duck!......no really.....throw bread :)

It was evident that we were flogging a dead horse and the decision was made to head back in towards shore to try and connect with the birds we'd seen earlier. On the way back in we came across a group of Albatross on the water and we realised we'd crossed the track of a now distant Trawler. That probably went a long way to explaining why we were struggling to attract the birds as most of them were probably already full from following the Trawler. A lone Southern Royal Albatross cut in the wake of the boat but kept its distance before peeling off as we approached the coast. We failed to relocate the earlier activity and eventually called it a day.

We had a nice coffee and debrief at Periwinkles Cafe with Jeff Davies, Rob Drummond, Rob Farnes and Peter Lansley but all the SA crew had headed up to Mt Gambier to try and twitch the Grey Goshawks but they failed until the next morning. So we started the long drive home to Adelaide but as we were approaching Naracoorte the phone rang again...... It was Bob Green..... "where are you?" Well heading home over an hour up the road. "There's a Fiordland Crested Penguin on the beach at Port Mac!"......WHAT?.and as it turned out not 500m from where we had our coffee!!! With an hour left of daylight turning around and heading back would get us there after dark but that decision was easy to make. Vagrant Penguins are notoriously difficult to connect with, either disappearing or being taken in to care as most are either sick or moulting. Either way they're invariably at risk from dogs or foxes while standing on an open beach. We phoned ahead to alert the others who were staying overnight and got them to sit with the bird before we could arrive. Getting there about half an hour after dark we quietly walked down to where the bird was and took a few pictures before wishing him well and just as quickly moving off so as not to overly disturb him. With high fives all around we resumed our journey home again, the five and a half hour trip passing quickly getting us home at just after midnight.

Happy Feet the live show! Fiordland Penguin Port MacDonnell

"I'm beached as eh Broo"

The next morning we found out the bird had gone during the night. We'd like to think he'd had a nice rest and was happily swimming around in the Southern ocean somewhere offshore and thanked our lucky stars he stayed around long enough for us to see him.

So even though the boat trip itself was somewhat disappointing given the expectations despite the Antarctic Tern and two year ticks, we managed to go home with four year ticks each with two of those being off the radar and one a lifer. So I'm now on 328 and Sue on 323. With a couple of options for this coming weekend depending on the weather we might get another tick or two before we go on our next big trip up to the far north of the State. Stay tuned