Sub-Antarctic Islands off New Zealalnd & Australia 1999. No.1
In November, 1999, thanks to the internet, Doreen and myself had the chance to purchase
tickets at half price on the Heritage Expedition Cruise to the Sub-Antarctic Islands, departing from Bluff, on South Island, New Zealand in just 2 weeks time on the 6th December, 1999.
We took up the option and after booking the flights via Birdquest we flew into Sydney, Australia on the 5th December. From there we flew into Christchurch, New Zealand for a 3 hour stop-over, and we visited areas around the airport, we flew on to Invercargill and stayed overnight at the Kelvin Hotel.
The next morning, woke early and went out for an early morning walk to the river near the airport at Invarcargill and saw our first lifers for the holiday. After breakfast, we were picked up
and we visited the local museum which had an exhibition from the Sub-Antarctic region. We were then taken out to a local site on the coast near Bluff, before heading to the dock at Bluff for embarkation onto the m/v Akademik Shokalskiy, which is a converted Russian ice-breaker. One of the crew members had an accident earlier and had been taken to the local hospital and therefore a short delay and we eventually set off during the evening. We did not waste our time at Bluff as we did some local birding around the dock finding White Fronted Terns breeding, some Spotted Shags and of interest some Lesser Redpolls.
The Expedition cruise, after leaving Bluff, first visited The Snares, onto the Auckland Islands where we spent a superb day on Enderby Island. We then sailed to Macquarie Island (owned by Australia), and this took almost 2 days. We spent almost 2 days on Macquarie Island before setting off towards Campbell Island. At Campbell Island we spent a full day exploring the Island, on our own, in glorious sunny weather. A full day at sea before we arrived at the Antipodes. Unfortunately, owing to rough weather we were unable to land here, but we did anchor off the Antipodes and also cruised around all day before leaving for the Bounties. We arrived at the Bounties late the following morning and were soon in the zodiacs cruising close to the cliffs and stacks and enjoying the superb sights of thousands and thousands of Salvin Albatrosses. We now headed off to the Chatham Islands which took almost a day and a half. By 6.00 am the following morning we were off Pyramid Rock enjoying good numbers of Chatham Albatross which only breeds on Pyramid Rock. After several hours here, we cruised around the rock and other stacks before positioning ourselves off South East Island. Here we used the zodiacs to explore the wave platforms on this Island looking for and seeing the rare Shore Plovers and Chatham Island Oystercatchers as well at the endemic Shags etc. During the evening we positioned ourselves out to sea, hoping to see Chatham Island Petrels or even a Magenta Petrel coming into their breeding sites, but these unfortunately did not show. The following day, we landed on the main Chatham Island and went for a long walk in the Taiko Nature Reserve and saw more of the local Chatham Island birds including a Weka running around in a local garage.
We departed for Wellington during the evening and spent the following day sea-watching en-route to Wellington Harbour, arriving here early the following morning, of the 22nd December, 1999 where we dis-embarked and we were transferred to Wellington Airport for our flight back to London. In total we sailed some 2,457 nautical miles from Bluff.
Since we went on this trip, much has been written and change with the large albatrosses with several new splits with the species has taken place.
All the pictures were taken by ourselves
Map showing Antarctica & the Sub-Antarctica Islands.
Map showing Newe Zealand and the Sub-Antarctica Islands. During the cruise we travelled 2,457 Nautical miles.
White Fronted Terns Sterna striata were found breeding on the dock site at Bluff. We also found small numbers on the Snares, the Auckland Isles, thirty were seen on the Chathams and when we arrived in Wellington a further forty were seen. This tern is the commonest tern in New Zealand but in Australia they are restricted to the Bass Strait, Flinders and Cape Barren Islands.
Embarkation on the the m/v Akademik Shokalskiyat at Bluff, South Island, New Zealand.
Leaving Bluff, South Island, New Zealand, next stop The Snares.
I will now show the following pictures etc., not in date or site order but have grouped the pictures in individual species or Islands, together with some comments.
Yellow Eyed Penguin - Megadsyptes antipodes Considered to be the rarest Penguin in the World. They tend to be shyer than other Penguins and only come ashore in small numbers. Endemic to New Zealand and breeds on main South Island, Auckland and Campbell Islands. Above picture shows two adults and one juvenile at the front, lacking the yellow headband. We recorded this penguin on just three days, with a daily maximun of 25 on Enderby Island. They are considered to be vulnerable by Collar.
White-headed Petrel Pterodroma lessonii. Breeds on Subantarctic islands from Coozets to Antipodes and ranges widely in subantarctic waters of Indian and Pacific Oceans. Its a large, a distinctive gadfly petrel, with the typical Pterodroma flight very fast up and down, with a white head, whitish tail, and contrasting dark underwings. We recorded it on eight dates and it proved to be commoner than expected with a daily maximum of 70 birds. Superb.
Note white-tip to the bill
Note the legs go just beyond the tail.
White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis. Breeds on subantarctia islands from South Georgia to New Zealand. During the non-breeding season it can be seen in Peru along the Humboldt Current and also in Australia and S. Africa. From a distance it can be difficult to identify from similar large dark petrels but the white-tipped to the bill and the feet extending beyond the tail are diagnostic. During our trip, we recorded it almost daily with maximums of 100 on a day.
White-chinned Petrel with Campbells Albatross
Arriving for a visit to the Auckland Islands
Views taken around Auckland and Enderby Islands. The Akademik Shokalskiy anchored in Carnley Harbour, Enderby Island.
Some of the plants we found on Enderby Island.
Flowers with Bulbinella rossii on Enderby Island
Bulbinella rossii in full flower.
Anisotome latifolia
Bulbinella rossii on Enderby Island
View of the White-capped Albatross breeding colony on Auckland Island.
View of the breeding colony of White-capped Albatrosses on the Auckland Islands.
White-capped Albatross also known as Auckland Shy Albatross with Cape Petrel
White-capped Albatross in wing moult.
White-capped Albatrosses also known as Auckland Shy Albatrosses
White-capped with Salvin's Albatrosses and Sooty Shearwater
White Capped struggles with Salvin's Albatross for some chum.
White capped and Salvin's Albatrosses
A Southern Royal Albatross joins the White-capped.
White-capped Albatross also known as Auckland Shy Albatross Thalassarche steadi. Mainly breeds on Auckland Island with a population of 65,000 pairs with smaller numbers on the Antipodes. It ranges from New Zealand to S. Africa with small numbers into the South Atlantic. We visited a breeding colony on the Auckland Islands with c600 + pairs were breeding. We also recorded this Albatross on twelve other dates with up to eighty seen on a day.
Double Banded Plover Charadrius bicintus 120+ were found on Enderby Island they belonged to a distinct race exilis, and are noticeably larger than birds seen on the mainland New Zealand. In the 19th Century a decline in the Island race exilis to just 200 individuals due to the introduction of cats and pigs but these have now been removed and the island population is around 700 individuals.
Tomtit Petroica macrocephala. We recorded fifty of the race marrineri on the Island including a small number of the very distinctive all black race dannefaerdi which were also seen on the Snares Islands, and which has now been classified as a full specie. We also recorded one of the nominate race macrocephala on mainland New Zealand at Bluff
.
Subantarctic Snipe/Auckland Snipe Coenocorupha aucklandica Since our visit in 1999, this species has been split making Chatham Island Snipe and Snares Island Snipe as seperate species. We saw four seperate Snipes on our visit to Auckland and Enderby Islands and this was one of our sought after species on the trip. Then tend to stick to fairly thick vegetation and when on the ground they climb up the vegetation in a hunched manner before creeping back into cover. If they flew it would only be a short distant and then they would run back into cover.
Departing Enderby Island
