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WINGS Birding Tours – Photo Gallery

The Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia

Endemic penguins (here a Royal)… …and endemic albatrosses (here a Campbell)… …are just two reasons to visit the little-known subantarctic islands of New Zealand and Australia. From our comfortable base aboard the Spirit of Enderby, appropriately anchored here off Enderby Island We’ll explore both by zodiac… …allowing close encounters with the wildlife… …and, when possible, by foot, these remarkable outposts of biodiversity. First stop the uninhabited Snares Islands… …Home to the endemic Snares Crested Penguin… …here in the water… …and with luck we’ll also find the endemic Fernbird At sea, the Pintado (or Cape) Petrel will often be with us… …as well as various prions, here a Broad-billed Prion… …and here a Fairy Prion. Enderby Island, a jewel in the Auckland Islands, is our next stop. We’ll likely be welcomed as we land by the endemic Tomtit… …and by Hooker’s Sealions. Our walk should produce close encounters with the endemic Red-crowned Parakeet… …and endemic subspecies (species?) of New Zealand Pipit. We’ll be on the lookout for Yellow-eyed Penguin… …and the endemic, flightless Auckland Island Teal… …before heading again to sea, the realm of Light-mantled Sooty Albatross… …and Black-bellied Storm-Petrel. Macquarie Island, Australia, is the next stop, where our landing beaches are shared with Southern Elephant Seals and Brown Skuas. We’ll give the elephant seals a wide berth… …but King Penguins approach closely with curiosity… …for great portrait photos… …and their dense-packed colonies are a jigsaw-puzzle nightmare Like several islands on our route, Macquarie has an endemic shag, named … Macquarie Shag! The Macquarie landscape as reflected in an elephant seal pup’s eye. A Gray-headed Albatross sees us off to the north… …towards Campbell Island, our next stop,… …where the local subspecies (species?) of Antarctic Tern may greet us at the dock. But the real attraction here is nesting Southern Royal Albatrosses… …here with a Dunnock for scale! And here is aerial courtship maneuvers. The striking Antipodes [Wandering] Albatross marks our approach to its home Weather permitting, we’ll zodiac cruise the rugged volcanic cliffs of the Antipodes Islands… …home to endearing New Zealand Furseals… …and handsome Erect-crested Penguins. Seabird diversity picks up as we head north, and Fulmar Prions are likely The rarely visited Bounty Islands, teeming with life, are our next stop Close-up views reveal Salvin’s Albatrosses, Erect-crested Penguins, and Fulmar Prions packing all available surfaces. The endemic Bounty Shag is one of the world’s rarest cormorants. Our transit north to the Chathams should feature numbers of Subantarctic Little Shearwater… …and perhaps Magenta Petrel, one of the world’s rarest tubenoses. The aptly named Pyramid Rock, in the Chathams… …holds the world breeding population of the stunning Chatham Albatross. Around the islands we’ll also see Northern Buller’s Albatross… …and perhaps a roving pod of Killer Whales. At Southeast Island we’ll zodiac cruise in search of Shore Plover On the main island we’ll appreciate the difference between grazing and reforestation;… …The forest being home to the massive Chatham Island Pigeon, among other species. Our transit back to “mainland” New Zealand will feature many seabirds, including Northern Royal Albatross.

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