December 21: Steve Howell and Luke Seitz report from their recent Tasman Sea Cruise between New Zealand and Australia.
Before the actual cruise our pre-extension around Melbourne introduced us to many austral delights, such as the aptly named Superb Fairy-Wren...
And the bizarre Tawny Frogmouth, here on a nest with its young.
Then to the cruise proper, which proved highly successful, with birds ranging from gadflies to parrots, and often we were able to watch from the bow...
Where seeing this Wandering Albatross one minute...
And this Red-tailed Tropicbird only three minutes later reinforced the mixed pelagic habitats we traversed.
Notably notable were the 11 species of gadfly petrels (genus Pterodroma) we encountered (of some 36 tubenoses in total), including the handsome White-headed Petrel
Here with Striped Dolphins in the background
And the poorly known Pycroft’s Petrel,
Here in direct comparison with the notoriously similar Cook’s Petrel.
On land we enjoyed close views of two iconic New Zealand Parrots, the notorious Kea...
And the subtly multicolored Kaka
Plus the vocally arresting and visually stunning Tui, a large honeyeater.
Various other species ranged from the elegant Royal Spoonbill
To the scarce New Zealand Falcon,
But ultimately it was mostly about seeing oceanic birds in their element, the Southern Ocean, from a stable platform.
Posted: December 21, 2022