I'll get straight to the Point (Lookout)
Something odd is going on in the Southern Ocean at the moment – it is not clear exactly what, but temperatures are currently VERY high. Presumably in response, some truly astonishing seabirds have been showing up on the blue paddock in eastern states over the last week or so. Multiple light-mantled albatrosses, blue petrels, giant petrels, etc. were being seen on pelagics last weekend, but the real kick up the bum was a one-off pelagic organised for a departing Chinese student. A few pelagic tragics managed to sneak on to the Grinner II and were rewarded with Queensland’s second BLUE PETREL, as well as the first ANTARCTIC PRION for an age!
I was up in central Queensland for work, but was due to return in a couple of days… understandably frothed, I planned to get straight over to Point Lookout before the dreaded northerly kicked in. The grapevine was activated and a crack team of dedicated seawatchers gathered in the gloom at the Straddy ferry terminal on Tuesday morning with the jitters, and we were off. The bus ride to Point Lookout courtesy of Mr Griffin felt properly exciting, with many discussions of old pelagics, rarities, character assassinations etc hyping us up for the presumed to be approaching MEGA’s. Leaping off the bus I juggled scope, stool, and umbrella as we rushed towards the rocks…
We dutifully got set up and started scanning. As usual, after five minutes with no MEGA’s I became disheartened… but seawatching is the ultimate distillation of the zenbirding ethos and patience must be cultivated. Bill Oddie, in his Little Black Bird Book, had this to say about this most esoteric of birding pursuits: “Sea-watching is often just that. Watching the sea. Not seabirds – just the sea.” And so it was for the first ten minutes ago and then, once we’d gotten our eyes in…
“I’ve got a bird…” “Oh shit, where? What is it?” “Um, it’s maybe… 2/3 of the way out… I can’t see the horizon” “Is it near that boat?” “What boat? I haven’t seen any boat” “The red trawler” “There are TWO boats!” “I’ve lost it, not sure what it was, too far” “I’m on it!!!” “Where is it? WHAT is it!?” “Hmm I’m not sure, it’s miles away… it’s going south, under the boat!!!” “Is it the same bird?” “Which boat?” etc – it’s always the same.
Most birds we saw for the first few hours were heading south, and were a long way out. There were a startling number of petrels moving through, though, which was a VERY good sign; most were all dark, but occasional flashes of silver in the underwing or across the mantle at a good angle indicated that these were providence petrels. A very distant great albatross was seen out near the horizon, and several giant petrels were kicking about relatively close in, but the first ‘good’ bird was a petrel I got on to quite close in with a clear white belly, dark underwings and (importantly) a concolourous dorsum. The great GUDA and I were comparing features and whittled the bird down to SOFT-PLUMAGED PETREL over the minute or so we had it in view… Sadly, not everyone got onto this MEGA before it disappeared into the bright blue beyond.
The light got better, but the wind got worse, and we resorted to looking at the masses of blubber flopping around just offshore, along with the hordes of tourists doing the same thing. To be fair, it was quite pleasant to be able to watch the seabeasts at such close range. The dark petrels continued passing by, some of the giant petrels landed on the water to sit around, I failed to get onto a mollymawk that everyone else saw, and a Flutton’s broke the monotony briefly… it was slowing down, but the MEGA travels alone. Soon, the words that every seabirder is attuned to echoed from the rocks – “WHAT’S THIS!? WHAT’S THIS!!!” Panic stations ensued, but I remained calm, and Gus immediately followed up with “BLUE PETREL!!!” Holy shit! We all got straight onto the bird, which had snuck in ‘underneath’ the scope views… I watched it cavorting in the spray at 60X with great glee. The hooting, hollering and rushing about must have bemused the tourists but we didn’t care. Soul-satisfying views were obtained as Queensland’s third live record of blue petrel continued north. I love it when a plan comes together 🙂
Based on this we made the decision to stay a bit longer, despite the rapidly softening winds. Green turtles and bottlenose dolphins passed by amongst the endless herds of humpback whales… the blue petrel made a brief reappearance, occasionally landing on the water, but it was starting to slow down dramatically. Long stretches passed with no birds visible. We were truly sea-watching now. The GPs were still about but sadly the few that had been close enough to scrutinise all had pink lipstick on (i.e. were northern giant-petrels); this was expected as southern GP, which used to be far more common, has declined in frequency of occurrence since the 80’s and 90’s. Gus and I were discussing this dilemma, and he said “Surely one of these GP’s has to be a southern…” and I replied “Well the problem is it needs to be about there” pointing just off the rocks. About 30 seconds later a hulking chocolate brown petrel hove into view in the exact spot that I had pointed to. I got it in the bins and shouted “GET ON THIS BIRD” at the same time as my compatriots all started vocalising too – again, the tourists scattered in fear – I couldn’t see any red tip to the bill!!! I changed from bins to scope as Gus changed from bins to camera and we came to the same conclusion: it was a SOUTHERN GIANT PETREL!!!
Soon after, it was time to go, and with some trepidation we left Kye and Dan gazing hopefully out to sea to get the bus. Amazing stuff – a legendary seawatch, one of the best I’ve had off Point Lookout. We had thought those days were over due to the skyrocketing sea surface temps and immediately after, they were; people following up over the next few days have seen nowt.
Sadly, most of the birds we saw may not be long for this world. It is completely bizarre to see blue petrel in Queensland, and proximity to the coast is suboptimal. I sincerely hope the little beast can find some good tucker and make it back down south; sadly, he may end up as a snack for one of the GPs instead. South and south-easterly winds kick back in next week so if you’re in SEQ and you’ve got time (or perhaps feel a little ill) it could be a good idea to head over to Straddy. Conditions look prime for the Southport trip on the 11 July!!! It will be good to get back out to sea, I’ve missed it.