Record Tour

Hi,

We had a very good Albatross Encounter on Friday the 20th of Feb. It was a miserable day with very heavy rain in the morning. But that didnt stop the passengers on the 9.0am Albatross Encounter tour seeing a record number of albatross species.

One of the passengers was Brent Stephenson and here is an exerpt from his write-up of the tour:


"Did Oceanwings yesterday morning (20 Feb) with 10 species of albatross - equalled their record of 11 years. Pretty happy with that! Both Royals, Antipodean & Gibson's, both Buller's, black-browed, Campbell, Salvin's and white-capped. We were just waiting for a Chatham to fly past! Also sooty and short-tailed shear, flesh-footed, Buller's and Hutton's shear, Westland and white-chinned petrel, plus northern GP and Cape petrel so a pretty awesome line up! Literally 1000s of Hutton's feeding around the rocks just of the peninsula was a real spectacle with large numbers of white-fronted terns and at least 4-5 Arcitc skua making fantastic chases."

Chatham Island Albatross

The Oceanwings tour had a rare visitor today. Alastair saw a Chatham Island albatross (see photos) also, see the comparison with a Salvins albatross, the Chatham Island has a distinctive yellow bill and grey head. This visitor is only seen on a few occasions each year here in Kaikoura so is always nice to see.

Penguin ID

The ID of the Penguin is confirmed as a juvenile Fjordland crested penguin. (Many thanks to Peter Langlands for the ID).

Crested Penguin Found in Yard

Hi all

These are some pictures Alastair took of a moulting crested penguin found just north of the Kaikoura township. DOC have the penguin now and hopefully it is on the road to recovery?

ps. ID is not 100% although some have suggested Fjordland Crested. We had an FCP found on a beach here in Kaikoura back in 2008 (see earlier blog).

Cheers

Alex

Yellow Nosed Albatross!

On the 30th of September, 1st and 2nd of October a Yellow-nosed albatross was sighted on our tours. This is an uncommon visitor to this area and as such was a great chance to get a close look at an unusual species! Some great shots were taken by our skippers and customers on board.

Tui de Roy and Mark Jones presentation September 25th

Hi all

On Thursday the 25th of Septmber wildlife photographers and authors Tui de Roy and Mark jones are giving a presentation on their adventures and passion exploring the world of albatross. Their action packed project culminted in the writing of their beautirully illustrated book: Albatross: Their world their ways.

The presentation begins at 7pm at the Kaikoura Memorial Hall supper rooms, no entry fee, light refreshments available.

Hope to see you then, it will prove to be a very interesting evening.

Cheers

Alex

Spring is here!

The arrival of spring has also seen the arrival of large numbers of Kaikoura's special seabird, the endemic Huttons shearwater (Puffinus huttoni). They have returned from their winter holiday off the coast of Australia, and are waiting for the snow to clear off their alpine nesting sites in the Seaward Kaikoura mountains behind the township of Kaikoura. They can sometimes be seen in their thousands over the spring and summer as they feed in the rich waters of Kaikoura.