 Bird List
Day
1: The tour begins with a flight from London.
Day 3: Because of the international date line, we arrive on Day 3 in Auckland and connect with a flight to Dunedin. Night in Dunedin.
Day
4: After a leisurely breakfast we'll
transfer to the wharf to board the Spirit of Enderby and head out
to sea, bound first for the Snares Islands. The afternoon will include
introductions and briefings as well as the first taste of seabirds
- perhaps including Mottled Petrels.
Day
5: The Snares are the first of the sub-antarctic Islands
we'll visit, and we'll arrive there in the early morning. It's an amazing
island group - with more nesting seabirds than the entire
British Isles. Landings are not permitted so we'll use zodiacs to cruise
along the sheltered eastern shore, where we should see the endemic
Snares Crested Penguins, Tomtit, and Fernbird. Pintado Petrels,
Antarctic Terns, and Red-billed Gulls also inhabit the coastline,
and we may see some early returning Southern Buller's Albatrosses.
Estimates of nesting Sooty Shearwaters on the Snares number in the
millions and flocks often swarm offshore in dense, insect-like clouds.
Day
6: Arrive at Enderby Island, an almost pristine island
in the Auckland Island group, where we land at Sandy Bay, the main
breeding ground for the very local Hooker's Sealion. Most of the
day is scheduled for time on land, where nesting birds include Southern
Royal Albatross, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, Northern Giant-Petrel,
Yellow-eyed Penguin, Auckland Island Shag, Auckland Teal, Bellbird,
New Zealand Pipit, Red-crowned Parakeet, and endemic races of Double-banded
Plover and Tomtit. We'll also search for the Sub-antarctic
Snipe, which we have a very good chance of seeing, and on Derrycastle
Reef there is a good chance to find Bar-tailed Godwit, Turnstone,
and perhaps other migratory shorebirds.
Day
7: This morning we'll cruise to Carnley Harbour in the
south of the main Auckland Islands. There will be an opportunity
for energetic participants to climb to the White-capped Albatross
colony at Southwest Cape. Gibson's Wandering Albatrosses nest above
the colony amongst the tussocks and we may also see these if time permits.
Those remaining on board will explore the coastal forest with a
chance to see New Zealand Falcon and enjoy close encounters with
other bush birds. We depart the Auckland Islands in mid-afternoon
and head southwest towards Macquarie Island.
Day
8: At sea we will have a series of lectures supported
by videos of the biology and history of the sub-antarctic islands
and southern oceans. The sub-antarctic Convergence Zone is usually
close to the area through which we sail, so the birdlife should
reflect this as we get closer to Macquarie Island. We'll be at sea
all day, another opportunity to watch numerous tubenoses, including
Wandering (three taxa), Southern Royal, White-capped, Black-browed,
and Grey-headed albatrosses, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, White-chinned,
Mottled, White-headed, and Pintado Petrels, Common Diving-Petrels,
and Grey-backed and Black-bellied Storm-Petrels.
Days
9-10: Arrive at Macquarie Island, the only breeding ground
for Royal Penguin, of which we should see thousands, as well as
countless King Penguins and smaller numbers of Gentoo and Rockhopper
penguins. Along the coast we'll also see Macquarie Island Shags
and both giant-petrels, including some white morph Southerns. We
plan landings at both the ANARE base and at Sandy Bay, and we will
also use zodiacs to visit Lusitania Bay, where there is a huge King Penguin
colony. After exploring Macquarie Island we depart for Campbell
Island on the afternoon of our second day.
Day
11: Today will be spent at sea en-route to Campbell Island, with a similar
range of species to those we saw en-route to Macquarie Island from
the Auckland Islands.
Day
12: Arriving early in the morning, we'll spend the day
exploring the island by foot from Perseverance Harbour. Campbell
is a magnificent island - rats have recently been removed
successfully, which has meant encouraging increases in small bird
numbers, most notably the New Zealand Pipit.
There are great birding
and photographic opportunities on this island, especially for nesting
Southern Royal Albatross and the early-flowering herbs. During
the day ashore we should also see Light-mantled Sooty Albatross,
Northern Giant-Petrel, Campbell Island Shag, Brown Skua, Red-billed
and Kelp Gulls, Antarctic Tern, and even Redpolls and Dunnocks,
far from their original homes in western Europe! The regeneration
of plants since the removal of sheep in the 1970s is a spectacle
to behold.
Day
13: Another day at sea en-route to the Antipodes, and another great
day for pelagic birding. Species seen commonly in this area include
up to ten albatrosses, Soft-plumaged, Mottled, and White-headed
Petrels, and Grey-backed and Black-bellied Storm-Petrels. This region
of the Southern Ocean is one of the few places where Fairy Prion,
Fulmar Prion and Antarctic Prion occur together, providing a good
opportunity for comparison.
Day
14: Antipodes Island is one of the most isolated, least
known, and rugged of the New Zealand's sub-antarctic Islands. Landings
are not permitted but we plan to use zodiacs to explore the coastline, where
we have a good chance of seeing the endemic Antipodes and Red-crowned
(Reischek's) Parakeets, and Antipodes subspecies of New Zealand
Pipit (probably a species in its own right) as well as good views
of both Erect-crested and Rockhopper Penguins.
Day
15: Today we reach the Bounty Islands, inhospitable granite
knobs lashed by the Southern Ocean, where, weather permiting, we plan early morning
zodiac cruises. The spectacle here defies description,
the islands simply packed with Erect-crested Penguins, Salvin's
Albatrosses, and New Zealand Fur Seals, as well as Fulmar Prions
and the endemic Bounty Island Shag.
We then depart for the Chatham
Islands, and enter different waters with distinctly different birds,
perhaps including Northern Royal Albatross, Soft-plumaged Petrel,
Little Shearwater, Broad-billed and Fulmar prions, and White-faced
Storm-Petrels. There is always a chance we could see the rare Chatham
Island Petrel and we will be keeping a close watch for the even
rarer Magenta Petrel.
Day
16: This morning we continue toward the Chatham Archipelago
this will be another good opportunity for pelagic birding. We'll
be especially interested in looking out for the Chatham Island and
Magenta Petrels, but we'll be very lucky to see either one, let
alone both. In the afternoon we'll arrive at the spectacular Pyramid
Rock, the only breeding site of the handome Chatham Albatross.
Day
17: At South East Island (Rangatira), one of the world's
greatest nature reserves, we'll zodiac cruise (landings are not
permitted) and should obtain good views of the superb little Shore
Plover (now extirpated from the main New Zealand islands) and the
rare Chatham Island Oystercatcher. We should also see the Pitt Island
Shag, Tui, Tomtit, Red-crowned Parakeet, and marauding Brown Skuas.
This afternoon we'll cruise past Mangere and Little Mangere Island,
whence the endemic Black Robin was rescued in the 1970s when the
total population was only 6 birds; and we'll relate this remarkable
conservation story. In the evening we'll sail across Pitt Strait
to the main Chatham Islands and pass the Tuku valley where Magenta
Petrel breeds.
Day
18: This morning we'll land at Waitangi, the main settlement
on the Chatham Islands, and near the landing we should see the endemic
Chatham Island Shag. Local buses and Landrovers will transport us
down the South Coast to the Tuku Reserve. Here, on private land
and guided by the local people, we'll enjoy walks in some remnant
native bush and hope to see the endemic Chatham Island Warbler and
Chatham Island Pigeon. We'll return to the Spirit of Enderby early
afternoon and depart for Dunedin.
Days
19-20: En-route to Dunedin we cross what is known as the
Chatham Rise, a relatively shallow area of water compared to the
rest of the surrounding ocean. This is one of the best areas for
pelagic watching, with a mix of birds from northern and southern
latitudes. We can expect to see Wandering (3 species), Royal (2 species),
Northern Buller's, Campbell, White-capped, and Salvin's Albatrosses,
Northern Giant-Petrel, Pintado, White-chinned, Great-winged, Mottled,
and Cook's Petrels, Buller's and Sooty shearwaters, prions, storm-petrels,
and diving-petrels, as well as a number of marine mammals. There
could well be unusual bird species, so it's a good time to be on
the bridge or on deck.
Day
21: We'll arrive in Dunedin and, after completing formalities,
passengers will be able to disembark. We'll transfer to the airport to connect with a flight back to London, where the tour ends on Day 22.
The
ground arrangements for this tour are organized by our American
associates WINGS.
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Last updated June 2008
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Although seabirds will be the focus of the tour, there will be plenty of other wildlife to look at including this Sub-antarctic Snipe on Enderby Island...
and where we will also find Red-crowned Parakeet.
 Shore Plover can be found on the Chatham group of islands.
 The flightless Auckland Island Teal is remarkably confiding...
 whereas the Yellow-eyed Penguin can be very wary of onlookers.
 Gibson's (Wandering) Albatross can also be found on the Auckland Islands.
 While Cambell Albatross, as is as its name suggests, breeds on Cambell Island.
 A handsome adult Chatham Albatross.
 This photo, taken on last year's cruise, is the first of the rare Magenta Petrel taken at sea. The world population is thought to number around 100 - 150 birds.
Photos by Steve Howell
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