By Chris Collins, Tour Leader
Introduction
This was the fifth Western Pacific Odyssey (“WPO”) and as on the previous expeditions, the trip was a great success with many very special species seen.
During the trip, we saw an excellent selection of poorly known seabirds including New Zealand Storm-petrel (“NZSP”), Polynesian Storm-petrel, Heinroth’s Shearwater, Beck’s Petrel, Short-tailed Albatross and Japanese Murrelet, as well as the mystery NZSP-like Storm-petrel off New Caledonia which was also seen on the 2008 and 2010 expeditions.
The speciality land birds were surely headed by the extraordinary Kagu, although a tough climb on Tol South rewarded many of the WildWings group with great looks at the critically endangered Faichuuk White-eye, as well as the poorly known Chuuk Monarch, both of which are only found on a few small islands in the Chuuk Lagoon.
Although the somewhat abnormal weather conditions meant that the seas were somewhat choppier than on most previous trips, nevertheless, the expedition was still very successful for cetaceans with at least thirteen species observed. These included Pygmy Killer Whale, Melon-headed Whale and Dwarf Sperm Whale – all of which are rarely seen.
These notes describe some of the trip highlights of the voyage, however, for a detailed species list please see our systematic list.
At sea: Tauranga – Norfolk Island 19th-22th April 2011
Having boarded the ‘Spirit of Enderby’ in the late afternoon, we departed Tauranga in the early evening and cruised overnight to the Hauraki Gulf, where shortly after dawn (20th April) we were off the Mokohinau Islands. These small islands regularly hold a small population of Grey Ternlets, a species which is only rarely seen from the New Zealand coastline, and as we circled their favoured islet, at least ten birds could be seen feeding with a vast flock of Red-billed Gulls.
With everyone having seen this tropical seabird, we cruised on to look for our first major target of the voyage, the New Zealand Storm-petrel – a species which had only been rediscovered in 2003.
Recent ‘intelligence’ had told us that NZSPs had been seen comparatively close to the Mokohinau Islands a few days before, so we laid a fish oil slick a little to the north but with few birds coming to investigate, the ship headed into deeper waters to areas where we had successfully found this species on previous voyages.
Reaching the 200m contour line, another oil slick was laid and before long, several NZSPs were feeding on this. The Captain turned the ship and we made a close pass enjoying great looks at the birds. Whilst it was difficult to be sure of the number of individuals involved, four were seen simultaneously and it seemed likely that at least twice that number were around.
The biggest surprise of the day, however, was the discovery of a Great Shearwater. This was with a small flock of Buller’s Shearwaters and showed exceptionally well right by the side of the ship.
The bird was over 12,000 kms from the Tristan archipelago (irrespective of which way it had come round Antarctica) and we subsequently learnt that although there had been reports elsewhere in New Zealand during the previous weeks, nevertheless, this species was a major rarity with the total number of sightings in NZ waters being in single figures.
As the ship headed on towards Norfolk Island, we continued to add new seabirds over the next days, with our first sightings of several tropical species including Black-winged, Tahiti, Gould’s and Kermadec Petrels. There was, however, confirmation that we were still not too far from cooler climes with a number of Gibson’s Albatrosses also seen.
By the late afternoon of 22nd April, we could see Norfolk Island and several Little Shearwaters were recorded as we got closer to the island. Although the birds which breed here are all currently treated as being of the race assimilis, there are winter and summer breeding populations which vary so markedly in size that they take different sized leg rings. Surely a likely split when someone does a proper study on these birds……..
Norfolk Island 23rd April 2011
As soon as the ship was cleared into Australia, we boarded the zodiacs for the journey ashore. Our destination was the Botanical Gardens, where all three Norfolk Island endemics can be found and most of us quickly caught up with Norfolk Gerygone and Slender-billed White-eye.
Other species seen included the endemic subspecies of Golden Whistler (which is quite unlike the brightly coloured birds found elsewhere, being a comparatively uniform buff brown), Emerald Dove and Pacific Robin.
The parakeets, however, proved to be trickier than on all previous visits and by mid-morning we had neither seen nor heard this rare endemic. With our local guides telling us that they believed the population had crashed as a result of a recent drought, things were not looking good, so we decided to try another location, Palm Glen, which was only a ten minute drive from the Botanical Gardens.
Spreading out proved to be the right strategy here and before too long, those with Chris had heard some Parakeets calling and by the time everyone arrived, the birds had been located and we all enjoyed some great looks at this final Norfolk Island endemic.
With all key birds having been seen, there was an optional trip to ‘100 Acres’, a forest reserve in the south-west corner of the island, where some breeding Red-tailed Tropicbirds were the undoubted highlight.
By mid-afternoon, we were all back on the ship and as we cruised northwards, almost two hundred Little Shearwaters were seen with many of these being very close to the ship. With two Providence Petrels also spotted (a species which is certainly not seen every year on the WPO), the decision to spend the late afternoon looking for seabirds off Norfolk Island had certainly proved to be a success.
Norfolk Island – New Caledonia 24th-25th April 2011
The major bird for this leg of the voyage was the strange Storm-petrel which resembles New Zealand Storm-petrel (“NZSP”) which had been found on WPO 2008 (and also seen in 2010) and on reaching the area for this bird on the morning of 25th April, we laid a substantial fish oil slick.
At least a dozen Wilson’s Storm-petrels were soon attracted in and then our target was spotted. It was flying in close proximity with several Wilson’s and although rather distant, the bird was clearly the same taxon as in 2008 and 2010, seemingly rather large for NZSP with somewhat restricted white on the underwings (relative to NZSP).
We tried a couple of strategies, slowly circling the oil slick and going ‘dead in the water’ but unfortunately were unable to get better views – resolving this mystery would have to wait for at least another year......
With several Collared Petrels also seen on this leg, including at least six in Australian waters (north of Norfolk Island) where this species is still regarded as a major rarity, it had been an extremely productive couple of days.
New Caledonia 26th April 2011
The trip to Riviere Bleue always requires an extremely early wakeup call but with everyone ready on time, we were on our way to the National Park at 04:30.
Jean Marc Meriot (the Park’s Head Ranger) had kindly agreed to allow us into the Park an hour before the general public and by 06:00 we had arrived and were then on our way to Pont Perignon (the closest our buses could get to the forest), with Jean Marc leading the way in a Park 4WD.
Walking across the bridge, two shuttle buses took us to the edge of the forest and once everyone had assembled, we set off along the forest road to begin our search for our principle target, the Kagu. Jean Marc had gone ahead and was playing a recording (at an almost ear-damaging volume !!) but with no response, he suggested we try a different territory a couple of hundred metres further along the road.
The birds were more obliging here and were on show as soon as we arrived and we enjoyed fantastic views of a family party which seemed utterly oblivious to the presence of fifty people. With the birds coming within a matter of metres of us, even those with the smallest of camera lenses were able to get some great photos – a truly unforgettable experience.
With our main target bird seen, we broke into a number of smaller groups and over the next few hours found the vast majority of the endemics including New Caledonian Cuckoo-shrike, New Caledonian Imperial-pigeon, Yellow-bellied Robin and Streaked Fantail. We also had some great looks at New Caledonian Goshawk, Horned Parakeet and New Caledonian Crow, all of which can easily be missed at the Park.
After a traditional French baguette lunch at one of the Park’s shelters and another hour for birding in the forest, we boarded the buses for the journey back to the entrance. As we were driving along, a party of New Caledonian Parakeets were spotted (a species most had failed to see earlier) and some quick instructions (in French) from Chris to the driver brought us to a rapid halt and everyone piled off the buses to enjoy some great looks of this endemic parrot.
Back at the Park entrance, we searched for Red-faced Parrotfinch but these were uncharacteristically difficult, although some of the group did eventually manage to catch up with this smart little finch.
With some reluctance, we said goodbye to Jean Marc and headed back to Noumea where the ‘Spirit of Enderby’ awaited us. Shortly after 4pm we had left the wharf and were at sea once again heading for our next destination, Rennell Island in the Solomons.
At sea: New Caledonia – Rennell Island, Solomon Islands 27th-29th April 2011
Being over 200 nautical miles long, New Caledonia is a pretty substantial island and we spent most of 27 April with this visible on our starboard side and during the day encountered our first Lesser Frigatebird - a sure sign we were indeed reaching the tropics.
What made this leg particularly noteworthy, however, were the Storm-petrels, with the WPO finally breaking its recent ‘duck’ of multi-observer sightings of Polynesian Storm-petrels, as almost everyone saw at least one of the three birds which were spotted on 28th April.
We were off the northern end of New Caledonia at the time and there was mild confusion for a few seconds as two birds were found within seconds of each other. One of these, however, showed very well and we were able to appreciate the highly distinctive ‘fixed wing’ flight action of this species.
A White-faced Storm-petrel was also seen on the same day, with this being the most northerly record of this species on any WPO expedition, however, a bigger surprise were the seven Oceanodromas which flew passed the ship on 28th-29th April. Initially assumed to be Leach’s, photos soon confirmed this was not the case, with the only option seemingly being Band-rumped – a species which is utterly unknown from this part of the Pacific Ocean !!!
Rennell, Solomon Islands 30th April 2011
With the officials (from Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Agriculture) having been picked up by zodiac well before dawn, the ship was soon cleared and after an early breakfast, it did not take long to shuttle everyone ashore and we were then ready to begin exploring the island.
The five species which are endemic to Rennell were the main priority for almost everyone and it did not take long before we started to find these with Rennell Starling, Rennell Shrikebill, Rennell Fantail, Rennell White-eye and Bare-eyed White-eye all found in quick succession.
Despite the fact that it very quickly gets mighty hot on Rennell, there was still bird activity and over the next few hours, other species seen included Silver-capped Fruit-dove (which is endemic to Rennell and just a few other small islands), Pacific Imperial-pigeon, Cardinal Myzomela and Island Thrush (which on Rennell resembles and sounds like a mini-Blackbird).
Several species of parrot were also found including the miniscule Finsch’s Pygmy-parrot, the rather raucous and somewhat inappropriately named Singing Parrot and the brilliantly coloured Cardinal Lory.
By late morning, most people had had good looks at all the likely species and after rehydrating on coconut water (straight from the nut) and a swim over Rennell’s corals, it was time to rejoin the ship and set sail for Makira.
Makira, Solomon Islands 1st May 2011
We arrived off Makira before dawn and shortly afterwards a small boat came out from the nearby village of Yanuta to meet us. The good news was that the land access problem we had experienced the previous year had been resolved and we would be able to bird along the logging road.
With this potential hurdle successfully solved, everyone boarded the zodiacs and we set off for what proved to be an excellent morning of birding, even if the pile of logs at the landing site was a depressing reminder of what ‘international business’ is doing to this paradise island. Indeed over the next few hours, we found an excellent range of species in this rarely visited/birded part of the Solomon Islands with the highlights including Chestnut-bellied Imperial-pigeon, Ochre-headed Flycatcher, Mottled Flowerpecker, Sooty Myzomela, White-collared Monarch, San Cristobal Melidectes and San Cristobal Starling, all of which are either endemic to Makira or are only found there and a few other islands.
In the late morning, we transferred to the nearby village on Yanuta Island where we received a fantastic welcome from the local community. The “Spirit of Enderby” had been the first expedition ship to ever visit Yanuta when we had first come three years before and the reception we received was as warm and friendly as always.
After a series of speeches, we were free to wander. It was truly humbling to visit such a welcoming community and many of the group joined an impromptu cricket match against the village children – great fun even if it was baking hot !!
All too soon, however, it was time to return to the ship and as we headed on towards our next destination, the ship’s horn was sounded to thank the villagers for their hospitality.
Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands 2nd May 2011
The ship arrived off Honiara in the middle of the night and well before dawn the zodiacs shuttled us ashore where we boarded a couple of coaches for the journey to Mount Austin. Although less than 30 minutes from downtown Honiara, this is a great location for Solomon Island endemics and despite a mechanical breakdown delaying us somewhat, shortly after dawn we were at our intended destination.
Assisted by local guides Jerry and Samson, we split into a series of smaller groups and began birding the main trail finding an excellent range of Solomon endemics.
We had been extremely fortunate in finding an excellent proportion of the specialities on all the other islands we had visited and our luck was to continue on Guadalcanal with the highlight of the morning being some fantastic looks at a pair of Ultramarine Kingfishers. This species can be tough to find at Mount Austin, but this pair behaved superbly and many of the group were able to watch them displaying to each other– behaviour that has probably not been witnessed many times before.
Other species included Claret-breasted Fruit-dove, Red-knobbed Imperial-pigeon, Ducorps’ Cockatoo, Yellow-bibbed Lory, Steel-blue Flycatcher, Black-faced Myzomela, Midget Flowerpecker and Brown-winged Starling, however, the biggest surprise were the number of Blyth’s Hornbills. Whilst this species is usually present at this site, seeing several dozen birds was without precedent and everyone enjoyed multiple encounters with this amazing bird.
By late morning, it was time to return to the ship and as we sailed on towards Kolombangara, the seas were uncharacteristically quiet but nevertheless we still had our first encounter with Spinner Dolphins and a lone Atoll (Tropical) Shearwater.
Kolombangara, Solomon Islands 3rd May 2011
At dawn, Kolombangara was visible on the horizon and over the course of the morning we gradually rounded the northern end of this volcanic island heading for our destination, the village of Kukudu.
Seabirds were again in somewhat short supply, however, some of the group were fortunate to see a Heinroth’s Shearwater which made a brief pass of the ship. Although this highly localised species had been seen on all previous WPO voyages, this was only the second time we had found it away from the seas around Bougainville and New Ireland.
After an early lunch, we went ashore at Kukudu and dividing into a series of smaller groups began exploring the various forest trails close to the village. An afternoon ashore on Kolombangara is always an extremely hot and humid experience, however, despite the tough conditions, we found a good range of specialities, with most people getting good looks at White-capped Monarch, Solomon Islands White-eye and Yellow-vented Myzomela, all of which have very restricted distributions within the Solomon Islands. Other “goodies” included Solomon Islands Sea-eagle, Cardinal Lory, Duchess Lorikeet, Moustached Treeswift, Buff-headed Coucal, Solomon Islands Cuckoo-shrike, Singing and Metallic Starlings and Yellow-faced Myna.
Although the area around Kukudu had on previous expeditions been a reasonably reliable site for Roviana Rail, unfortunately, this species proved impossible to locate on this occasion. Despite this, our time in the Solomon Islands had undoubtedly been extremely successful with many endemic species seen.
At sea: Kolombangara, Solomon Islands – Chuuk, Micronesia 4th-8th May 2011
The following morning (4 May) we awoke with the south-west corner of Bougainville visible on our starboard bow and there was a sense of anticipation and excitement, as we knew the waters we would be traversing over the next couple of days would be our only chance for one of the least known seabirds in the world, ie Beck’s Petrel.
As we cruised up the western coast of Bougainville, several species of cetaceans were seen including several Sperm Whales, a pod of Short-finned Pilot Whales, some Spinner Dolphins and a lone Dwarf Sperm Whale.
With most of the group having missed the lone Heinroth’s Shearwater which had put in a brief appearance the day before off Kolombangara, there was considerable relief during the morning as there were multiple sightings of this poorly known species with about twenty individuals seen over the course of the day.
The most unexpected sighting of the day, however, was a Channel-billed Cuckoo. First seen coming in from the west (so it had presumably flown from either New Britain or New Ireland), it all too soon disappeared off towards Bougainville but it was a tick for many and a new bird for the WPO list.
In the late afternoon, we tried laying an oil slick but with flat and sultry conditions nothing came to investigate this, however, as we continued northward a Beck’s Petrel was spotted. Unfortunately, it was distant but even at several hundred metres the jizz and flight action of this major target was apparent, although with nobody getting satisfactory views and dusk approaching, we knew we would have to wait for the morning.
Shortly after dawn on the following day (5 May) the ship was in position off New Ireland and we laid a vast slick of oil and fish guts but with only a gentle breeze, conditions were not exactly ideal. Any concerns that we might struggle, however, were soon put to rest when several Pseudobulwerias arrived almost simultaneously on the slick.
It quickly became apparent that some of the birds were distinctly smaller than the others – we had up to four Beck’s Petrel feeding with a similar number of Tahiti Petrels !! This gave us a fantastic opportunity to compare these two lookalike species and appreciate how similar they are in appearance, with the only real differences being size and flight action.
Eventually the decision was taken to leave the slick and as we cruised up the eastern side of New Ireland, an excellent range of cetaceans were spotted including a couple of hundred Melon-headed Whales, three Pygmy Killer Whales, two Dwarf Sperm Whales and a somewhat surprising addition to the WPO’s list of Bougainville/New Ireland cetaceans, a single Orca. This took the total number of species seen in this region to fourteen, confirming yet again how amazing the waters around Bougainville and New Ireland are for both cetaceans and seabirds.
Although the next couple of days were undeniably quiet (we had entered the first part of the “Dead Zone”!!), highlights included several Bulwer’s Petrels and White-tailed Tropicbirds.
As we approached Chuuk on 8 May, the number of seabirds began to increase with several small shearwaters seen. These birds seem distinctly different to some of the other taxa within Tropical Shearwater and on previous voyages had been named “Atoll Shearwaters” – surely this complex needs further work ……..
By late afternoon, we were tied up at the wharf on the main island on Weno but with the Chuukese officials, as always, taking their time with the clearance formalities, we were unable to do any birding ashore before dusk, however, this did not prevent us finding Micronesian Myzomela, Caroline Islands Swiftlet, Micronesian Starling and Crimson-crowned Fruit-dove from the ship.
Chuuk, Micronesia 9th May 2011
Shortly after dawn, the majority of the Wildwings group were aboard three zodiacs for an ‘expedition-style’ visit to Tol South, an island the WPO had first visited in 2010.
Based on the previous visit, we knew the climb was the toughest of the voyage with an extremely steep trail, wet and slippery rocks plus a stream to cross, but all of this had to be negotiated as we needed to reach about 300m altitude to stand a decent chance of finding our principle target, the critically endangered Faichuuk White-eye.
Having successfully navigated the worst parts of the trail, we stopped at about 130m elevation for a short break and were astonished to find not only a family party of Chuuk Monarchs (including a fantastic black-and-white male) but also several Faichuuk White-eyes – a truly mega five minutes of birding !!!
Despite there being reasonable quality forest here, all the literature indicated that the White-eye was only found above 250m altitude, so it was a genuine surprise to find it so low.
With the two key species seen (and very well too !!), there was little point in going significantly higher, so when we reached a viewpoint, where most saw Blue-faced Parrotfinch, the decision was taken to start heading back down the trail.
With plenty of time available, we were spread out along the trail enjoying Caroline Reed-warblers and Oceanic Flycatchers, however, another ‘crush’ ensued when those at the front found a Caroline Islands Ground-dove in a fruiting tree. Unfortunately, this disappeared rather promptly, although most of those who waited were eventually rewarded with views of this final endemic.
Arriving back at the landing site, the conditions were not too bad and within an hour we were back on Weno which meant anyone who had not seen the Ground-dove was able to make a quick dash to Japanese Gun for this tricky species.
By mid-afternoon everyone was back on the ship and as we cruised towards the exit/break in the Chuuk Reef we saw several more “Atoll Shearwaters”. All were close to the reef and were presumably waiting for dark and the opportunity to return to their burrows.
At sea: Chuuk, Micronesia – Bonin Islands, Japan 10th-15th May 2011
The journey from Chuuk to the Bonin Islands can, at times, be somewhat birdless (indeed, it is known as the second part of the “Dead Zone” by the expedition staff), however, as the ship headed north, we began to pick up a number of new species, with our first Matsudaira’s Storm-petrels sighted on 12th May.
The following day set a WPO high for the number of Bulwer’s Petrel in a day with a minimum of 21 birds, however, a bigger surprise was a Red-footed Booby with a black tail. This is considered one of the diagnostic features of the Eastern Pacific subspecies websteri and if this bird had indeed come from somewhere like the Galapagos Islands (rather than being an aberrant individual), it was over 8,000 miles from home!!!! Having initially been seen only briefly, it reappeared in the last afternoon, roosted on the ship overnight and then proceeded to spend much of the following morning perched on one of the masts.
Passing the Northern Mariana Islands, the number of birds increased markedly and we knew we were finally back in seas with good numbers of birds. New species included our first Bonin Petrels and Bannerman’s Shearwaters and as we cruised along the east side of the Bonin Islands, we found our first Black-footed Albatrosses and Tristram’s Storm-petrels.
At sea: Torishima 16th May 2011
With the Japanese authorities refusing to reverse their policy (introduced in 2010) of not permitting the ship to clear into Japan at the Bonin Islands, we had to stay 12 nautical miles off Torishima and, as a result, everyone knew that finding Short-tailed Albatross could be a challenge.
Shortly after breakfast, therefore, Adam and Chris began taking it in turns to chum off the stern and whilst this resulted in good numbers of Black-footed Albatrosses following the ship, by the time we reached our waypoint east of Torishima, there had still been no sign of our principle target. As a result, Rodney asked the Captain to start a series of large circles (of five nautical miles in diameter) off the north-eastern side of the island and after seven hours of constant chumming and oiling, a Short-tailed Albatross was finally spotted.
Unfortunately, however, the bird was distant and seemed intent on flying directly to the island, however, when it crossed the oil slick a mile or so behind us, it suddenly turned and followed this straight towards the ship. Those who had already begun agonising whether they could tick a ‘distant dot’, therefore, had no need to worry, as the bird gave fantastic views for over an hour feeding on shark livers and other “delicacies” that Adam continued to throw overboard.
Being bulkier than the accompanying Black-foots, it rather dominated the feeding frenzy and by the time the chumming session concluded, the photographers had filled a good few memory cards. It had been a truly fantastic afternoon !!
At sea: Torishima – Yokohama 17th-19th May 2011
Having drifted off Torishima overnight, we had hoped to find some more Short-tailed Albatrosses as we headed north, however, we were sadly out of luck with ‘STAs’, although good numbers of ‘Black-foots’ were seen, along with several hundred Streaked Shearwaters.
Shortly after dawn of the following day (18th May), Miyake-jima was only a few miles ahead of us and as we got closer to the offshore stacks where Japanese Murrelet breed, just about everyone was out on deck to look for this last WPO speciality.
On previous visits, we had seen small parties of these endangered alcids flying away from the islets but being almost three weeks later, it seemed that the birds had finished breeding, as only one individual was spotted and this was missed by most of the group as it was very distant.
Unable to circle the islands (due to the same maritime rules which had not allowed us to approach Torishima), we continued on towards Tokyo Bay and any concerns that we might miss this species were put to rest, with multiple sightings of at least thirty birds over the course of the afternoon. These included two adults with two youngsters (which still had some of their downy feathers) which stayed on the surface as the ship passed within 10m of them – unquestionably the best ever WPO views of this species.
Our good fortune continued with a lone Laysan Albatross also spotted, a species which had been missed on a number of previous voyages.
By late afternoon, the Japanese coastline had come into view and as we entered Tokyo Bay, three Ancient Murrelets were the final new seabird of the expedition. Our voyage was practically over and after almost 10,000 kms, we knew we had been privileged to see an amazing range of rarely seen and poorly known species. WPO 2011 had certainly lived up to expectations.
© Chris Collins/Wildwings
May 2011
