10 December 2010

Seawatching has always been a favourite past-time of mine. Ever since I first made the journey via train, bus and boat to Cape Clear Island in West Cork off the Irish coast I have been smitten. To see the migrating streams of birds passing the headland with nothing between them and the Antarctic, skimming above the heaving Atlantic in weather that would curl your toes… well, it touched something inside me that has never left me.

Colin and Stuart hard at work at Point Lookout.

In those days it was Manx Shearwaters by the thousand, Cory’s, Great and Balearic Shearwaters in smaller numbers, occasional Sabine’s Gulls and Grey Phalaropes, racing Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills, threatening Bonxies (Great Skuas), Arctic and Pomarine Skuas. I spent many a happy hour on the razor sharp rocks counting the birds passing, in a constant expectation of the unknown – because that is what is really exciting about seawatching – you never know when something unusual will turn up!

Coming to Australia, and eventually Queensland, I felt left in a bit of a hole so far as seawatching was concerned. Where to seawatch? The obvious answer was Pt Lookout and I spent a few weekends camping on the island with my newly wed wife in the early 80s looking out to sea. I did not, unfortunately, have a ‘scope and between that, the relative difficulty of getting there and the expense back then, my interest waned.

In 2000 I borrowed a ‘scope, kindly loaned by Marie Tarrant, and spent a morning in the hot January sun looking east, cursing the glare and the distant shearwaters crossing the limpid, flat ocean. Once again – no ‘scope, no point!

This year I started to hear reports of birders seawatching and my interest reignited and so the Pt Lookout Experiment was born.

I make no claim to being a pioneer – others have gone before. Tom Tarrant and Chris Corben – to name drop – have provided advice and memories (thanks, guys). I am sure there are others and apologise in advance for not recognising you!

It’s not rocket science! I have set a goal to gather as much information relative to seawatching from Point Lookout as we can. I plan to conduct at least one seawatch per month regardless of the weather and more often whenever it looks promising. My aim is to establish a database of species v numbers v weather patterns v time of day.

Pt Lookout summary page on Aussie Birding.

Along with my usual birding partners – Stuart Warren and Rob Dougherty – we have kept to those targets each month since April and have been supported by visits and data from Andy Jensen, Stuart Pickering, Rob Morris and Chris Sanderson. I have created an Excel spreadsheet into which all relevant information is poured, analysed and compared.

Our seawatches usually commence at 8.00 as that is the earliest we can get to the point via water taxi from Cleveland to Dunwich ($19 return, cheaper if you buy a 10 trip ticket) and bus ($9 return).

We attempt to complete hourly counts of any obvious movement – we do this by counting for 15, or even only 10, minutes and extrapolate the data out to the hour, each hour.

We try to ensure someone is ‘scoping while the other is using bins or just watching the immediate area – we have had Lesser Frigatebird, Fairy Prion and Masked Booby well inside scope range and would have missed them otherwise.

The seawatches usually last at least 4 hours, regularly 6, occasionally 8, sometimes we stop for a coffee and walk back to the headland cafes for a well earned brew, but we are usually keen to get back to it… you never know what you might miss!

The Birds

I cannot give an overall annual view as we have only collected stats since late March with a couple of records from January, however, some of the most memorable ones….

Brahminy Kite cruising by Point Lookout. Photograph by Chris Sanderson

2 Wandering Albatross on different days – magic!

Single Fairy Prions within a couple of hundred meters of the point – unbelievable!

Several Yellow-nosed Albatrosses at once, skimming across the ocean, their yellow edged bills in full view – brilliant!

1800 Wedge and Short-tailed Shearwaters per hour for 8 hours – unreal!

We’ve had Brown and Masked Boobies, Fluttering and Hutton’s Shearwaters, Arctic, Pomarine and Brown Skua (one only of the latter so far) Black and Common Noddys and Bridled Terns. I have personally missed Giant Petrel and Flesh-footed Shearwaters but it’s only a matter of time; even watching a flight of Gannets crossing the ocean is an awe inspiring sight.

The thing is – you never know what might turn up on a seawatch!

Other sightings

Humpback Whale doing inverted tail slaps just off Point Lookout. Photograph by Chris Sanderson

There are always Dolphins hanging around the point – Bottle-nosed with the occasional few Indo-pacific Hump-backed. Turtles too, are a regular feature – Green and Loggerhead – and we have seen Manta Rays, Leopard Sharks, Eagle Rays and, once, a Black-tipped Reef Shark. Hump-backed Whales are, of course, the big drawcard from May – October and thousands of visitors assume we are whale watching and ask the question. We take it in turn to answer and patiently describe what we are doing and what we expect to see. Brahminy Kites, White-bellied Sea Eagles and Ospreys are also seen, along with Wandering Tattlers and Sooty Oystercatchers on the rocks below. There’s always something to keep you interested!

Offshore Pelagics

Admittedly, most of the birds are distant – we accept that – and if your desire is to see them closer (plus other species, of course) then the monthly Southport pelagic trips with Paul Walbridge is the way to go. (Email paul_walbridge@health.qld.gov.au for details). At Pt Lookout you really do need a ‘scope to fully appreciate the passing birds.

There is a relatively short time to find, see and identify the birds. In some cases they do hang around a while, but most are picked up coming in, pass by and are gone in less than a minute. It can be frustrating as a glimpse between wave crests can be tantalizing and re-finding the bird unsuccessful, leaving one with an impression rather than an identification…

Appeal for information

If you are one of those seawatchers from earlier times and have any data you would like to share, I would love to add it to the database and would bestow full credit.

If you haven’t seawatched before and decide to head out to see for yourself, I’d be happy to have any records you may make to add to the data base – the more data we have, the better our future forecasts will be! Please refer to the spreadsheet for the details I would prefer i.e. date, time, numbers, species, hourly counts if applicable etc.

One word of caution – the headland is not a safe place for children and care does need to be exercised by everyone and…… a ‘scope is highly desirable.

Any questions? Please feel free to email me at jangles@fastmail.fm. I have also updated my blog with trip details – birdsandthings.blog.com

A Wildiaries location page for Point Lookout, where you can add your sightings, can be found here: http://aussiebirding.wildiaries.com/locations/-27.4366/153.5463 After signing in, just click ‘Add Experience’ or ‘Add New’ and search for “Pt Lookout” when asked for a location.