Fairy Prion

The Southern Ocean is a pretty lonely place.  However, the Heard Island Expedition team have some company: seabirds.  Here’s our list so far:

Wandering, Royal, Black-Browed, Sooty, and Light-Mantled Sooty Albatrosses.
Great-Winged and White-Chinned Petrels.
Fairy Prion (pictured, wingspan roughly 60 cm)
Wilson’s Storm Petrel.

This afternoon’s sunny skies and following seas made being on deck quite comfortable, and Bill undertook a 10-minute bird count for http://www.ebird.org”

During the count, fairy prions, a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, and a Sooty Albatross were spotted, as were an unidentified albatross and petrel.  The Birding Log will be entered on eBird upon return to civilization.

~Bill Mitchell, AE0EE

Bob, KK6EK also reported that they saw their first pod of porpoises swimming at the bow of the boat.