The Western Pacific Odyssey 2007

(An expedition voyage from New Zealand to Japan aboard Professor Khromov)

A personal account by John Brodie-Good

26^th March 2007

The new day had not long dawned as we assembled outside our hotel in downtown Auckland for our birding excursion to Miranda, before embarking on our expedition ship for our world-first voyage through the western Pacific. It had been over two years since we starting planning this historic journey and it seemed almost surreal that the day had finally come. After cool, damp Europe, the slightly humid but warm temperature of a New Zealand autumn felt good. We headed south for an hour or so in our big bus with our cheery kiwi bus driver Richard, about to get his first taste of hardcore birders. We were soon on the small coast road making occasional stops as we headed for the shorebird centre and it’s high tide wader roost. Ignoring the many introduced Northern European species our stops yielded a variety of endemic birds to both NZ and Australasia. A roadside lagoon contained about 400 Black Swans with Little Pied Cormorants and a Caspian Tern. A brief stop in native forest produced New Zealand Fantail, Grey Gerygone and a singing Silvereye. Other birds seen as we travelled through pleasant farm country included Swamp Harriers, Paradise Shelduck, Purple Swamphens, White-faced Herons, Masked Lapwings, Red-billed and Black-billed Gulls, White-fronted Terns, Sacred Kingfishers and a trio of garilous Rosellas.We arrived at the Miranda Shorebird Centre just after noon with our fish and chip lunch which we wolfed down on the veranda with the centre’s staff. A short presentation by Keith, the warden followed. Using a combination of satellite tracking and ringing he explained how some of their wintering Bar-tailed Godwits flew non-stop to the Yellow Sea in China before continuing their amazing journey to their breeding grounds in Alaska (their pale rumps were more square-shaped than our race, with no pale triangle extending up their backs). We loaded up the bus again and drove down to one of the high tide wader roosts. Whilst we only spent an hour there the lagoon and beach held a multitude of birds. Our main target was the endemic Wrybill and thousands could be seen hopping around in tight knit packs. Whilst many of the barwits had already gone north a number remained including a long-staying vagrant Hudsonian Godwit, an unexpected bonus. Many of the Knot were coming into summer plumage and were possibly bird of the day for their plumage tones alone. Other shorebirds were also present such as three Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, four Red-necked Stints, a few New Zealand Dotterel, Double-banded Plovers (including one bird in almost full summer plumage), South Island Oystercatchers (we had seen a few Variables on some of our road stops too), White-headed Stilts and a Greater Sandplover. Before long we had to go, we had a ship we simply did not want to miss!  Just over an hour’s run back into the city and the docks, there was our ship, the Professor Khromov (Spirit of Enderby), freshly painted in fairly bright orange. Our Expedition Leader Rodney Russ was there to greet us, smiles all round, old friends re-meeting and talking excitedly about the long adventure ahead of us. The WildWings team consisted of Chris Collins and Dick Filby, and amongst the passengers and other staff onboard such seabird ‘luminaries’ as Steve Howell from the USA, Phil Hansboro from Australia and Ian Sinclair from South Africa (all ex-Brits). Other seabird buffs within the WildWings group included our very own Tony Marr plus Richard Porter, Dick Newell, Simon Cook and many more. We had even managed to get two copies of the excellent new A & C Black Field Guide to Albatrosses, Petrels and Shearwaters (ISBN 978-0-7136-4332-9) just before leaving the UK (thanks Nigel). We had chosen Rodney and his team to approach for this new itinerary because of their genuine spirit of adventure and love of true exploration. Expectations were high as we cast off at 2100 under the nightlights of downtown Auckland and headed out into the dark, the familiar sound of the ship’s engines thrumming away as we starting rolling very gently.

27^th March

The Hauraki Gulf (New Zealand)

The voyage was targeted for three very special birds and today was our only chance of the first. The entire ship’s company were rudely awaked when the ship started to roll terribly at about 0530 as we had arrived off Great Barrier Island just before dawn to look for pterodroma petrels. The bridge was just following Rodney’s orders, had got to the specified point and switched the engines off. With everyone up and dawn just breaking the engines were restarted and we slowly cruised up and down for an hour, our great seabirding extravaganza had finally begun. Good numbers of Black Petrels were wheeling around the stern giving great views and the photographers their first chance to fix some pixels. A number of cookilaria-type petrels were seen, and throughout the rest of the day, but separating Cook’s and Pycroft’s was generally agreed to be very difficult indeed.  Flesh-footed and Buller’s Shearwaters were seen all day too in fair numbers along with Australian Gannets (nearly all adults) and a trickle of Common Diving Petrels. As we headed back inside for breakfast the ship steamed over to the nearby Mokohinau Islands and it’s offshore stacks. Everyone got reasonable views of our target here, Grey Ternlets (formerly Blue-Grey Noddy) although closer and more prolonged views would have been nicer, the Captain didn’t want to get too close to the rocks as a swell was running and we now had a light breeze too. Mid-morning and we headed to the GPS position about half our group had enjoyed corking views of the recently discovered New Zealand Storm-Petrel two days before. I called a stormy across the bows which turned out to be our first Wilson’s of the trip. Not long after one, then two NZ Stormies flew past but many missed them or had very poor views.  Chris and Rodney started our first chumming session and we soon had a slick of fish oil behind the ship whilst small amount of fish guts were continually fed in. The Black Petrels and Buller’s Shearwaters were straight in and bickering for the scraps. A few Fairy Prions appeared but no sign of our main quarry. We turned back and re-visited the slick but no stormies. It was decided to try another spot, on the edge of the 200 metre depth line on our way to the Poor Knights Islands before sailing north that evening. I don’t really remember lunch, just thinking that we had only one more chance. We started chumming again as the ship’s engines were shut down and prayed. We didn’t have to wait long, two stormies arrived very quickly and we could see that they were indeed our target species. The ship and oil slick were drifting apart so when Rodney appeared on the back deck he was besieged with requests to restart the engines and go back. He tried to explain it wasn’t like starting a car but soon was on his way to the bridge. Everyone went onto the bows or on top in anticipation. We swung round and over the next 30 minutes or so everyone finally got super views including a bird that passed just under the bows. The white patches on the underwing coupled with the longish looking tail (accentuated by the long leg projection) and the black streaks on the white flanks clinching their I.D. Their flight and feeding action not dissimilar to Wilson’s. Big grins and thumbs up all round. This was the largest vessel this recently re-discovered species has been seen from and we were cock-a-hoop. As we started back north a Campbell Albatross came in and joined its smaller brethren at the stern, wheeling in arcs over our heads and landing in the water just behind us, bullying the blackies and Buller’s out of its way. A bit later on in the afternoon an adult Gibson’s Wandering Albatross completed one circle of the ship. Other birds seen in the day were a lone Sooty Shearwater, a single Little Shearwater, a few White-faced Storm Petrels, two Black-winged Petrels, one or two Kermadec Petrels and our first, cracking White-necked Petrel, one of the largest pterodromas and a few Grey-faced Petrels (split by some authorities from the similar Great-winged Petrels that we see on our Atlantic Odyssey.) We hit our beds fairly early, tired but elated from this amazing first day.

28^th March 2007

At sea, South Pacific (towards Norfolk Island 0600 34S 173.12E 1830 32.44S 172E)

Whilst Chris had enjoyed a ‘mirror-calm’ journey north two years ago on the recce voyage we awoke (for those of us who slept!) to the ship rolling so heavily in swells that the open decks were closed for safety reasons and the only thing you could do, even if you were not feeling unwell, was lay in your bed. This meant also we were running at only six knots (instead of the planned eight per hour) and eventually a slightly more northern course was set to make it more comfortable for all onboard. The swells came from a storm system to the south of us but finally by mid-afternoon they started to subside and by 1500 most of our group were back out on deck. A steady procession of Black Petrels, Buller’s Shearwaters and Grey-faced Petrels trickled by. Two great albatrosses had been seen in the morning whilst a handful of Kermadec Petrels were seen in the afternoon. Black-winged Petrels were joined by their larger cousins White-necked Petrels too. A single Providence Petrel was seen by a lucky few. A single Red-tailed Tropicbird flew around the ship a few times and a lone Grey Ternlet flew close to the ship for a while giving much better views than the previous day. Three Long-tailed Skuas flushed off the sea were also of note. We headed down for dinner and then Chris’s first excellent illustrated talk, potential seabirds of the first segment of the voyage, from New Zealand to Noumea and turned in even more excited about the prospects ahead. A quick look on deck before bedtime showed flattening seas and a few stars twinkling above us in the Southern sky.

29^th March 2007

At sea (towards Norfolk Island. 0600 31.38S 170.54E 1800 30.17S 169.21E)

The Pacific dawn had us steaming through patches of sea mist with first a whitebow and then a series of rainbows in front of the bows. The temperature seemed a notch warmer, cold weather gear confined to cabins, even first thing in the morning. A few Black Petrels, Buller’s Shearwaters and Flesh-footed Shearwaters were noted today but Wedge-tailed Shearwater had become the most numerous bird along with White-necked and Black-winged Petrels. Most of us had views of the two Kermadec and two Providence Petrels whilst a lucky few saw the first two Gould’s Petrel and Steve Howell had a lone pale morph Collared Petrel. Two Little Shearwaters were also noted and a number of Red-tailed Tropicbirds coming in for a brief flight around the vessel and then off again. Other sightings included three species of skua including a Pomarine with a full set of spoons. Other new tropical seabirds included Sooty Terns and our first, rather distant White Terns. Chris’s after dinner presentation was on our first planned landing, Norfolk Island.

30^th March 2007

Norfolk Island and later, at sea (1800 28.43S 167.54E).

We awoke to find ourselves anchored off the northeast coast of Norfolk Island, first discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. The endemic and prolific Norfolk Pine trees could be seen onshore. An early morning stream of Black Noddies, Grey Ternlets and White Terns flew past us as we rolled gently at anchor. A few Red-tailed Tropicbirds flew over higher with a single Great Frigatebird as we commenced landing operations. The swell was worse than it looked and it was a fairly hairy first landing, both off the ship and getting onto the tiny quay but all went across safely thanks to Rodney and his very experienced sons. Our island host Margaret Christian (married to a Pitcairn Island descendant), a trio of small buses, drivers and local guides were there to meet us. We soon were driving into the island proper heading for our morning site, the Botanical Gardens. The island has lost more endemics than it has left and the fully recognized remaining three species can all be seen at this site. The aviary by the entrance contained a number of the endemic parakeets being part of a captive breeding programme and a single wild bird was also present on the outside so number one fell immediately! About 40 of us spread out amongst the boardwalk and footpaths of this delightful valley, much of the vegetation being native to the island including some impressive endemic Smooth Treeferns. The WildWings radios crackled on and off all morning and soon the other two endemics, Grey Gerygone and the Slender-billed White-eye had been seen by all. White Terns were everywhere, starting to breed in the trees. Other species of note included island races of Scarlet (Pacific) Robin, Emerald Dove, Grey Fantail and the rather drab Golden Whistler (nice song though). The sad news reached us that the Dutch passenger who fell in the dining room two days ago was staying on the island and was being sent home with a broken rib. A stark reminder that one should always have one hand for the ship when moving around in rough sea conditions. We then all drove up to Margaret’s home on the northwest of the island for a superb buffet lunch on her deck. What a location, on a clifftop overlooking a stunning bay. Her garden birds must be unique, Wedge-tailed Shearwaters nest under the main house (she has to turn the TV sound up to maximum to drown them out at night!), Black-winged Petrels breed in the garden, we even saw one flying around the compound after lunch and Masked Boobies breed on the edge of her lawn (brown-eyed race). Pacific Golden Plovers mixed in with the cattle on the other side. Paradise indeed. A number of the group purchased copies of her book on the birds of the island. We split into two for the afternoon and some went looking for the probably recently extinct other endemic white-eye (White-breasted). The rest of us went to the seabird colony at Rocky Point and thoroughly enjoyed a two hour walk through the Norfolk Pines with a couple of cliff-top lookout points. Black Noddies and White Terns were breeding in good numbers in the trees and from the two lookouts also breeding Red-tailed Tropicbirds could be seen closely flying by. Much photography ensued. All too soon we were heading back to Cascade Bay and another interesting Zodiac ride back to the ship. It was easy to see why rich visitors often knocked on some of the island’s residents door to see if they could persuade them to sell up, invariably to no avail. You would be hard pushed to find a nicer place to live. Some of the islanders gave us freshly baked coconut cakes to take back to the ship and the fisherman just returned from the sea gave us some fish guts to add to our chum larder. By 1700, our anchor was back up and we started towards New Caledonia with an hour and halfs worth of light left. Good numbers of the local breeding seabirds were noted, Black-winged Petrels, a small flock of Grey Ternlets, White and Sooty Terns, two Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, Masked Boobies, Wedge-tailed and at least three Little Shearwaters. As the sun finally sank beneath the ocean again a good ‘Green Flash’ was seen to end a super day. Rodney mentioned during the pre-dinner bird log that he had been interviewed live on Radio Norfolk Island, interrupting their normal programmes. Even we ourselves were news! We retired early again, tired but happy.

31^st March

At sea, (towards New Caledonia. 0600 26.52S 167.25E 1800 ??)

Back out on the bows at dawn, a cloudy but still a very warm day. The best of the action was all before breakfast. The first of a number of long-winged Tahiti Petrels, with their slow, languid albatross type flight, all keeping a fair distance away with two exceptions. A dark morph Collared Petrel right under the bows was instantly the bird of the day and well photographed. This transpired to be the second record for Australian waters, followed later in the day by the third and fourth! I, along with a lot of other people finally nailed good views of Gould’s Petrel too. Two or three Kermadec Petrels were also seen plus a single Providence Petrel in the afternoon. As one of the Kermadecs flew across the bows Steve and Phil drew our attention to what seemed to be a Tahiti Petrel with it. They had both noticed it’s relative size being much smaller than the Kermedec. It also showed shorter wings and a different flight pattern to Tahiti, was this a Beck’s Petrel? (0800 26.36S 167.21E). Two more new birds for the voyage too, single White-tailed Tropicbirds in both the morning and afternoon plus a single Brown Booby. At last the first cetaceans of the trip too, well overdue with a small pod of Short-finned Pilot Whales seen in mid-afternoon, first in front of the ship and then behind. A brief chumming opportunity at lunchtime when the engines had to be shut down for an hour yielded the closest Tahiti Petrel of the day. Overall bird numbers were low but with some serious quality nonetheless.

1^st April

At sea and arrival Noumea, New Caledonia.(0600 23.27S 166.30E)

Back out on deck just after dawn as we headed for our next destination, with two full days planned in port. More Tahiti Petrels and at last better views although none came really close but familiarization with the species was being grasped. This was Gould’s Petrel day, hundreds being seen and no shortage of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters either. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn before breakfast and yet again another possible candidate for Beck’s Petrel crossed the bows, this time on it’s own. Plumage wise similar to Tahiti but again this bird seemed to have much shorter wings than the almost floppy-winged Tahiti’s and a much more deliberate flight pattern. The birds of the day I missed sadly which was two to three ‘darkish’ storm petrels. Much ‘controversy’ about these birds continued for a number of days. Steve and Phil were very happy they were dark morph Polynesian Storm Petrels, others who also saw the birds seemed far from convinced and other suggestions centred on Black-bellied Storm Petrels. A few more Kermadec and Providence Petrels put in an appearance and a few Red-footed Boobies added themselves to the ever-growing voyage list. Mid-afternoon and land was in sight, our French pilot cooly stepped aboard from a rather fancy pilot boat offshore and we slowly steamed in to Noumea harbour, carefully picking our way through the weekend yachtsmen sailing on what was a Sunday afternoon. Silver Gulls greeted us and a few Great Crested Terns fished in the harbour. ‘Civilisation’ again, the modern buildings of this French holiday destination all around. Just outside the main reef the numbers of Gould’s and wedgies had been building up as several small flocks of Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwaters appeared as a bonus, prompting more debate at the evening’s log. The wind had also got up and it started raining. In spite of the rain the first endemic was spotted from the ship as we waited to clear customs, a Dark-brown Honeyeater in the small garden by the custom’s building (best views from the Bridge deck) A few of us took the unique opportunity to eat off the ship and enjoyed some cuisine francais ashore in a somewhat pricey (but not extortionate) brassiere washed down with local brewed beer and imported wine. The food on our ship was excellent, make no mistake, just a chance for a change in our almost five week voyage. Back onboard and in bed by 2130 as we had a very early start the next day.

2^nd April

Riviere Bleue Provincial Parc, New Caledonia

Breakfast was at 0400 as our bus was due to depart at 0500 for the second big bird of the trip plus a selection of New Cal’s other endemics. We loaded up our 50 seater bus and headed into the interior, the Park’s entrance being a good hour or so’s drive from the capital. We arrived at about 0630 and made a few roadside stops on our way to the main visitor area where we were to meet our hosts Yves and Jean-Marc. The reserve is normally closed on a Monday but Chris had used his near fluent French and a bit of grovelling during the recce and they had agreed to open up just for us (another first as far as we know!) As we drove closer to the big artificially created lake the landscape looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. The original forest had been completely logged out (by the French to mainly export to Australia) and the hillsides were covered with young new growth with muddy channels and furrows signs of land erosion after the tree loss. Endemics started falling thick and fast however, Barred Honeyeaters, New Cal Myzomelas, a trio of New Cal Imperial Pigeons, a few New Cal Parakeets, New Cal Whistlers, Green-backed White-eyes whilst Glossy Swiftlets whizzed around. We met our hosts and drove on in to the Pont Perignon to cross the lake to get to the primary forest on the other side and hopefully our main quarry. The bridge was severely weakened by a cyclone a few years back so we walked across to be ferried by minibus the six or so kilometres on the other side. Still it rained, but light, tropical rain which with the underlying warmth was pleasant but made photography very difficult and everything damp. Much tissue was being used to keep optics clear. The plan was to bus everyone in and then try, and only once, to tape out the star bird of the island. The first busload had only just started walking into the now primary forest when Ian Sinclair shouted the immortal words” f****** Kagu!” They enjoyed views of this feathered holy grail as it ran amongst the dense undergrowth, often coming out to the roadside edge. The rest of us arrived twenty minutes later to be flagged down by Chris and told the good news. Luckily the bird was still present and soon everyone had big silly grins on their faces, Chris, Dick and I shook hands and shared our sense of relief and elation. This was an unexpected individual, Yves had planned to try and tape lure a bird holding territory a bit further into the forest. We walked on, (yes, it was still raining, 240 days a year apparently) but despite using a sound system powered by a car battery (god it was loud) struggled to get the ‘official’ Kagu to come out, although it finally appeared briefly. After this we had time to walk further down the main road for a few kilometres and look for more Kagus and other forest birds. In a family of it’s own, Yves had helped Kagu’s recover from just 60 birds in the early 1980s to about 600 today. Its closest relative being the cranes, it seemed a cross between a wader, night herons and a moorhen but oh so beautiful. A delicate shade of grey with a orange-red bill and legs and seemingly fearless of man. More endemics were seen through the course of the morning, Streaked Fantail, New Cal Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Robins, Fan-tailed Gerygones, New Cal Friarbird and for those of us who saw them, the stunning Cloven-feathered Dove. This gorgeous ‘green pigeon’ has what looks like cotton wool balls around it’s legs, a superb creature. My luck continued with some of the first group’s views of a Crow Honeyeater, sipping nectar from some red flowers above the road. Many of the group spent the rest of their time trying to see this difficult to see specialty and failing sadly. It was now about 1130 and everyone was starving since breakfast seemed days ago. We finally came across Rodney and boys sheltering under a picnic hut by the Grand Kaori boardwalk and devoured our ‘footlong’ french rolls and fruit. Still it rained. The radios crackled into life, Chris had found another three Crow Honeyeaters feeding on more trees with red flowers and most dashed off into the forest to try and score. I wandered in after a while and soon found the group clustered under the trees in question, no big honeyeaters though. Another Cloven-feathered Dove flew in and landed above us, they really are stonkers. Another Kagu was noted wandering around this rather flooded area of forest floor. Leaving the honeyeater searchers to it about 10 or us or so started slowly walking back down the main forest road. We had only gone a few hundred yards when to our astonishment a Kagu just walked out of the forest and started feeding amongst us, almost as if we were not there. To add to our luck it actually stopped raining for a few minutes too. Cameras and videos whirred away as this star bird disturbed the leaf litter looking for worms and similar. It would walk a little, then freeze, and then suddenly dart forward and pick up a worm. Jean-Marc came by and cleared little patches of leaf litter away with his boot, the bird would then walk over and pick at the exposed earth. It even got to the stage of us being able to photograph each other with the Kagu just feet away. As many of us started to put our cameras away another bird came out to join the first and raised it crest in greeting, you couldn’t ask for more. By early afternoon we were all back at the bridge and re-boarding our big bus to return to the park reception area to bird the more open habitat. On the way the bus braked heavily as a New Cal Crow flew over the road. We all piled out and within a few minutes had up to six birds flying over and perched. A species that uses ‘tools’ to assist it finding food, all the birds had small sticks in their beaks and there was something generally prehistoric about them. As Dick Newell quipped,”Ive never been on a crow twitch before”. We had just over an hour and the group split into two to search for the somewhat elusive Red-throated Parrotfinch, mixed up with white-eyes, whilst a Brown Goshawk circled high overhead and a delightful pair of White-breasted Woodswallows  gave excellent views. All too soon time to head back to town and the ship. The almost complete lack of birds on the way back can only add to our concern for the future of wildlife generally. Other pockets of forest with Kagus exist on the island but this species being flightless faces ultimately an uncertain future. What is certain is it owes its current existence largely due to Yves and it was a great pleasure and honour to have him as one of our guides. On arrival back at the vessel we were greeted with the surprise and somewhat shocking news of a major earthquake and tsunami in the Western Solomon Islands, our next destination.  But for now a celebratory bird log (and no ID discussions tonight, not needed!) and afterwards Roger Stansfield bought everyone onboard a glass of bubbly to share in his pleasure at seeing at least one species from each bird family on earth, congratulations again Roger. Again, the ship and our voyage were in the news, a photo and article appearing in the local daily newspaper. Three of us disappeared into the rain and windswept night for our second and last dinner francais.

3^rd April

AM New Caledonia PM At sea (towards Rennell 1800 22 04S 165 39E)

We awoke to continuing rain. Most of the WildWings group piled into a selection of minibuses and headed off to Mount Koghi for some more forest birding. I stayed on ship, mainly trying to catch up with this narrative as the morning’s weather forecast was very poor. A few endemics were seen again however in spite of the driving rain including New Cal Goshawk, New Cal Parakeet, Metallic Pigeon, more New Cal Imperial Pigeons and New Cal Whistlers. No new species for the trip though but better weather may have produced more. The group were back by 1130 and had an hour or so to walk into town, stock up with goodies such as choccy bars and use the internet café. I checked the web for an update on the Solomons and from early reports it seemed Gizo and other western Solomon Islands had sustained serious damage to property and loss of life. We would have to change part of our itinerary but decided to wait for further, more detailed news. At 1300 our French pilot rejoined us on the bridge and we cast off and sailed out of Noumea Harbour, ironically the weather improving all the time (i.e. it stopped raining finally!) An Osprey flew past and the first wedgies encountered only a few hundred yards out. We reached the edge of New Caledonia’s reef system in about 90 minutes, the pilot lept into his boat to return to port and Prof Khromov turned northwest and started rolling gently back on the Pacific Ocean and the next stage of our adventure. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and Gould’s Petrels were seen in good numbers all afternoon with a few more Tahiti Petrels. A distant flock of waders were well spotted, crossing our bows heading north in the distance. We presumed them to be Bar-tailed Godwits and by coincidence during the evening an e-mail arrived from Miranda in New Zealand asking us to try and find a satellite tagged bird which had arrived at Yap but this island was not on our planned itinerary. Another Polynesian Storm-Petrel was called late afternoon seen fairly well by a few, poorly by others. More debate during the log. With the wonders of modern communication, Tony Marr had got a message from Tim Cleeves and another WildWings group on a sister ship, the Professor Molchanov in the Atlantic Ocean. They were nearing the end of our Atlantic Odyssey Expedition and the news was once again the group had got onshore at Inaccessible Island, this year yielding three of the diminutive flightless rails.

4^th April

At sea towards Rennell, Coral Sea (0600 20 42S 163 59E, 1800 19 30S 163 03E)

We awoke to a sticky, sweltery day, just off the north west tip of New Caledonia before turning north towards the eastern Solomon Islands. Today was probably our last chance for the big stormy, Polynesian or White-throated. Tahiti Petrel has now become the most numerous seabird and at last throughout the day much better views as birds came much closer. A fairly stiff breeze was coming from astern, especially during the morning and the Tahitis were now gliding much more than previous days making them less long-winged somehow. Their underwings varied greatly, some all dark with some showing very white central lines. Today’s new species was Lesser Frigatebird, one in the morning and two in the afternoon. Other birds of note included a White-necked Petrel (with different underwing than the Norfolk Island area birds from photographs), two dark Collared Petrels, just two Gould’s, a single White-tailed Tropicbird and a few boobies. An after breakfast chumming session yielded no stormies and by the afternoon it was very quiet indeed. Rodney kindly agreed to a second chumming attempt and Chris poured two small slicks of fish oil over the back as we steamed slowly along. I noticed large numbers of various distant seabirds at about two o’clock but we turned back after about 15 minutes or so to revisit our chum slicks. Pretty much all hell then broke loose with Phil suddenly calling a close Polynesian Storm-Petrel. Finally, we all connected with a bird just in front of the bows, all further discussion ended in one fell swoop. What a cracker it was too, a large, long-rounded wing bird ‘kicking’ itself off the sea’s surface with one leg as it fed in a very White-faced Storm Petrel type manner. This bird seemed much more a classic ‘field guide’ type morph with a nice dark breast band (with dark streaks coming off onto the flanks and forebelly), white throat and underwing panels, a longish forked tail and long dark legs. The upperparts showed a narrow white rump band and a whitish bar to the secondary tips. The subsequent photos also showed the bird to be rather small-headed. Several more were seen over the next hour including another bird just under the bows before dusk. We also saw a much bigger slick on the sea than we had created and the top deck gang spotted a dead whale floating, the cause and clearly the drawer to all the other seabirds present. Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, Tahiti Petrels, all three trip species of booby  and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. A single Long-tailed Skua flew close by and a few people saw a Providence Petrel and another Polynesian stormy. The captain circled the carcass slowly (lovely smell downwind!) and then remembered we were taking on seawater to desalinate at the same time.  Jokes about white bits in the drinking water then ensued. It seemed a fair size whale and possibly an ex-Sperm. It was during our close inspection a large shark taking chunks out of the rotting carcass was noticed. Matt Prince was in his element and seemed fairly certain we were watching a Tiger Shark at work in conjunction with going through people’s photographs during the evening. It was a big beast, blunt headed with an uneven line where the white of the animals’s underparts met the darker colour above. Not the place to fall overboard. Not only had we finally scored our stormy but we had witnessed this amazing collection of marine life around the carcass. How we are going to find other dead whales in future years we have no idea but presumably without the whale carcass we still would have drawn some poly stormies in using our fish oil? Subsequent year’s groups will find out. A trio of arcing Short-tailed Shearwaters finished another excellent birding day.  The trip list ‘sweepstake’ closed for entries this evening, the first of a series of events we planned during the voyage to raise money for the ‘Save the Albatross Campaign’.

5^th April

At sea towards Rennell, Coral Sea (0600 17 46S 162 15E 1800 16 05S 161 31E)

The temperature continued to rise as the seas calmed. Probably the quietest day yet but not without it’s highlights. Early on, just as I finished scanning from right to left a dolphin suddenly leapt out of the sea vertically, straight into my field of view, and quite close by. As it half turned in the air it became immediately apparent it was a Spinner with characteristic slim body, long slim snout and with quite pinkish looking underparts. A second animal was with it but they both vanished as quickly as they came. Sooty Tern became the most numerous seabird today with Brown Noddy and wedgies next. A nice male Lesser Frigatebird drifted over the ship mid-morning. Other birds included two more Polynesian Storm-Petrels, single Providence and Kermadec Petrels, two Collared Petrels and just three Tahitis. Three single White-tailed Tropicbirds and a single Arctic Skua were noted. As dusk fell it began to rain. Rodney gave us the expected news that the Western Solomons had been declared a disaster zone and we would not be landing unless his offer of carrying aid was taken up by the authorities. Instead we would overnight at Guadalcanal and have a second session of forest birding. We would still sail through their waters as we continue our epic voyage towards Japan, which was still weeks away.

6^th April

At sea towards Rennell, Coral Sea (0600 14 25S 160 49 E 1800 12 42S 160 11E)

Up on deck for a quite stunning dawn on our starboard side. Pretty much full light when Simon Cook shouted “beaked whales close at 11 o’clock” from above. Many were still inside but those of us outside quickly moved to the front of the bows and started watching as the group of animals came from left to right. Having unfortunately dropped and in the process trashed my 400mm camera lens two days before, I was able to watch them rather than waste precious seconds in trying to photograph them. As Dick Newell called out, they seemed very ‘bottlenose’ looking, shortish straight beaks, no sign of odd shaped jawlines, slightly bulbous melons but quite symmetrical looking. The beaks and faces seemed pale grey whilst the flanks and back of the animal’s earth brown with pale blotches. Most of the dorsal fins I saw were quite falcate. After discussion over breakfast and afterwards the general conclusion was Longman’s or Tropical Bottlenose Whale. These were followed by the first of two mixed seabird groups feeding over concentrations of fish. The second group on the port side we diverted from our course to get closer to. About 100 or so birds wheeling over splashing flashes of silver. Sooty Terns and noddies, wedgies, plus at least 5 frigatebirds above them and a small shearwater of which conclusive views were not obtained and two White Terns. It always seems quite amazing when you sail across miles of ocean and see nothing and then find these feeding congregations. Seabirds sense of smell is renowned for being far reaching but some other sense must be involved too? Back on our course and things became very quiet indeed. The hottest day yet with very calm seas, flying fish aplenty at least, some of which seemed capable of flying hundreds of yards. Flocks of flying ‘fry’ were fun to watch too.  The ship’s air-con was starting to struggle and the top of the ship under the specially erected sunshade at least benefited from a cooling breeze effect as the ship headed north towards the Solomons. Another small seabird feeding group late morning on the post side. Mid-afternoon and a juvenile Red-tailed Tropicbird sitting on the sea as we sailed by.  The rest of the afternoon stayed quiet birdwise but we enjoyed a deep flame orange sunset and a imm Red-footed Booby joined us for the night, roosting on the bow deck. It seemed to have been ‘seasick’ in the night, leaving us a ‘present’ of an undigested fish on the deck.

7^th April, Rennell, Solomon Islands

We awoke to find ourselves offshore of a bay of a forested island, Rennell, the most southerly of the archipeligo. An uplifted atoll, rockfaces could be seen amongst the trees. Ahead of us we could see a small sandy beach, our landing for today. Two scout Zodiacs went in and brought back to ship the specially flown in customs and immigration people who quickly cleared us in. We were warned to take a lot of water ashore today, lunch would be onshore, prepared and provided by the inhabitants of the small village above the beach. With everyone ashore by 0800, it was quite clear this was a special occasion for the local, subsistence villagers. We were the first passenger ship in over 20 years! We assembled under the coconut palms to meet our local guides and then started up the hillside the quarter mile or so to the village itself and the forested plateau which comprised the majority of this quite large island (80kms x 14kms). A male Cardinal Myzomela was the first landbird I saw properly, a small resplendent red and black honeyeater. Rennell has currently five single island bird endemics and these were our main targets. Splitting up into lots of small groups we started down the main track through the forest, which runs for 40kms to the airstrip on the other side of the island. I don’t think, I, or anyone else in the group had perspired so much in our lives! One was bathed in sweat within seconds of taking steps, even in the shade of the forest. However, the body’s cooling system really does work at this level because in spite of the continual torrent it does keep you feeling cool. The five endemics were quickly seen by  all within about two hours and there was plenty more to see besides. The commonest seemed to be Rennell Shrikebill, which readily responded to pishing. The rather drab, brown Rennell Fantail also seemed quite common deeper into the forest. Bare-eyed White-eyes seemed more like vireos, and like many of the birds had a large, longish bills. Rennell White-eye seemed the scarcest, generally green with a bright yellow bill (and no white eye). The Rennell Starling was a little more difficult but our party found a nest and singing male. Walking through the village earlier on had revealed an Osprey’s nest on top of a dead tree (not a large bromeliad as thought by one of our party) with one youngster whilst many in the party enjoyed a Moustached Treeswift by the track too. Australian Ibis could be seen on the forest floor and in the trees. Pigeons and doves could be heard calling all the time, a Pacific Imperial Pigeon perched on a treetop whilst we encountered the delightful Silver-capped Fruit-Doves frequently (a species very poorly illustrated in the Solomons Field Guide by Doughty et al, and not the only species to suffer in this manner either). Huge white-headed black flying-foxes (fruit-bats) were glimpsed occasionally, another island endemic.  The bird I wanted to see the most proved very frustrating at first, a few calling and flying over. At our further point into the forest I sat down for a rest and to chat with the local guide whilst some of the party walked a few hundred yards more. Two small birds flew in to the tangle of vegetation just in front of us and I raised my bins. In the field of view were a pair of Finsch’s Pygmy-Parrot, my personal target. These tiny green birds are no bigger than a House Sparrow and commenced working up and down a small tree trunk. The male had a red belly patch and they behave more like treecreepers, feeding amongst the lichen on the trunk and later side branches. These two worked away from us and a few minutes later another bird appeared on a trunk to the left. Several more were seen later as we walked back to wards the village. Collared Kingfishers added a further splash of colour to the green of this verdant primary rainforest and prompted much debate as to their true identity compared to similarly named species elsewhere, especially Australia. This was also the case with the Fan-tailed Gerygones which seemed very different to the birds on Noumea, the birds here showing a yellow vent and much whiter heads. Both possibly ‘armchair’ ticks in the future perhaps? The other intriguing bird of the forest was Island Thrush, a smaller but different jizzed version of our male Blackbird, although they sounded very similar . Late morning and the heat was really coming through now, back to the village for lunch, stopping to grill some swiftlets which we concluded were Uniform. The guesthouse, like all the other buildings was built on stilts due to the high rainfall (the wet season had just finished). Shoes off and up the steps to find the local ladies serving us. First, a coconut each, with a straw, the juice very refreshing after the morning’s exertions. Then a cold buffet consisting of tropical fruits, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, a lovely pumpkin dish, cold cooked fish and then the island’s protein staple, crayfish or lobster tail. Delicious with some freshly squeezed local lime juice. The guides had caught the fish and lobsters on the reef the evening before our arrival. Finally, the most refreshing cup of black tea ever. The locals had done us proud and some of the group purchased wooden carvings and woven bags (not made in China) although the spears, clubs and seashells were left untouched, Her Majesty’s Customs would not have been amused. We were told we have a few more hours before the last Zodiac at 1630. Some went back to the forest or explored the area of secondary growth near the village. Some went back to the palm-shaded beach for a paddle and to sit with the locals. Some returned to the ship early to escape the now intense heat whilst Rodney and his sons plus the ship’s chefs did a bit of snorkeling. This island really was like Robinson Crusoe, an idyllic paradise but like all such visions of eden, could get boring in the long run. Even the Russian crew came ashore in the afternoon and were seen returning to ship with carvings galore, spears included. Some distant Black-naped Terns could be seen further down the bay. At the log call in the evening it was revealed a few other species were seen including Pacific Reef Heron, Mackinlay’s Cuckoo-Dove, Island Imperial-Pigeon, Singing Parrot and Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-Shrike. Late afternoon and we set sail again, turning west once outside the bay.  Both Great and Lesser Frigatebirds drifted over as day once again turned to night. Phil’s last official night onboard and after one of the longest logs we presented him with an honorary WildWings’ tour leader’s cap. Most hit their berths as soon as dinner was finished, exhausted but full of avian memories. A quick glance outside revealed a clear night, lightening flickering in the distance and a single shooting star fell across half the sky.

8^th April

At sea towards Honiara, Guadalcanal and Mount Austin (Guadalcanal) late afternoon until dusk. (0600 10.07S 159.38E)

Another roosting booby aboard this morning, on the bridge mast, preening itself during an early morning shower. An extremely hot morning as we steamed up the east, and then along the north coast of the island. Pretty quiet on the seabird front although Bridled Tern finally joined the trip list as did a small flock of Audubon’s type Shearwaters. A lot of flotsam could be seen in the sea, some undoubtedly from the tsunami that occurred to the west of our current position. It being Easter Sunday, Dick and I delivered Easter eggs to the WildWings’ group cabins whilst everyone was at breakfast and managed not to get caught. An appeal for ‘ship-aid’ came over the tannoy mid-morning and most of us managed to donate spare clothes and even footwear which later in the day was delivered to the Red Cross in Honiara.  The ship’s boiler was turned off as the ambient temperature had upped the temperature in the water tanks, most people were having cold (slightly warm) showers anyway. The air-con kept the cabins cool enough in spite of air temperatures outside in the high 30s. Two turtles were seen according to the group’s radio messages in the early afternoon. We finally anchored off Honiara, the capital of the Solomon, late afternoon and the birders was Zodiaced ashore to the waiting fleet of minibuses and 4x4s. A short drive soon had us at the top of Mount Austin for a couple of hours birding before dark. The northern flank of the mountain’s forest had long gone and we passed the Japanese, and then American monuments to the terrible battle that occurred here in WWII. A steep and muddy loggers track ran down the southern slope which overlooked forest into the interior of the island as far as the eye could see. We split up into small groups, along with our local guides, and began to explore. Expecting it to be as torrid as Rennell it was a pleasant surprise not to be, coolish, not humid and again with few biting insects. Certain groups of trees, like with many forests, seem to hold the majority of birds. Stunning Yellow-bibbed Lorys could be seen feeding in a tree with various cuckoo-shrikes and other species. The aptly named Midget Flowerpeckers buzzed around in the last hour of the day. Loud but endemic Ducorp’s Cockatoos flew around in small parties including a group of four which flew directly over our heads, looking down at us. A yellow-headed Singing Parrot perched briefly on the same tree top. Brown-winged Starlings and Yellow-faced Mynas seemed common. As we started to walk back up the hill to the vehicles I spotted a large buff-headed bird with a black eye mask preening in the ‘same’ bird tree. I called “Buff-headed Coucal” on the radio and soon nearly everyone got good looks, the single bird being joined by two more. Their loud, banshee type calls rang out over the forest. As we drove back down the mountain Chris and Dick stopped the convoy as they had heard a Woodford’s Rail from their open-backed 4x4. The group piled out but  no response to our tape efforts. Early to bed after our slightly later than normal dinner as we had a 4am start in the morning.

9^th April

Mount Austin, Guadalcanal (morning) and later at sea.(1800 09 15S 159 12E)

No one wanted to get up this morning but with four hours back in the forest no one was going to miss it either. Ashore by 0530 our vehicle fleet got us back on the mountain as day broke. A brief stop for tape attempts for both Solomon Hawk-Owl and the rail again but to no avail. We started walking down the main logger’s track again just after 0600 with one group being taken to the bottom of a 3km trail by 4x4 with them walking slowly back up. For the first 45 minutes or so it seemed very quiet but finally the birds of the forest started to appear. Many of the big trees had been logged out but most of secondary growth was quite tall and gorgeous butterflies and the occasional orchid brightened the habitat. This time the best spot was just as a smaller trail forked right off the main trail with a view over a gully with taller trees beyond. Five or so Cardinal Lorys were soon replaced by four male and a female Eclectus Parrots. A single Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove perched high on a bare branch when a Red-knobbed Imperial-Pigeon flew in too. A flock of Moustached Treeswifts then flew over, joining the various swiftlets which had also now taken to the wing. As we walked on down the 3km trail the heat of the day was rising quickly but the humidity thankfully stayed low. A Steel-Blue Flycatcher appeared briefly under a tree canopy before moving off again. It was Phil’s last time with us, he’s flying off to visit some other islands today before returning to Australia. He will be greatly missed by us all.  We finally met the group who had driven down and exchanged sightings. A Black-headed Myzomela appeared as if on cue. The others had seen the endemic White-billed Crow and hornbills so we decided to walk on down to the bottom of the trail, our time starting to run out. No sign of the crows although we did hear them. A few hundred yards down a small group of White-winged Fantails and Phil and I lead a final sprint for a large tree further down. Just as we walked through an overhanging bush I noticed a bird shoot left but sensed its partner still perched on some dead branches to our right. Putting my bins up I whispered “kingfisher”. Many people’s most wanted and we soon broadcast the news of the remaining Ultramarine Kingfisher by radio to the rest of the group. A number decided to come for it so we could not progress further without flushing it. As the first sweating and panting group members arrived we reluctantly started the 3km walk back up the mountain, bathed in our own moisture as we went. Using the radios many were picked up by the two 4x4s which operated a shuttle service back up to our meeting point. Simon Cook and I walked back together most of the 3kms uphill as each passing 4x4 was already full. We stopped to wait overlooking the ‘bird’ gully for a few minutes before being picked up and suddenly two huge birds glided across in front of us, the mightily impressive Blyth’s Hornbill. 10.00 and after a head count we loaded up for the drive back into town and the ship.  About halfway down the hill I and others noticed what seemed to be a Turkey Vulture gliding towards us. “Solomon Sea Eagle” came the cry and we all piled out for superb views as this monster raptor soared above us in the morning sun. Very vulture-like with a small head and short but splayed primary feathers at the end of it’s huge wings. What a perfect finale to our birding ashore in the Solomons.  We were back onboard and sailing away from Honiara before we knew it. I and many others felt shattered after the early start and the morning’s exertions so went below to catch up on some sleep, with a short wake up for lunch. I re-emerged on deck just after 1600 for the last seawatching session on deck before dark. An overcast afternoon, we were heading west but sadly not going to be able to make any more Solomon landings this year. We decided to swing south of the affected New Georgia Islands and look for cetaceans and seabirds where the sea floor steeply drops away before turning north west for our next destination in the Caroline Islands. Distant dolphins sp were being called by the top deck gang. A trio of Great Crested Terns spent the afternoon with the ship, deftly catching small flying fish on the wing, as our vessel flushed them from under the sea’s surface. Even the youngster was getting good at it. A storm-petrel sp was slightly intriguing and small parties of Short-tailed Shearwaters flew past way ahead of us in the distance. Frigatebirds drifted high in the sky as several Brown Boobies flew close to the ship. Just before dusk a nice pod of Short-Finned Pilot Whales crossed the bows and swam down the starboard side of the ship, a big male leading the pod. I checked through them carefully  for signs of other species but nothing. Then a big mistake, an early shower for me. When I got to the bar it transpired a pod of Pygmy Killer Whales were shadowing the pilots and were seen on the port side soon after them. The more you stay out on deck, the more you see!

10^th April

At sea, Solomon Sea, south of the New Georgia Islands (0600  08.51S 157.27E 1800 07.58S 155.00E)

Another beautiful Pacific dawn, another very hot day. Up out on deck early as always, a stream of Sooty Terns heading north towards the islands whilst frigatebirds rose on the new morning’s thermals.  It was too hot for me out on the front deck for long so a lot of today’s and subsequent days watching was from the bridge where the watch officers had a number of windows open to create a breeze. Most of the day was quiet on the seabird front but we had a new species very much in mind. A sprinkling of wedgies throughout the day, noddies, frigatebirds, a few Short-tailed Shearwaters, a handful of jaeger type skuas plus a lot of debris, bits of wood, vegetation and coconuts floating by. These were presumably washed into the sea by the tsunami of April 2^nd. As the morning progressed we saw first the forested peak of Kolambangara in the distance and then the lower profile of Gizo on the starboard horizon, our two cancelled landings. At various points good numbers of terns and noddies could be seen around what were fishing nets in the sea but the ship had to stay clear of them. Cetaceans were on the up today at least. A close group of rather dark looking Risso’s Dolphins before breakfast were followed by a larger group of Spinner Dolphins after breakfast. The very calm sea conditions were also ideal for spotting ‘kogis’ and up to eight Dwarf Sperm Whales were spotted in the distance, slowly sinking beneath the surface as we got closer including a party of four animals at one point. A number of beaked whales were seen from the top deck including from subsequent photos a group of what were named “Crocodile Beaked Whales” because of their apparent long beaks. The closest species in the field guides would be Gray’s but surely we were too far north for that species? Late afternoon and we turned more north easterly towards the west coast of Bougainville Island, tomorrow’s cruising area. Dick Newell in the meantime was building up a collection of flying fish photos from the bows. An hour or so before dark a small feeding group of noddies and Brown Boobies could be seen coming up at one o’clock. I was again on the bridge and had just got on to what seemed to be a small shearwater underneath the terns, flying in circles and then landing on the water. Dick suddenly came rushing onto the bridge and called for Rodney urgently to come to the bridge. With rising excitement we realized we were looking at a legendary Heinroth’s Shearwater, a poorly know species and rarely observed at sea. Rodney and the captain appeared and the Prof Khromov then tried to follow this one small tubenose as it flew far and wide over the ocean’s surface. We simply couldn’t keep us with it and it soon ‘got away’ from us. A small, dark bird, it showed distinctive white central underwings. Although fairly distant the big lenses clicked away and later sessions on laptops revealed more of this enigmatic bird. The upperwings seemed to show darker primaries while it also had a pale throat and rear belly patch. The bill also seemed long too. Much celebration and whilst I wasn’t planning to send another e-mail voyage update to the outside world this species was just too big to resist! Some of our group went to bed slightly regretting the amount they had drunk the next morning! After the bird log

Rodney warned us that in spite of his best efforts things were far from certain in respect of our planned visits to the Northern Mariana Islands later on, god bless America and her ‘homeland security’ policies. Dick, Chris and I started thinking about alternatives if the worst came to the worst.

11^th April

At sea, Solomon Sea, off the west coast of Bougainville and Buka Islands, Papua New Guinea (0600  6 43S 154 50E  1800 5 50S 154 19E)

As the peaks of Bougainville appeared and disappeared into cloud on our starboard side, a series of early morning rain showers came through before breakfast. The steady trickle of wedgies continued and by early afternoon another seven Heinroth’s had been seen but none as well as yesterday’s bird. In fact today was generally a day of frustrating views of nearly everything we saw, most being just too distant to nail properly. Certainly for most of the day the same few tropical seabird species were seen as yesterday. Whilst Heinroth’s Shearwater was hoped for and scored there was a really mythical seabird in these waters to keep an eye out for today. Cetaceans delivered again with more distant dolphins and a few beaked whales sp seen. Just before lunch a fairly large group were spotted logging on the sea ahead of us. By the time we got close everyone was out to see them. They turned out to be a group of about 35+ Short-finned Pilot Whales with some dolphins mixed in. They really did seem fast asleep, barely moving out of our way and then back on the surface just hanging there. A tiny, surely few days old only calf could be seen bobbing around to the rear of the group. A few of the dolphins had turned towards us, bowrode for seconds and then drifted down the starboard side. Their white lips and reptilian heads had revealed them as Rough-toothed but I’m certain there was another species in with the overall group before we got to them. Various other cetaceans sp were seen in the afternoon including a distant large whale’s tail flukes. A group of False Killer Whales were seen by many whilst mid-afternoon I spotted a close ‘kogi’ logging only a few hundred yards from the ship. Its hooked dorsal fin finally disappeared from view as the animal rolling under the sea, a great contender for Pygmy Sperm Whale. It had been agreed to bring the ship to a complete stop at 1630 for a chumming session as we just about parallel to the southern tip of New Ireland to our west. Firstly the plan was to lower one of the Zodiac platforms and allow those that wanted a cooling dip in the sea before Chris started pouring fish oil and guts in!  ‘Tahiti-type Petrel” came the call on the WildWings radio in respect of a bird behind the ship. It seemed a long way away but a number of people had scopes set up on the top deck as the sea conditions were getting close to glassy. A few minutes later a more urgent shout “possible Beck’s Petrel on the sea ahead!” From the bridge you could see a seabird settled on the water ahead but through bins it was a long way away. The ship had by now come to a halt! It got up and flew first right and then away with a number of people getting very excited about it’s ID compared with a close noddy. For me and many others it was simply just too far away to call such a major bird about which very little is really known including does it actually exist! A few passengers, staff and crew took a short dip in the blue waters and then Chris laid a big fish oil slick behind the ship and threw some fish guts in for good measure. With little breeze the chances of this bringing anything in were low and a single petrel sp (flying in the sun) and a lone Black Noddy were all we had seen in the next hour or so. Our engines restarted and we continued our journey north. During the last hour of the day at least two Tahitis were seen and three Tahiti-types flew away from close to the bows. These birds did appear to be shorter winged and flying like shearwaters but with such little wind it was far from easy to be conclusive. As a result of the night’s log it seemed the bird just as we stopped was being the strongest claim but I feel some caution is required with this one. It was distant and when pressed for a written description the next morning a number of the observers concerned ‘backed down” somewhat. The relative size comparison with a noddy seemed to be the main crux but Brown Noddy and Tahiti Petrel have the same wingspan and Beck’s is only supposed to be 15% shorter. At the distance and intense light, with almost no wind, it’s a very subjective call, certainly far from enough to get a record past a rarities committee. But definite future work for future Odysseys without question. (Steve Howell is still adamant about this bird). We hoped to chum again the next morning but would already be 100 miles north of this Beck’s hotspot. Meanwhile the news re Rodney v USA wasn’t sounding any better with the authorities in Saipan having come up with more demands for the vessel to make. He had flown there some months before and understood all was agreed in practice so his anger and frustration was quite understandable.

12^th April

At sea towards Chuuk (0600 0338S 154 20E 1800 0150S 153 59E)

With another three days at sea ahead of us before our next planned landing, including the Equator to cross on the way, things were expected to quieten down considerably on the sightings front, we still had some big surprises to come…….Another scorching hot day, 35 degrees in the shade mid-afternoon. Most observers who were out were either on the bridge or under the specially erected sunshade on the top deck. A pair of palm-covered atolls appeared on our starboard side early morning and just before breakfast the largest seabird feeding frenzy yet could be seen on the horizon. Dick made an announcement on the tannoy and all the birders were ready as we drew closer. Two thousand or so noddies could be seen spread over the sea, with a few boobies, wedgies and a pair of Crested Terns thrown in. Groups of birds congregated over the sea’s surface whilst tuna-type fish leapt from below, flashing silver in the early morning tropical light. Quite a sight as we steamed through the middle of the flock and onwards north. Otherwise numbers wise it was very quiet indeed. Three Wilson’s Storm Petrels together, an interesting record of a single Leach’s Storm Petrel, Bird of the day for most were the occasional pale phase Wedge-tailed Shearwaters with white centres to the underwing and white underparts, very different to the all dark birds we had consistently seen to date. A single South Polar Skua came over the radios early afternoon, catching out many snoozing in their cabins. A trickle of cetaceans were also seen throughout the day, a few distant Bryde’s-type (Omura’s?)Whales. More logging ‘kogis’ whilst Pantropical Spotted and Spinner Dolphins were ID’ed amongst the various dolphins sp seen too. This evening was the Western Pacific Odyssey Bar-B-Q, out on the bows deck and as the chefs laid the feast out at 1800 two distant rain showers seemed to be heading our way, in common with all bar-b-qs, anywhere in the world it seemed. The Russian crew were invited too and most had eaten their main course (great chicken and sausages) when the rain finally hit. Dessert was served in the dining room a little later. Just before dark, at a few minutes to seven, an all dark petrel came into the bows and was seen by a lucky few people only. From the description the likeliest species was another possible legend in the seabird texts, Fiji Petrel! Perhaps there is a dark form of Beck’s Petrel or even this bird was an undescribed species which breeds on the poorly known islands to the south of us. We decided later in the evening to add an additional day in this area for future voyages to try and see and ideally photograph these poorly known birds and spend more time in this cetacean rich waters. This pioneering voyage was exceeding even our dreams! After the bird log Matt Prince showed his excellent DVD shot the previous summer, on a small boat pelagic to the Central Pacific. Footage of such other world goodies like Murphy’s Petrel, Henderson Island Rail and Bristle-thighed Curlew reminding us all there was so much more of the vast Pacific Ocean to explore. Their landings on Pitcairn made our landing on Norfolk Island seem a breeze.

13^th April

At sea towards Chuuk, the Equator crossed at 1345. (0600 01 07S 153 54E 1800 00 36N 153 31E)

Not a great night’s sleep. I kept waking up a lot as the ship’s engines seemed to be changing in pitch throughout the night and we seemed to have experienced bouts of rolling too. Early morning tea and it became clear we had only traveled 30 miles north or so and for some time had actually been drifting backwards in the 1.5 knot head current. What was going on? After breakfast Rodney called Dick, Chris and I to a meeting. As we guessed, a mechanical problem with the engines. To fix it, engine two had been cannibalised for a part to repair engine one and we were finally on our way north again. But we had lost most of the night’s traveling and with the daylight hours we were travelling in we had a big decision to make. At least one of our future landings had to be cancelled. It was also not quite as simple as that because we had to take into account potential poor weather ahead and unknown tides and currents (as this was a ‘first time voyage). What was quickly decided was that although the ship could arrive in Japan later most of the passengers couldn’t because of pre-booked onward or homeward travel arrangements. It came down to the trip’s main objectives and as it was ultimately a mega-pelagic the North Pacific albatrosses ahead were deemed sacrosanct. Take into account the clear threat from the US Coastguard that their arrival inspection could easily take a whole day we decided to cancel the planned visit to the North Mariana Islands. This would not be popular with some onboard but as always in these situations we had to please the majority. The word ‘expedition’ is used for a purpose in respect of these voyages, it is not just a marketing term and the ships themselves are part of that overall equation, they are mechanically complex and you simply can’t carry spare parts for everything. The passengers would be told in a special briefing held by Rodney before dinner this evening. Back to the birding. The quietest day yet but still not without it’s highlights. We were due to cross the equator at 1345 now and so the morning was our last southern hemisphere birding before we sailed into the north. A few singleton White-tailed Tropicbirds flew close by and Sooty Tern was the most numerous species but not even reaching 100. Our last present from the south was a close Bulwer’s Petrel just before lunch. The ship’s horn blasted across the empty ocean as we crossed the ‘line’ and shortly after some of our best views yet of a lone Tahiti Petrel which flew in lazy circles just off our starboard bow. At 1530 we drank a glass of bubbly on the bow deck as we toasted crossing the line at sea, a first for many onboard. In the water today were more beaked whales sp and amongst the various distant dolphins a small party of Striped. ‘Borat’ screened in the cinema after dinner, provided some much needed light relief to end what had been a difficult day.

14^th April

At sea towards Chuuk (0600 02 27N 153 07E 1800 0415N 152 44E)

Another scorcher of a day as we sailed northwards on almost mirror-calm seas. Thin shafts of light could be seen disappearing into the ocean’s depths.  Even some of most enthusiastic seabirders could be found in the bar/library today but as always a dawn til dusk watch was maintained. Four Red-necked Phalaropes resting on the sea, flushed as we went by added themselves to the trip list mid-morning. A single Kermadec Petrel was today’s true seabird highlight whilst White-tailed Tropicbirds numbered over 10 today. Two more Leach’s Storm Petrels and two more pale morph wedgies and few skuas meant the quickest bird log yet this evening. Another party of 30 or so pilot whales and a succession of logging kogis during the afternoon prompting more ID debate. From the photos taken I suspect we were seeing both species or maybe you just can’t separate them in the field.

15^th April

At sea (0600  06 11N 152.18E) and arrival Chuuk (Truk Lagoon)

Another relatively quiet morning on the ocean with noddies and a handful of Sooty Terns seen. A pair of adult Long-tailed Skuas flew ahead of us at lunchtime whilst one or two wedgies were noted including a few pale morph birds again. From mid-morning onwards the higher islands of Truk Lagoon could be seen rising above the horizon. We steered a course to the east to enter through a large gap in the outer reef with our local pilot who was due onboard at around 1530. As we got closer more and more noddies were seen plus a steady trickle of White Terns flying out to sea looking for food for their young. Half a dozen small ‘brown’ shearwaters were also noted, the recently split ‘Tropical’ from the Audubon complex. As we entered the lagoon itself we were surrounded with the classic views of a South Pacific paradise. Small, uninhabited palm-covered islets with white sandy beaches, turquoise shallows fringing the inner reefs. We were headed towards Weno, the main populated island and as we came to anchor off Moen, the capital, a small party of Bottlenose Dolphins appeared on the port side whilst returning White Terns could be seen carrying small fish in their bills.. We waited for customs and immigration but by the time they had finished with us it was dark. Chris Collins went ashore by Zodiac to finalise the birding arrangements for the next day.

16^th April

Weno, Chuuk and back at sea. (1800 07 30N 151 52E)

An early breakfast before our last actual landing of the voyage. Chris gave us a quick briefing about the birds we were looking for ashore and then with the pilot back onboard, the ship moved in to tie up at the small wharf. A 20 seater air-conditioned bus took the first group of birders off into the mountains to look for the endemic Truk Monarch whilst the remaining 20 or so waited on the quayside in the shade of the ship. It was going to be a very hot day. Talking to some of the locals later, this part of the Pacific has the same weather everyday, sunshine and average temperatures in the mid 80s! The bus soon returned and we drove slowly through the small town (it seemed to be rush hour) and turned inland rising up into the vegetation covered hills above. We soon arrived at the second birding site, known as Japanese Gun. We were dropped off in front of a couple of houses and the locals came out to watch us in action and for a friendly chat. The endemics were coming thick and fast without us having to walk more than a few yards whilst White Terns and White-tailed Tropicbirds glided overhead.  Caroline Island White-eyes, Micronesian Myzomelas and Micronesian Starlings all seemed common in this secondary growth whilst Caroline Islands Swiftlets whizzed around overhead. The endemic Acrocephalus, a large short-winged and long-billed reed-warbler, sang as they picked their breakfast from the leaves above us. Another nice Fruit-dove, Crimson-headed perched out on tree top branches. I noticed a white-headed ‘brown’ bird flying to and fro from a large tree carrying sticks, the much wanted Caroline Islands Ground-Dove nest building. A delightful pair of the Oceanic Flycatchers frequented a group of trees, the male occasionally displaying to the female, calling, raising it’s crest and wing shimmering. Fruit bats were also seen flying around as was a Rufous Night-Heron and a Yellow Bittern briefly. After having seen all our target birds I walked the few hundred yards up the hillside, through the short tunnel and to the gun itself. A vestige of WWII, the small cave had a gentle breeze running through it as we looked out over a small marsh and the sea beyond, joined by some inquisitive local children. At about 1045 the first group arrived in the bus from their efforts to try and see the monarch but to no avail. Stories of the habitat being an assault course combined with the intense heat of the day put many off even trying and the bus dropped a number of us back in ‘town’ whilst the hardy few also tried in vain to see this species. The locals seemed very friendly and we all gathered together at the Truk Stop Hotel and Dive Centre for a superb buffet lunch, washed down with various tropical fruit smoothies or cold beers, depending on your choice. It was very pleasant to sit in the shade looking out over the glimmering seas. Some went for a swim whilst a final, yet fruitless attempt was made by the hardcore listers for the monarch. 1600 and we were all back onboard and after customs clearance out, we set sail just after 1700 for the final, long sea leg to Japan.

17^th April

At sea towards Japan (0600 08 49N 150 52E 1800 10 36N 150 07E)

Dawn at 0500, breakfast at 0830 and just three unidentified birds in between! This really turned out to be a slow day indeed but held a rather nice surprise mid-afternoon. The morning stayed pretty birdless, two groups of dolphins slightly compensated however with five or so Bottlenose and a fragmented school of about 30 Spinners. Morning turned to afternoon and still the hardy few tried to avoid the searing heat under our specially-made top deck sunshade. Early afternoon and the radios came to life, “all dark petrel ahead”. People burst out of the deck 4 doors in time to see a distant tubenose disappearing ahead of us. Suddenly a second bird, only a few hundred yards off the port side and flying low and direct, almost falcon-like over the sea, easily overtaking us and going ahead. Initially rather Bulwer’s Petrel-like except for the direct flight and the tail, which seemed pointed. A few minutes later seemingly another similar bird, this time in the wake. It began to dawn through various discussions that it or they were in fact Oceanodroma storm-petrels. This bird was now looking more like an ocean-going nightjar with long wings, a slim body and longish tail but which one? Early photos and prolonged views revealed it to be a Matsudaira’s, small pale patches at the base of the primaries evident at certain angles (not as easy to see as some of the texts make out) with a pale crescent evident on the brownish upper wing coverts, the bird being all dark sooty brown below. Side on and banking it would reveal it’s tail was indeed forked, not always evident either by any means.  After the log we held a short ‘workshop’ in the lecture room viewing various people’s photos (thanks Chris and Steve H) with an interesting group discussion. We hoped for more of it’s cousins further up the line. A new bird for many, with lots of resultant smiles. As the last rays of sunlight dwindled at around 1810 a group of 15 or so Sooty Terns ahead started to climb high into the sky to look for their next meal from overhead. The log call revealed a few more birds as always with so many observers onboard, the best of which was a South Polar Skua which came in to harry the big stormy in the wake at one point in the late afternoon. A big roll by the ship halfway through was presumably the bow wave of the huge supertanker which had been gaining on us from behind for most of the afternoon. In fact we had seen three ships today, doubling the number seen to date but not one single aircraft vapour trail had been seen during the entire voyage so far. Only out on the planet’s largest ocean can you say that!

18^th April

At sea towards Japan (0600 12 21N 149 21E 1800 14 12N 148 34E)

For some reason I struggled to sleep last night and ended up spending some time out on the rails in the early hours, watching the stars overhead as the ship’s engine hummed along ceaselessly into the early hours, the ship quiet inside  as all the other passengers slept.  I enjoyed my first lie-in of the voyage, not waking until 0800 to find Tony back in the cabin from early morning watching downloading photos. I got up and managed to see the now three Matsudaira’s Storm-Petrels in the wake, our bottle containing fish oil slowly dripping off the back deck seemed to be having some effect. Another otherwise quiet day with more dolphins again in the morning and a handful of Bridled Terns quite close to us briefly. Pete Fraser and I toyed with the idea ‘two Matsudaira’s in the wake’ as some kind of song title for a while (I said it was quiet!). Two small parties of presumably Short-tailed Shearwaters (four and nine) flew past us gently arcing up in formation, heading north to their summer feeding grounds in the North Pacific from their breeding grounds off SE Australia. A single White-tailed Tropicbird sat on the sea as we sailed on by. The ‘bird of the day’ was missed by most, an estimated 12 foot long Whale Shark seen going south down the port side by some of the top deck gang just before lunch. Late afternoon and a pale phase Red-footed Booby appeared and stayed with us into the evening. Endlessly circling around the ship it would suddenly dive down at high speed and try and catch a flying fish as the ship flushed them from the safety of the ocean. It failed most times but occasionally scored, skillfully shreading the wings and other fins off mid-air before swallowing the hapless fish whole. It would then fly down and settle on the sea briefly to finish swallowing it’s meal, washed down with a quick gulp of seawater. Morning and afternoon film sessions had now started with the BBC’s Planet Earth being the first to be shown and the ever popular daily Avian Quiz compiled by Dick Filby helping these quieter days pass. At dusk our booby had decided the ship was a great place to spend the night and finally dropped onto the bows. For the first time the word ‘cool’ was being mentioned, still a relative term compared to recent weeks but a definite slight drop in evening temperature was noticeable and welcome. During the night we would cross the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth, deeper in fact than Mount Everest is high

19^th April

At sea towards Japan (0600 16 07N 147 43E 1800 17 53N 146 57E)

Our stowaway had been joined by four friends in the night and the top deck and bow deck were liberally splattered with guano, the top deck with a noticeable ‘seabird colony’ smell even. Up to five Matsudaira’s Storm-Petrels were now in the wake this morning coming closer and then falling back again with birds sometimes flying up along the side of the ship, giving much better views. The lower back deck was still out of bounds due to ongoing painting by some of the crew. Certainly before breakfast a noticeable increase in the number of seabirds around again, more boobies, some noddies and Sooty Tern, a reflection of the breeding colonies of the Northern Mariana Islands away to our west. By the end of the day Matsudaira’s numbers had passed into low double figures with a scattering of Bulwer’s Petrels too. Our now familiarity with the large stormies made the Bulwer’s almost instantly recognizable on size, yet alone their different flight pattern and bulkier tails.  A lone Peregrine, hunting miles out at sea was however bird of the day. The continued further drop in air temperature was noticeable as we were now heading towards the end of the true tropical region and were on course to cross the Tropic of Cancer the following night.

20^th April

At sea towards Japan (0600 19 36N 146 12E 1800 21 13N 145 31E)

Our last full day in the tropics and what a belter it turned out to be. Another calm warm to hot morning with few clouds and blue skies above. Lots more birds around from the word go with plenty of excitement before breakfast headed by a pod of False Killer Whales which I originally called as distant dolphins and which eventually crossed our stern very close indeed, heading south east. Many more wedgies around with predominantly pale morph birds as opposed to the dark morphs south of the equator. An early tern, noddy and booby feeding flock also contained our first Bannerman’s Shearwater (Audubon-type) but I just couldn’t get on the bird. Three Masked Boobies endlessly circled the ship  coming within touching distance to the top deck. At one point in the morning I noticed three birds fishing on the port side, a Red-footed, a Brown and a Masked together! Plenty of Matsudaira’s around including birds in the wake, keeping the photographers happy. Just before breakfast the radios crackled into life again, this time I was in exactly the right place for a Grey-backed Tern close to nine o’clock. At last, distant views of possibles throughout the last few weeks came right. Mid-morning and one of the surprises of the trip. A wader was seen coming in from the stern and at first we thought it was a lost Ruff or Pacific Golden Plover. As it came back around again many noticed the decurved bill, a Little Whimbrel in the middle of the ocean! It stayed around us for some time and was a totally unexpected new bird for many and some superb photos were taken. It seemed to want to land on the ship and was last seen flying north low over the waves. A few minutes later it was joined by a migrating Barn Swallow too! By lunchtime we had a total of four swallows wizzing up and down the sides of the ship, even coming inside the deck supports on occasions. One landed briefly on a lifeboat. Just before lunch the call of “close whale” on the radio. One or two Bryde’s type animals just logging off the port side as we sailed by. You could even see the pale blue glow around them as they lay just under the surface and see their footprints hanging on the ocean’s surface. I’d even managed to squeeze an informal job interview in my cabin in and was thrilled when Simon Cook immediately agreed to join the WildWings team starting with next year’s Atlantic Odyssey from Tierra del Fuego to the Cape Verde Islands. After lunch Chris and I sat down with Rodney and Aaron and fine-tuned next year’s Odyssey’s itinerary. We took out the N Marianas Islands completely but added an extra day at sea around Bougainville, an extra island in the Solomons and hopefully two Japanese island landings too, all subject to permissions.  As we left Rodney’s cabin the ship’s more pronounced movement was noticeable and a quick glance out of the porthole revealed whitecaps outside, something we hadn’t seen for weeks now. I took what was planned to be a short nap but awoke at 1640 by Dick’s voice over the tannoy informing anyone not seawatching that the total of Bonin Petrels was now three! I was out on deck four in what seemed like seconds and it seemed to be a different day. The ship was pitching in a quite heavy grey sea, with low cloud forming a complete blanket. The outside doors to the bows had been closed and the door to the starboard deck also. No one else was around. The radio revealed most were watching from the bridge or hanging on on the top deck. I worked around to the starboard side to find Ian Sinclair dancing up and down with a big smile on his face having just ticked a Bonin Petrel. We huddled in the doorway together for a few minutes, trying to avoid the spray which was frequently washing over the sides. It didn’t take long for another Bonin to appear followed by two more and Ian then left for a celebratory whisky whilst I remained there until dark just over an hour later. Better views desired though. Occasionally the rolling waves flashed dark blue at their tops amongst the now austere dark grey water as a container ship overtook us in the distant gloom that was the horizon. But this was really exciting sea birding again with larger groups of Short-tailed Shearwaters flying by, one quite close, all heading north. A party of four Pom Skuas also battled northwards. I miscalled a close bird coming up the side of the ship but was delighted to realize it was a Bannerman’s Shearwater giving great views as it also overtook us heading home towards it’s breeding island. A great mood in the bar tonight during the log but a number of empty chairs in the dining table as our little ship ploughed it’s way onwards towards our final destination. A hardy few went to the late night cinema whilst I read and dreamt of ‘bigger’ seabirds ahead.

21^st April

At sea towards Japan (0600 22 47N 144 49E 24 1800 12N 144 05E)

The heavy seas remained all day, with swells up to five metres at times. It stayed dry though but cloudy all day, with the sun breaking through briefly before dusk. Today was Short-tailed Shearwater day, all day. 10,000 or so birds passed us heading north, in flocks of 4 to 300 odd birds, arcing up and down over the sea, using very little muscle power as they rapidly overtook us. I called a nice adult Long-tailed Skua during the morning but today also included a new species for many, Streaked Shearwater. The bird came into the wake, possibly attracted to our dripping fish oil bottle hung over the stern. Much larger and bulkier than the wedgies we were familiar with a more Cory’s type demeanor. It stayed with us for a few minutes giving excellent views. We also seemed to have another Barn Swallow with us which spent the whole day flying up and down the rear port quarter of the vessel, occasionally catching the odd fly. Bonin Petrels were seen all day too, most people finally getting the better views they wanted A single Red-tailed Tropicbird appeared briefly, presumably the last of the trip as this afternoon we crossed the Tropic of Cancer. For the first time today long sleeves and even the odd coat was spotted. Half a dozen or so Bannerman’s Shearwaters were also seen and our first Wilson’s Storm-Petrels for many a day now. Another Leach’s was also seen and the Matsudaira’s count in the wake reached 13 at one point. The third South Polar Skua for the trip was also noted but only two Sooty Terns. Late afternoon and a summer plumaged Pacific Golden Plover appeared briefly around the bows before heading back out north, low over the water. Our swallow had perched up for the night by one of the lifeboats on a chain link fence. Concern about it’s welfare led to various people catching flies around the ship to try and feed it. Astonishingly the bird took all five flies that Simon offered it, straight from his fingertips! Perhaps it will make it after all.

22^nd April

At sea towards Japan (0600 25 23N 142 45E 1800 26 57N 141 39E)

The good ship Khromov was still rolling nicely again this morning, the wind has eased but the ocean still had a big swell running and it was raining making visibility poor. More shorties and Bonins first thing plus the best news of all, the Swallow had survived. Even it gave up flying in the rain and it took another three dead flies from Simon this morning, even shuffling along its perch to get closer to him as he walked towards it! The poor visibility meant the birds were much closer and all morning a procession of Bonin Petrels (giving great views at last) and Matsudaira’s Storm petrels flew by with many stormies staying in our wake. A single Leach’s went past too and finally a photograph proved what we expected today, our first Tristram’s Storm-Petrel, Everyone connected with a few by lunchtime, similar in size to Matsudaira’s but with a very prominent wing bar and all dark primaries. They also showed a grayish rump and appeared to be in moult. Plenty of pale phase wedgies still, a few more Bannerman’s Shearwaters but only a 100 or so shorties. Our course change to the north west meant we were now off their migratory track. Lunch was eaten whilst trying to catch flies for our guest bird which had now got so tame it was landing on people’s heads, hands and taking dead flies offered on the wing! After lunch a different world, the seas had calmed down and the skies turned blue again with sunshine for the rest of the day. “Albatross” came the call and with many other passengers I sprinted down to the back of the ship to see our first ‘black beauty’. A gorgeous adult Black-footed Albatross came into the wake briefly and then glided away to the west. A second bird went through not long after but not nearly so close to us. A Brown Booby spent some time gliding around the bow deck and bridge before disappearing east. The Bonin Islands were on our starboard side all afternoon, Japanese waters at last. We were due to sail to the east of these islands but we changed course yesterday afternoon to gain some extra speed and reduce the dramatic rolling, “the old girl doesn’t like it straight on the beam” quoth our expedition leader. The Swallow spent some time out in the wake with the remaining stormies but would fly back in to the ship, perching all over the place and taking the various offered flies. We also saw something we had not seen for weeks, high flying aircraft and their vapour trails, heading presumably for Tokyo. Late in the day our second Streaked Shearwater appeared briefly in the wake. Flies were again caught during another excellent dinner but concern was rising about our avian friend which had not been seen before dark. It even flew into the bridge and sat on the radar console for a while. Steve Howell gave his second of three talks in the lecture room after dinner whilst I continued reading the wonderful book I had found in the ship’s library. Eye of the Albatross by Carl Safina (ISBN 0-8050-6229-7), a booked based on the perceived life of a Laysan Albatross which had been satellite-tagged, highly recommended.

23^rd April

At sea, off Torishima Island, Japan (0600 29 02N 141 01E 1800 30 43N 140 20E)

Today was the day we hoped for the third big bird of the trip, albatross day. The early signs were good with a quick glance out of our cabin porthole at 0500 revealing a Black-footed Albatross flying past heading north. The ship was gently rolling on calm seas as a quick check on the bridge revealed we should be off the island from about mid-afternoon. A trickle of Bonin Petrels went by all day whilst a South Polar Skua flew over the ship from the stern at 0600 leading a day total of five species including some exquisite Long-taileds again. Before breakfast a group of Pantropical Spotted Dolphins came into the bows briefly and during breakfast a pair of False Killer Whales came close by on the port side. A steady procession of handsome Black-foots from the south and the possibility of the other two North Pacific species of albatrosses spurred Dick and Chris into a long hard day of chumming from the back deck, using the squid we had especially brought with us  for them. A grim, smelly and back-breaking task, they toiled ceaselessly all day and earned the very deserved public thanks during the evening log. It was not long therefore before we had an ever-growing number of seabirds behind the ship including a nice collection of Black-footed Albatrosses. Everyone should have got great photos and video of them as they wheeled around our stern, frequently dropping onto the sea to pick up and eat our offerings. (Big thanks again Simon for the use of your lens, my replacement one was sitting in Saipan, which we had sailed by). A mixture of adults and younger birds, at least one with a white uppertail, a sign of older age and at several birds were ringed too. Other tubenoses attracted to our free feast included up to 70 Matsudaira’s Storm-Petrels at one point, wedgies, a few shorties, and at least two Streaked plus one Flesh-footed Shearwater. Our onboard Swallow was also still with us and as we were running out of flies for it everyone was relieved to hear it was now taking tiny morsels of raw meat. It seemed to be a real survivor and was now ridiculously tame and trusting of it’s human benefactors.  After lunch the weather had changed with wind and whitecaps plus an ever-growing swell. At one point all the birds at the stern except for a few Black-foots flew off to the north and incredibly the second dead whale of the trip was spotted with lots of smaller tubenoses around the body and slick. That our birds could smell this over the oil and guts coming off the back of our ship is again an example of their amazing sense of smell. Mid-afternoon and Rodney announced we were off the eastern side of Torishima, not that you could see it in the gloom. We planned to sail around the northern side looking for our main quarry, the boys at the back still chumming to try and attract one in. Just after 1600 I continued scanning from the starboard side and for the first time thought we are running out of time and no sign, where are they? The tension was beginning to build and now it had started to rain too. Suddenly the radio crackled into life with the words we were all waiting to hear, ”distant albatross showing white dead ahead”. Putting my bins up I picked up one of what turned out to be two birds a long way ahead. God we need better views than this. A few of us dashed forward onto the very slippery and rolling bow deck. Tony had just got soaked on it by a breaking wave a few minutes before and was down in the cabin showering and changing. The rain and spray made viewing very difficult indeed but then the news that one of the birds was coming towards us, flew down our side and started circling the stern for a few minutes. What a bird it was, an adult Short-tailed Albatross, one of the rarest seabirds on the planet with this highly volcanic island it’s main breeding site. This species has a relatively large and bulky body compared to it’s wing length with a yellow washed head and large pink bill contrasting against it’s black and white plumage and the grey sea and sky. It looked down on the small flock at our stern but decided to move on and drifted away out of sight to the south. In spite of the ship’s pitching and rolling everyone was out smiling and laughing, a huge sense of elation and relief and Ian Sinclair had an unforgettable birthday present, his last alby. Although there was still an hour of daylight the light was so grim that most people went in and the bar opening early too. The few that stayed outside were rewarded with an immature bird past the stern and very late on, another adult flashed past the bows. The island itself appeared briefly out of the mist just before dark. The Khromov had a very happy bunch of passengers indeed tonight. It would have been good to overnight offshore to try and see more in the morning but the weather forecast was not good which meant a potentially wild night and the decision was taken to turn west and head towards our inaugural voyage’s final destination, Kagoshima in south west Japan. Steve’s last seabird talk opened with a great picture of today’s star bird. Chris deservedly won the bottle of bubbly for spotting it and shared it with his table mates at dinner. The story of Short-tailed Albatross’s return from the brink is worth mentioning. It formerly bred on a number of Pacific Islands but Torishima was always it’s main colony. It is estimated that nearly five million were slaughtered here alone by Japanese feather collectors from 1887 to 1902. At the ‘industry’s’ peak, about 300 people lived on the island. Mother Nature did take some retribution in 1902 however when a huge eruption killed them all as they slept, known as “the revenge of the albatross” (which were interestingly away from the island at the time). They were finally protected in 1933 but before the law came into effect the remaining 3000 birds were killed too. Another eruption in 1939 made access to the island almost impossible and no longer habitable by humans but it seemed too late, all the albatrosses were gone. There was fading hope that some last fledged chicks made it out to the ocean and would return in later years to breed. In 1951 one of the staff from the weather station on the island went for a walk one morning and was astonished to come across ten Short-tailed Albatrosses on one of the slopes. The vast Pacific Ocean had indeed provided shelter to one of it’s most stunning avian inhabitants. In 1954 the first Short-tailed Albatross eggs for over 20 years were laid on the island. In 1958 (my birth year), Japan finally declared Short-tailed Albatross a “natural monument”. Since 1976, Hiroshi Hasegawa has made his life’s work to bring these birds back into healthy populations again and today it is estimated there are just over 1000 birds gliding over the seas again. They have still a long way to go but at least there is real hope. A very special bird indeed and a great privilege to see them around their main island home.

24^th April

At sea towards Japan (0600 30 46N 138 27E 1800 30 58N 136 27E)

The seas had calmed overnight and the day dawned with partial cloud and sun becoming overcast late morning for the rest of the day. Seabirds were very low in numbers all day with a few Streaked Shearwaters, Matsudaira’s and over 10 adult Long-tailed Skuas being the highlights. We were reminded however it was spring migration time and in the afternoon and evening we enjoyed a few surprises. Incredibly Barney, our swallow was still with us and taking the remaining flies we could find and tiny pieces of raw meat dipped in fresh water. He was looking rather bedraggled however and very human friendly. Twice when scanning from the back deck it came and sat on my head for a few minutes as it had been doing on others too. It seemed very fond of one of the Russian crew, sitting on his shoulder like a miniature parrot.  During the afternoon another 32 Barn Swallows flew in from the stern in small flocks and moved on further north. At dusk we had six birds still with us including one which flew into the open forward cold store door which Dick and I caught in the dining room. They later settled down for the night on the wires hanging beneath one of the lifeboats. A bunting started flying around the ship and from photos was declared a male Black-faced. A lucky few also had a male Siberian Rubythroat flying around the top deck briefly, what a way to tick such a magical bird! A Wood Sandpiper was seen in the morning and late on a Pacific Golden Plover landed on the green top deck amongst the birders giving point-blank views. It settled down for the night as dark fell. The bird log was delayed as the WildWings team held a Save the Albatross auction in the bar before dinner. Tony Marr made a superb MC and we sold over US$1200’s worth of goodies, many of which we had purchased specially in New Zealand. The main item up for grabs was Pete Fraser’s map for the western Pacific which one of the bridge officers had plotted our course on, signed and stamped by the Captain and Rodney. Dick Newell readily paid the reserve price of US$500, thanks again Dick. Passenger Lyn Goddard donated a painting she had done of our Short-tailed Albatross whilst our doctor, Amama, donated the shell necklace she had bought herself in Honiara. Dick Filby got a bit carried away and contributed his penguin belt that he was wearing but the last I heard was trying to buy it back in the morning (I wont tell your wife, honest mate). Hopefully we were on course to raise over $2500 by combining the sales of the ‘best of photos’ CD, the guess the number of species seen on the whole trip sweepstake and Richard Porter’s suggested minimum $10 per person to have your photo taken with the Captain idea. WildWings would be bearing all the overhead costs (including the champage for each purchaser) so each cent would go to this vital campaign. A late night in the bar I gather too.

25^th April

At sea towards Japan (0600 31 16N 134 28E 1800 31 33N 133 09E)

Dick Newell was first up at 0400 and was duly rewarded with more lost migrants in the early morning drizzle. Four Chestnut-eared Starlings were quickly reduced to a single bird on the top mast, seen by most of us. There were thrushs calling before light, presumably Eye-browed and a Red-rumped Swallow with the few Barn Swallows were flying around the ship. Tony woke me just after 0500 and I got out on deck in time to see a Striated Heron and two Little Egrets flying around. A superb Eastern Cattle Egret was sitting on the back deck. Barney has survived another night and readily accepted it’s breakfast from Richard Lowe. I picked up two of the Swallows from the back deck and Richard and I put them in the empty champagne box (from last night) in the bar to warm up and dry out. One had perished by breakfast time but number two still seemed fairly perky. Number two sadly  died during breakfast and another body was found out on deck, the perils of migration. Most of the late-night revelers made it up too but many had disappeared again after breakfast. Coats were also appearing for the first time too, it wasn’t cold but certainly cooler. Otherwise a quietish day, lots of other ships and way too much garbage floating in the sea. In the afternoon we came across a flock of Streaked Shearwaters around an area of ‘boiling’ sea, the bigger fish eating the smaller ones and the shearwaters taking the scraps. Other spring migrants included a Pacific Swift, at least one Intermediate Egret, a Terek Sandpiper around the stern briefly and a few passerines sp. Last night’s Pacific Golden Plover had been taken in and was now living in Dick and Chris’s cabin, eating minced raw meat and taking water. Whilst relatively perky it was deemed pretty thin. Barney had also survived another day too but was flying very little. Two Sperm Whales and a Scalloped Hammerhead Shark close to the ship completed the other forms of marine life seen. A late afternoon chumming session with fish oil produced nothing but the oncoming container vessel must have wondered what we were up to on their radar screen! I started taking the money for the best of photos DVD, pleasingly over 35 had been ordered. More useful money for albatrosses. Tomorrow was our last full day at sea, journey’s end was drawing near.

26^th April

At sea towards Japan (0600 31 32N 133 02E 1800 31 04N 131 17E)

Clear skies greeted the day as we headed almost due west for our port of disembarkation, Kagoshima. Debris in the sea was at it’s worst for the trip, garbage being seen every few minutes including discarded pieces of fishing net. Other shipping was also a frequent sight, from small Japanese fishing boats to global container ships which transit the Panama Canal, the guys on the bridge had plenty to keep them busy. Perhaps unsurprisingly very dead seabird wise with about 100 Streaked Shearwaters throughout the whole day and not a sniff of the hoped for third North Pacific albatross. During the afternoon mist or perhaps smog reduced our horizon to a few miles only with the sun and the moon above. Onboard ship it was admin day, settling bills, group photos on the bows, last conversations with new friends whilst swapping addresses and bird photos. I totted up the proceeds of the various events we had held for the Save the Albatross campaign, an impressive grand total of US$3930 and the figure for next year’s passengers to beat. Avian highlights came again in the form of migrants including 12 Grey Phalaropes and later four Grey-tailed Tattlers which flew around the stern. Today was also the day our Swallow finally left us, albeit heading south. The Pacific Golden Plover was still alive and being force-fed in the WildWings’s leaders cabin, we would have to try and release it tomorrow before customs came onboard. As the afternoon wore on various small flocks of passerines flew over heading north leading to some final excitement. Most went down as sps but at least six male Blue & White Flycatchers were identified and a male Narcissus Flycatcher flew low over the top deck! Our last cetaceans were a close, logging group of Risso’s Dolphins late morning. Fittingly, as the sun finally descended into the gloom, it turned red over the land we couldn’t yet see. The last evening onboard included complimentary wine with dinner and much merriment ensued. After Rodney’s short disembarkation briefing a few of Steve’s photos to remind us what an incredible journey this had been, all 6459 nautical miles of it.

27^th April

Kagoshima, Japan

Just after midnight before bed and a quick glance on deck, a lighthouse sending out it’s sweeping beam on the starboard side. At dawn we were sitting just a mile off the port and soon were slowly sailing in to tie up for the last time. Fisherman were already sitting on the various harbour walls, lines in the sea. A Black-eared Kite patrolled the edges whilst an immature Black-tailed Gull flew by. The shape of a volcano could be seen across the bay as this small, grey industrial city came to life.   Japanese customs could be seen setting up their portable baggage scanning machine on the quayside for our arrival. Formalities were efficient and quick and we were soon loading into buses for our journey to the airport, the ship’s horn giving us a farewell sendoff as we drove away. By dusk the ship itself would be gone, heading for Vladivostok and then Kamchatka for more adventures. By the time the next morning would dawn, most of us would have been well on the way back home, with our discoveries, stories and memories from this unique inaugural voyage.

Very special thanks to Chris Collins for his tireless enthusiasm and energy in co-planning and recce’ing this voyage.

Species Lists

Auckland, New Zealand– Kagoshima, Japan

The voyage itself including migrant ‘land birds’ seen coming up to Japan in the latter stages and birds seen in port or at anchor.

Hauraki Gulf…Norfolk Island...South Pacific...Tropic of Capricorn...New Caledonia…Coral Sea…Solomon Islands...Solomon Sea…The Equator...Truk Lagoon...Tropic of Cancer...Mariana Trench…North Pacific...Torishima Island

Birds

Antipodean Albatross

Gibson’s Albatross

Short-tailed Albatross

Black-footed Albatross

Campbell Albatross

Beck’s Petrel?

Tahiti Petrel

Grey-faced Petrel

Providence Petrel

Kermadec Petrel

White-necked Petrel

Cook’s Petrel

Gould’s Petrel

Collared Petrel

Bonin Petrel

Black-winged Petrel

Pycroft’s Petrel

Fiji Petrel?

Fairy Prion

Bulwer’s Petrel

Black Petrel

Westland Petrel

Streaked Shearwater

Flesh-footed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed Shearwater , dark and light morphs.

Buller’s Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Short-tailed Shearwater

Fluttering Shearwater

Little Shearwater

Tropical Shearwater

Bannerman’s Shearwater

Heinroth’s Shearwater

Wilson’s Storm-Petrel

New Zealand Storm-Petrel

Leach’s Storm-Petrel

White-faced Storm-Petrel

Polynesian Storm-Petrel

Tristram’s Storm-Petrel

Matsudaira’s Storm-Petrel

Common Diving-Petrel

Red-tailed Tropicbird

White-tailed Tropicbird

Australian Gannet

Masked Booby

Red-footed Booby

Brown Booby

Great Frigatebird

Lesser Frigatebird

Great White Heron

Eastern Cattle Egret

Intermediate Egret

Little Egret

Striated Heron

Spot-billed Duck

Black-eared Kite

Little Whimbrel

Pacific Golden Plover

Common Sandpiper

Grey-tailed Tattler

Wood Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper

Bar-tailed Godwit

Red-necked Phalarope

Grey Phalarope

South Polar Skua

Pomarine Skua

Arctic Skua

Long-tailed Skua

Black-tailed Gull

Silver Gull

Great Crested Tern

Black-naped Tern

Common Tern

Arctic Tern

Grey-backed Tern

Bridled Tern

Sooty Tern

Black Noddy

Brown Noddy

Grey Ternlet

White Tern

Pacific Swift

Barn Swallow

Red-rumped Swallow

Chestnut-eared Starling

Siberian Rubythroat

Narcissus Flycatcher

Blue & White Flycatcher

Black-faced Bunting

Jungle Crow

Cetaceans

Sperm Whale

Dwarf Sperm Whale

Pygmy Sperm Whale

Bryde’s/Omara’s Whale

Rorquals sp

Tropical Bottlenose (Longman’s) Beaked Whale

Blanville’s Beaked Whale

Beaked whales sp

Short-finned Pilot Whale

Pygmy Killer Whale

False Killer Whale

Bottlenose Dolphin

Risso’s Dolphin

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin

Striped Dolphin

Rough-toothed Dolphin

Spinner Dolphin

Dolphins sp

Other marine life

Flying fish sp

Tuna sp.

Tiger Shark

Scalloped Hammerhead Shark

Whale Shark

Sharks sp

Turtles sp

Pre-cruise Pelagic 25^th March The Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand.

(as per Chris Gaskin, a narrative report is also available on request)

Blue Penguin

Grey-faced Petrel

Kermadec Petrel

Cook’s Petrel

Pycroft’s Petrel

Fairy Prion

Black Petrel

Flesh-footed Shearwater

Buller’s Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Fluttering Shearwater

Little Shearwater

Wilson’s Storm-Petrel

New Zealand Storm-Petrel

White-faced Storm-Petrel

Common Diving-Petrel

Australian Gannet

Arctic Skua

Common Tern

Grey Ternlet

Pied Shag

Miranda, New Zealand 26^th March 2007

(additional species only)

Little Black Cormorant

Great Cormorant

Black Swan

Paradise Shelduck   

Mallard

South Island Oystercatcher

Variable Oystercatcher   

White-headed Stilt

Masked Lapwing

New Zealand Dotterel   

Banded Plover

Wrybill 

Hudsonian Godwit

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Greater Sand Plover

Red Knot

Kelp Gull

Red-billed Gull

Black-billed Gull

Caspian Tern

White-fronted Tern

Grey Gerygone

New Zealand Fantail 

Tui

Australasian Magpie

The Islands

(additional species only, excludes introductions)

        H-heard only

R-seen on recces but not during 2007 voyage

Norfolk Island , Australia 30^th March

White-faced Heron

Nankeen Kestrel

Purple Swamphen

Whimbrel

Turnstone

Emerald Dove, endemic race

Norfolk Island Parakeet    

Long-tailed Koel

Sacred Kingfisher

Welcome Swallow

Grey Fantail

Pacific (Scarlet) Robin

Golden Whistler, endemic race

Norfolk Gerygone