Bremer Bay Bird Expedition

This December we will run a series of birdwatching trips out to the Bremer Canyon with experienced seabird guides. This is a rare opportunity to use Naturaliste Charter’s whale watching catamaran, the Alison Maree, before the start of the main Orca tour season.

The Bremer Canyon is rightly famous for the spectacular Orca viewing throughout the Summer and Autumn, but the birding can be just as exciting! It is the only Australian pelagic location
that semi-regularly reports Barau’s Petrels, whilst other summer rarities have included Cory’s and Great Shearwaters, Cook’s and Pycroft’s Petrels, and Chatham and Amsterdam Albatross. Such rarity sightings are obviously the exception rather than the rule, hence, we are running four trips to give ourselves the best possible chance to connect with something special.

However, even the day-to-day seabirding is top class, when large swirls of Flesh-footed Shearwaters often indicate the presence of Orcas, and other common seabirds include Wilson’s and
White-faced Storm-Petrels, Great-winged Petrels, Indian Yellow-nosed, Black-browed, Shy, and the mighty Wandering Albatrosses. Furthermore, if we are lucky enough that the Orca have made a kill, the large oily slicks generated from these predation events can attract hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of seabirds to feast on the scraps.

And of course, whilst we will be targeting seabirds on these trips, we will also have a great chance of seeing various cetaceans. Long-finned Pilot Whales, Bottle-nosed and Common Dolphins are all regular, whilst the deeper sections of the canyon are well known for the variety of Beaked Whales (Grey’s, Cuvier’s, Strap-toothed, Southern Bottlenose) that occur here – these represent a favourite prey target for the Orcas!! Sperm Whales and various baleen whales are also possible, though these are more regular later in the summer. Other oceanic wildlife semi-regularly recorded on these trips includes sunfish, Blue Sharks, various whaler and hammerhead sharks, Long-nosed Fur Seals, and Australian Sea Lions (we will stop to check the small colony on Glasse Island on the way back in).

For any visiting birders, Bremer Bay is a great birding location with exciting species such as Western Whipbirds, Western Fieldwrens, Red-eared Firetails, Hooded Plovers, Brush Bronzewings, Southern Emu-wrens and Rock Parrots all occurring around the outskirts of town. In addition, Malleefowl, Purple-gaped and White-eared Honeyeaters, Southern Scrub-Robin, Shy Heathwren, Blue-breasted Fairywren, and Regent Parrots are all regular on half-day outings from Bremer. And most south-west endemics can be readily targeted on the drive from Perth to Bremer and back. Feel free to check-in with the pelagic leaders for details on sites to try for these birds.  

These trips have been organised by Dan Mantle, Plaxy Barratt, John Graff, and Stu Ford. They are very knowledgeable seabird guides who have considerable experience running seabird trips in Western Australia. They will be helping to point out any interesting seabirds or cetaceans that we come across.  

Meeting Time: 7.00am for a 7.15 am departure. (Duration: Approximately 8 hours).

Departure Point: Bremer Bay Harbour at the end of Swarbrick Rd, Bremer Bay.

Please bring your own lunch and snacks.

Inclusions

• Expert Commentary from Sea Bird Experts


• 8 hour on board a 23M Purpose Built Catamaran


• Tea, Coffee, Milo, Water & Biscuits