Carnley Harbour

tony
June 5, 2016
birds / landscape / New Zealand / Subantarctic / travel

Carnley Harbour was our next destination after leaving Musgrave Inlet. Looking at a map the impression is a large sheltered harbour snuggled between the southern end of Auckland Island and Adams Island and while this is the case once you are well within it, the prevailing westerlies are funnelled down the length and squeezed through the eastern entrance like a venturi.

Satellite map showing how the topography funnels the prevailing westerly wind

Heading into this gale we had plenty of birdlife to entertain us as great flocks of Shearwaters were moving as well as the occasional Southern Royal Albatross and 2 Gibson’s Albatross which breed on Adams Island.

Flock of Sooty Shearwaters - 14 birds visible in this single telephoto shot gives an idea of the huge numbers in the flock — Flock of Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters – 14 birds visible in this single telephoto shot gives an idea of the huge numbers in the flock

Southern Royal Abatross wheeling with Adams Island in the background — Southern Royal Albatross (*Diomedea epomophora*) wheeling with Adams Island in the background

The same Southern Royal Albatross skimming the sea at the near side of it's glide — The same Southern Royal Albatross skimming the sea at the near side of it’s glide. The black line along the lower edge of the upper mandible is a key differentiating feature between Royals and Wanderers.

Albatross taxonomy is a bit of a nightmare. Broadly divided into the Great and Lesser Albatrosses (which in New Zealand are often dubbed Mollymawks). The Great Albatross are divided into Royals (Northern and Southern) and Wanderers under which the Gibson’s/Antipodeans (along with Tristan, and Amsterdam) are some sometimes considered part of and sometimes as separate groups. My favourite guidebook (A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife by Hadoram Shirihai) lumps them all as Wanderers but I will stick with the NZBirdsonline current classification treating Antipodeans as a separate species (Diomedea antipodensis) with the Auckland Island subspecies as Gibson’s Albatross (Diomedea antipodensis gibsoni) as it it more recently updated.

Probable female Gibsons Wandering Albatross. White bird on white is a great exposure challenge best managed with manual settings. — Probable female Gibson’s Albatross (*Diomedea antipodensis gibsoni*). White bird on white is a great exposure challenge best managed with manual settings. No black line on the bill identifies it as a non-Royal Albatross with the location, dusky cap and flecking on the breast pointing to it being a Gibson’s Albatross

Same Wandering Albatross as in previous photo landing near a probable juvenile. — Same Gisbson’s Albatross as in previous photo landing near a probable juvenile.

Mike Potts and Andrew Isles watching the birds as we navigate into Carnley Harbour — Mike Potts and Andrew Isles* watching the birds as we navigate into Carnley Harbour. Adams Island is the visible land.

We moved up further into the harbour with the hope of landing to explore old Coastwatcher huts but the wind was too much for Zodiac landings so we changed plan and headed back out again, setting course for Campbell Island with the sea on our starboard quarter giving us a rolling passage further south.

*Andrew Isles specialist Natural History Bookshop in Melbourne looks like a treasure trove of new, second-hand and antiquarian books and artworks. The website is well worth a visit and I will make a point of visiting the shop when I find myself in Melbourne. Natural history books made a huge impression on me as as child and the illustration plates remain the inspiration for my long term Birds on White project.