Fiji Trip Reports
First photograph of Fiji Petrel from off Gau Island, Fiji
This is fantastic news. The Fiji Petrel has been seen and photographed off Gau Island, in the Fiji archipelago. A press release a couple of hours ago from Birdlife International reveals many details, such as the species is known only from one specimen collected in1855. That is 154 years ago. Alright, the article admits that there been a few reports of birds landing on the roofs on houses on Gau island that possbly were this species. But without photos or specimens, it is hard to be sure.
The article also describes the very interesting chumming method used:
The main ingredients of chum? Fish offal cut into small pieces and mixed with very dense fish oil, to which water was added and then frozen in 10-kg blocks. The chum was prepared a few weeks ahead by volunteers from the BirdLife Affiliate in Fiji, NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, the official BirdLife Species Guardian for Fiji Petrel.
Frozen chum blocks persist for up to one-and-a-half hours, creating a pungent and constant oil slick, which attracts petrels from some miles away. On the second day, the first Fiji Petrel appeared, approaching the chum slick from downwind, slowly zigzagging over the slick, and suddenly changing direction to drop onto a small floating morsel.
From blog: A birding blog by Gunnar Engblom: Birding in Peru and South America with Kolibri Expeditions
Read more: First photograph of Fiji Petrel from off Gau Island, Fiji
Tony Pym reports from the Fiji Petrel Expedition
With an attempt to put some content on my always too unfrequent blog, I have decided to share birding news that come my way. I have previously posted to posts on this fascinating expedition. The first was a summery of the planning and execution of the discovery of Fiji Petrel. The second an interview with the expedition leaders Hadoram Shirihai and Tony Pym.
Here is a report from Tony Pym from the The Fiji Petrel Expedition published on the listserver Seabird-News on Sep 18 of significant sightings recorded between May 12-22, 2009 near Gau island. Observers were Hadoram Shirihai, Tony Pym, Joerg Kretzschmar and Dick Watling. The records clearly indicate why the observers consider this marine area a new and important hotspot for seabirds.
From blog: A birding blog by Gunnar Engblom: Birding in Peru and South America with Kolibri Expeditions
Fiji, 27th Nov - 5th Dec. 2004, Paul Noakes
This is a report on a birding trip that I did with Chris McGuigan to see as many of the Fijian endemics as possible. It was part of a longer birding trip in which we visited New Caledonia and Hawaii, with a few days in California on the way back home to the UK.
Birds
There are no endemic bird families on Fiji although the odd Silktail is most unusual and has uncertain affinities. There are about 25 endemics although some of these are extinct and others only occur on very distant offshore islands which are difficult or time consuming to visit. There are several species only shared with a few neighbouring island groups such as Tonga. Pigeons are particularly well represented with some stunning fruit-doves. For the average birder there are three main islands to visit, Viti Levu, Taveuni and Kadavu.
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