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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Andrew Whitehouse" data-source="post: 1368081" data-attributes="member: 3550">Day Nine: 1st December, KaikouraI was up early for the first Albatross Encounter boat of the day.  The weather was okay, if a bit cloudy, but there was a heavy swell after some strong onshore winds overnight.  The trip went off okay though, and conditions weren't particularly bad once we were out amongst the birds.  A similar selection of species were seen as on the previous trip, with the addition of a couple of Buller's Shearwaters, one of which circled the boat several times.I was booked on a whale watch trip for the afternoon but unfortunately this was cancelled due to the sea conditions.  The whale watch trips go further out to sea than the albatross boats, so perhaps it was worse out there.  Plus whale watchers are obviously less hard than birders.So, for the rest of the day I explored the Kaikoura Peninsula, the large promontory to the south of the town.  As with many other places on the South Island, the landbirds were dominated by British species such as Skylark, Yellowhammer and Chaffinch.  But there was a good selection of native shorebirds and seabirds, including Spotted Shag, Banded Dotterel, Turnstone, Variable Oystercatcher, White-faced Heron and Australasian Gannet.  Large numbers of New Zealand Fur Seals were on the rock platforms, and there was also a huge colony of Red-billed Gulls.  A bird I was particularly hoping to see here was Pacific Reef Heron, and I eventually found one slinking about the rocks after being tipped off by a birder I'd met on the boat in the morning.   Offshore there still several hundred Hutton's Shearwaters and one or two Sooty Shearwaters. A couple of Salvin's Albatrosses, a White-capped Albatross and 3 Northern Giant Albatross went past at various distances.In the evening I got the bus up the coast to Picton, on the shore of Queen Charlotte Sound, from where I'd be getting the ferry to the North Island the following day.Photos:1. Royal Albatross, I think a Southern2. Two Wandering Albatrosses - Gibson's on the left and the smaller and darker Antipodean on the right3.  Gibson's Albatross stretching its not inconsiderable wings4&5. Salvin's Albatross, take off and landing</blockquote>

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