Off to Kaikoura last weekend with the Nelson Camera Club.  Five of us went out with “Albatross Encounter” for a couple of hours.  Here are a few examples, and I have posted some higher quality images on my wildlife gallery. (The first 10 images are from that trip.) We stopped not a huge distance offshore and the skipper put out a bait bag.  The Cape Petrels arrive first, chattering away and making quite a din.

 Then came some Buller’s Albatross.  I hadn’t seen these on my earlier trips in the summer, apparently they are much more common in the winter months.

Finally the A team arrived: the “great albatrosses”.  First some Wandering Albatross, then a Southern Royal.  These birds are simply enormous.  Sitting on the water, their bodies look larger than a turkey. 

(that’s a Giant Petrel flying past)

In the air however, these bodies look tiny between the giant wings.

Eventually the remaining bait is thrown in and all the birds get a turn.

It’s a trip I can thoroughly recommend! 

You’ll find quite a few pictures of the various albatross species in my wildlife galleries (see link at the start of this post), along with other seabirds.