Science & Research Internal Report N0.105 Bird and Mammal Observations on Adams Island and Southern Auckland Island

Observations were made of birds and mammals on Adams Island and the southern end of the main Auckland Island between 2 November and 7 December 1989. Thirty-five bird species, fur seals and sealions were observed. Five Auckland Island rail were captured and many more heard on Adams Island. Counts of wandering and royal albatross, yellow-eyed penguins, Auckland Island teal and Auckland Island dotterel were undertaken on Adams Island. Introduction As part of the 1989 Department of Conservation expedition to the Auckland Islands the authors, Lou Sanson (Department of Conservation, Invercargill) and Andris Apse visited Adams Island, southern parts of the main Auckland Island and some small islands in Carnley Harbour between 2 November and 7 December 1989. Our main aims were to search for Auckland Island rail, and count yellow-eyed penguin, Auckland Island dotterel, and Auckland Island teal but we made many incidental observations of other species. This report summarises all our incidental mammal and bird observations, details the results of our albatross counts and describes briefly the results of our rail search, dotterel, penguin and teal counts which are reported in more detail elsewhere (Elliott 1991, Walker & Moore in press, Moore 1990, and Moore & Walker 1990). Coverage Figure 1 shows the places we visited and camped on Adams Island and the adjacent main island. Our main base was at Magnetic Bay. Grid references Grid references in this paper refer to the draft Auckland Islands map of the Infomap 260 series produced by the Department of Survey and Land Information.