After a successful landing on Leti, we were back on the Lady Denok by late morning. We spent the rest of the day seawatching as we travelled for Wetar Island. We saw a reasonable selection of Seabirds on the crossing including a few Wilson's Storm-petrels, some very distant Frigatebirds, a Red-tailed Tropicbird, some Brown & Red-footed Boobies, a few Common Noddies, two Bridled Terns and two White-winged Black Terns. Perhaps the surprise of the crossing was a party of seventeen Great Knot which bombed past us.
We didn't see many boats once we were at sea & well away from the land. However, these two guys were a surprise to see in such a small boat, given they were many miles from the nearest island.
Frustratingly, most of the true Seabirds were distant, so it was nice when we saw the only Bulwer's Petrel on the crossing & it turned out to be a showy individual. I do like the bizarre jizz of Bulwer's Petrels. Personally, I think Bulwer's Petrels are my favourite Western Palearctic breeding Seabird & I would love to see one from a boat in UK waters.
I will cover the highlight of the crossing in the next Blog Post.