Seabirds

> 10 years ago
Reply
Register to post, see what you've read, and subscribe to topics.
BlueMoon
BlueMoon
866 posts
866 posts
26 Feb 2013 8:08pm

I find it fascinating the different birdlife when sailing, you never see the types of birds from the shore that you see at sea.

Is it just me or do others have birds land on their yachts while sailing?

Last year it was an albatross while exiting Port Stephans at night(didnt even know we got them in oz until it virtually hit me in the head then tried to go downstairs!, had to block the companion way with my legs, before I threw this 'bigger than a turkey' big bird overboard).
Last month it was this bird off Seal Rocks, NSW (at night again), it sat in the cockpit for about 10 minutes before flying off.





cheers
southace
southace
SA
4795 posts
SA, 4795 posts
26 Feb 2013 11:13pm
My favourite is this one!

Ramona
Ramona
NSW
7752 posts
NSW, 7752 posts
27 Feb 2013 8:29am
Bluemoon that is a Mutton bird. If you grew up in Tasmania you would have dug up the squabs out of burrows for a feed! They migrate to Japan each year from their breeding grounds at Tasmania and a small colony at Jervis Bay. They can swim down to about 50 feet and a real hazard while fishing. During the summer months they can be about in large numbers. We had days where we could not pole tuna, they were that thick they blocked out the sky. Swishing the tuna poles around we were knocking them out of the air, they were between your face and your hands on the pole.

When we were stationary we could lean over the side and just pick them up. They would wander about the deck like chooks and not fly off because they could not see the sea or horizon. We would have to chuck them over.
Charriot
Charriot
QLD
880 posts
QLD, 880 posts
27 Feb 2013 1:23pm
I heard they are tasty animales /perhaps not so tasty / but
you can survive on them ?
Ramona
Ramona
NSW
7752 posts
NSW, 7752 posts
27 Feb 2013 6:30pm
Charriot said...
I heard they are tasty animales /perhaps not so tasty / but
you can survive on them ?



I think its an acquired taste. Tasmanians used to squash them up to extract the oil too to make a penetrating oil. Had to be stored in glass jars, apparently it would leak out of tins! This is from an ex navy mate here in town, also an ex fisherman so its gospel.
nswsailor
nswsailor
NSW
1458 posts
NSW, 1458 posts
1 Mar 2013 2:50pm
[quote/] They can swim down to about 50 feet


No NO, they fly down to 50 feet and have been seen near 100 feet down.

Taste good too.

Charriot
Charriot
QLD
880 posts
QLD, 880 posts
1 Mar 2013 7:08pm
Tasty sure, I read somewhere Tassies have seasonal license to kill
certain amount birds annually. They must be in shops or used for something.
There is overpopulation in Vic. and SA islands also warning for yachties when walking
on those islands, watch for big holes /their borrows/ you fell and break a leg
also don't stick your hand in, to pull the young ones, they seriously bite. ???
cisco
cisco
QLD
12365 posts
QLD, 12365 posts
2 Mar 2013 12:45am
In New Zealand, mutton bird chicks are sold at most local fish and chip shops along with smoked snapper fillets, white bait and pauwa fritters, tinned Bluff Oysters (5 dozen to a tin) and mussels.

The mutton bird chicks are larger than their parents due to being fattened up by mum and dad in preparation for them to desert their offspring and roam the seas.

In the Kiwi fish and chip ( sorry, fush and choop ) shops the mutton birds are usually stored in brine in a 20 litre tin.

So you buy your mutton bird or birds wrapped in paper, take them home and place them in a pot that will contain the bird and two to three times the bird's volume of water (as you do with mud crabs, because this is the Kiwi version of mud crabs), then boil the water furiously for 10 to 15 minutes then drain the water and repeat the process another four times.

While doing this you have managed to stink your house out with the smell of halibut oil which you need to boil out of the bird before you eat it otherwise you might get a serious case of the runs.

It is somewhat akin to the method of preparing an Australian Cockatoo for consumption by boiling it up with a river rock, then throwing the cockatoo away and eating the river rock.

The difference is in the case of the mutton bird is that you eat the bird. When you pull on the bone of the bird and the flesh falls away, you have a pink meat that is an absolute delicacy.

What does it taste like??? Well it is one of those flavours where you say "That reminds me of .....uummmmm????
Sweetchariot
Sweetchariot
NSW
38 posts
NSW, 38 posts
4 Mar 2013 11:57pm
38nm off Sydney 8.30 pm a pigeon landed on the poop deck with a thud. Stayed aboard for long rest then took off as we neared Sydney.

Look closely in the dark in the picture and this is where it landed before i brought it on board and crushed a muesli bar for some seeds.

Steve


BlueMoon
BlueMoon
866 posts
866 posts
5 Mar 2013 5:14am
Ramona said...
Bluemoon that is a Mutton bird. ........... They would wander about the deck like chooks and not fly off because they could not see the sea or horizon. We would have to chuck them over.
That makes sense, it fumbled over the coaming onto the side deck before flying away.

Nice one Steve, you really made that pidgeon feel at home

cheers

Sweetchariot
Sweetchariot
NSW
38 posts
NSW, 38 posts
5 Mar 2013 5:52pm
Yeah, used to race pigeons as a kid so i have soft spot for a nice bird,

Steve
cisco
cisco
QLD
12365 posts
QLD, 12365 posts
5 Mar 2013 11:02pm
Anybody here ever eaten a mutton bird??
MichaelR
MichaelR
NSW
862 posts
NSW, 862 posts
6 Mar 2013 12:04am
Sweetchariot said...
Yeah, used to race pigeons as a kid so i have soft spot for a nice bird,

Steve


Did you ever win? pigeons are pretty fast!
Sweetchariot
Sweetchariot
NSW
38 posts
NSW, 38 posts
6 Mar 2013 12:16am
Nah! Once they took flight i never had a chance.

Steve
keithw
keithw
NSW
190 posts
NSW, 190 posts
6 Mar 2013 1:46am
I thought they were only good for there oil?
nswsailor
nswsailor
NSW
1458 posts
NSW, 1458 posts
7 Mar 2013 12:52am
cisco said...
Anybody here ever eaten a mutton bird??


I'm guilty cisco
Ben405
Ben405
NSW
41 posts
NSW, 41 posts
7 Mar 2013 7:26pm
cisco said...
Anybody here ever eaten a mutton bird??

At the bottom of the South Island (NZ) there is a smaller island called, Stewart Island, Where you get off the boat or Sea plane, (i think its call House Shoe bay)( or maybe Half Moon Bay) there is a pub, about 45 years ago when i was a little younger, my perants went into the pub for a beer after the very rough sea journey across the Bass straight, we as kids were left to find something to amuse ourselves with, next to the pub was a old bloke cooking and selling freshly court fish, he offerd my two sisters and i something to eat, my two sisters said no thanks, unfortunatly i have never been known to turn down food so without giving it a second thought i stuffed pieces of unbeknown to me, Mutton Bird in my mouth, i have never tasted anything as bad as a mouthfull of salt and oil, absolutly the most horrible thing ive ever tasted, 45 years later while im writing this i reacon i can still taste it.
cisco
cisco
QLD
12365 posts
QLD, 12365 posts
8 Mar 2013 2:14am
nswsailor said...
cisco said...
Anybody here ever eaten a mutton bird??


I'm guilty cisco


Nothing to be guilty about. Anything that tastes as good as them is good for the soul.
cisco
cisco
QLD
12365 posts
QLD, 12365 posts
8 Mar 2013 2:19am
Ben405 said...
cisco said...
Anybody here ever eaten a mutton bird??

i stuffed pieces of unbeknown to me, Mutton Bird in my mouth, i have never tasted anything as bad as a mouthfull of salt and oil, absolutly the most horrible thing ive ever tasted, 45 years later while im writing this i reacon i can still taste it.


Like I said earlier, they need to be cooked 5 times. That gets rid of the salt and oil. Then they are an absolute taste sensation.

nswsailor
nswsailor
NSW
1458 posts
NSW, 1458 posts
8 Mar 2013 10:28pm

That means that you and I, cisco, are the only ones here who have enjoyed eating muttom birds!!
nswsailor
nswsailor
NSW
1458 posts
NSW, 1458 posts
8 Mar 2013 10:35pm
.
Please Register, or first...
Topics Subscribe Reply

Return To Classic site 😭
Or... let us know if a problem, so we can tweak! 😅