It isn't often that you get to see the ocean off Southern Victoria as calm as this. Truth be told, neither is that the best weather for seabirding ... the birds idly sit on the water and even the temptation of rotting fish guts does little to draw interest from more than a few albatrosses. Somehow these birds, almost the size of swans and with bills like garden shears, make light work of flight even in an almost empty breeze. Seventeen of us joined Birdswing Birding and Wildlife Tours this Sunday. It was a last-minute attempt to see Great Shearwater, the bird that for the first time in history, has been found in huge numbers off Australia (it should be in the Atlantic right now!). We saw just one bird ... but that was enough. We are also at the tail-end of the Blue Whale season in Victoria. This year has been pretty interesting, with lots of land-based sightings. We saw one animal at reasonably close range and a couple of others blowing on the horizon. All the time, literally hundreds of Fairy Prions whizzed past or rafted on the sea. It was spectacular and made a fitting end to a day that included bow-riding Common Dolphins, several types of albatross and some fine company. Read more and look at photos ... Less