A group of birders left Simon's Town at 07h30 aboard a Cape Town Pelagics trip in no sea and no wind, led by Cape Town Pelagics guide Alvin Cope.
One White-Chinned Petrel was seen on the way to the Point. Once outside the Point and out of the lee we headed out slowly in overcast conditions into a 10 kt south west wind and directly into a short uncomfortable sea. Very few birds were seen for the first 15 miles, Cory's Shearwater being the most common. The skipper picked up a trawler at about 25 miles and as we approached it the bird numbers increased dramatically. This vessel had pulled its net some time earlier and was busy shooting in an easterly direction when we reached it. The wind had dropped, the clouds were gone and we spent most of the day heading east in the trawler's wake with good numbers of birds - many of them much too close to photograph. A leucistic Kelp Gull created some excitement. A good few Great-Winged Petrels in the warm blue water put in an appearance as well as a single Long-Tailed Jaeger. We left that vessel when its chumming had stopped and ran to a second trawler which was winding in. This vessel had reasonable numbers of the same birds but probably 70% less. Two Arctic Terns spent about 30 minutes sitting on the starboard engine cover - turning the tide on the birdwatchers. The trip back was pleasant and the only excitement was a Parasitic Jaeger at about 6 miles from the Point.
Of interest, no Storm Petrels, but large numbers of Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, good numbers of Giant Petrels and a White-Chinned / Spectacled Petrel - a bird with a thin spectacle on the right side of its head, lots of white on the crown and left side of its head BUT a dark tip to the bill - the photos will solve the speculation.
A leisurely lunch in False Bay under the cliffs of Cape Point brought us to the Castle Rock Bank Cormorant colony which yielded views of these birds as well as White-breasted and Cape Cormorant. On an adjacent rock was a single Crowned Cormorant, which completed the cormorant species. At Boulder's Beach we stopped off to view some African Penguin before returning to Simonstown Harbour.
A message from Cape Town Pelagics:
A huge thank you to our experienced skippers who are able to safely lead us to the best birding areas and skillfully manoeuvre the boat into just the best position while all on board are busy concentrating on the birds! Coordinating a pelagic trip over a year in advance with guests from all across South Africa and different countries around the world requires an organised office team. We thank them for their special eye for detail - and for the sometimes last-minute rearrangements and frustration if the weather delays the trip to another day! Our biggest thank-you is to our Cape Town Pelagics guides who take time out of their work, often involving seabirds and conservation, and time away from their families, to provide our guests with a world-class birding experience. Cape Town Pelagics donates all it profits to seabirds, and so all the participants who join the trip make a contribution towards bird research and conservation - a big thank you from all of us.
To book one of Cape Town Pelagics weekly scheduled pelagic trips, simply email or phone us, or submit a booking enquiry online: www.capetownpelagics.com
Bird species seen with estimated numbers :
Shy Albatross 50
Black-browed Albatross 60
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross 5
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross 70
Southern Giant Petrel 10
Northern Giant Petrel 30
White-Chinned Petrel 1000
Sooty Shearwater 5
Great-Winged Petrel 20
Great Shearwater 20
Cory's Shearwater 100
Pintado Petrel 50
Sub-Antarctic Skua 3
Parasitic Jaeger 1
Long-Tailed Jaeger 1
Sabine's Gull 20
Common Tern 50
Arctic Tern 20
Mammals :
Cape Fur Seal