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A group of birders left Simonstown
on Saturday October 17th led by Cape Town Pelagics
guide Alvin Cope in very little sea and no wind.
No birds were seen on the way to the Point, the only
excitement being a very surreptitious Southern
Right Whale. Outside the Point, we headed
out - still in no wind, but into a fairly uncomfortable short
3m sea. A single Pomarine Skua in
the distance plus very few other birds were seen on
the way out until at 5 miles, a large flock of Gannets
and mixed Common and Swift
Terns diving into a mixed patch of Cape
Fur Seals, Cape Cormorants
and about 50 Common Dolphins entertained
us for a while.
A pleasant surprise, with very few of the usual birds
on the way out, was a single Flesh-Footed
Shearwater at about 12 miles. The skipper
spotted a number of trawlers at about 18 miles and
we were soon in amongst 100's of birds in the wake
of one of them.
We spent the rest of the day in the wakes of 3 trawlers,
getting the usual very close up views of most of the
usual stuff and fairly poor looks at a single small
(80 cm) Atlantic Blue Shark. A single
Manx Shearwater in amongst all the
birds gave all a good couple of minutes views. It
was unusual to see up to 6 Atlantic Yellow-Nosed
Albatrosses flying by "in a bunch".
By the time we turned for home, the sea had dropped
a bit and the South Easter was gusting up to 6.5 knots
- making a very pleasant calm ride home, with sadly,
fewer birds than we had on the way out.
Of interest, no Black-Bellies, a few Swift
Terns with the trawlers and large numbers
of Atlantic Yellow-Nosed Albatrosses.
Birds seen, with numbers where known
and estimated, excluding all the usual stuff on the
inside.
Shy Albatross 100
Black-browed Albatross 50
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross 3
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross 20
Yellow-nosed Albatross sp 1
Southern Giant Petrel 2
Northern Giant Petrel 3
Giant Petrel sp 10
White-Chinned Petrel 2000
Flesh-Footed Shearwater 1
Sooty Shearwater 20
Great Shearwater 200
Manx Shearwater 1
Pintado Petrel 50
Wilson's Storm Petrel 20
Sub-Antarctic Skua 3
Pomarine Jaeger 1
Parasitic Jaeger 3
Sabine's Gull 6
Arctic Tern 100
Mammals
Cape Fur Seal
Southern Right Whale
Common Dolphin
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.
Trip report by Cape Town Pelagics
guide Alvin Cope.
To book, simply email
or phone us, or submit a
booking enquiry online.
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