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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.
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
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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