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On Sunday 29 November 2009, after
weeks of stormy weather, conditions finally moderated
enough for a Cape Town Pelagic trip to head out to
sea from Simonstown with a group of eager birders
lead by Cape Town Pelagics guide, Rob Leslie. In response
to a question from one of the passengers, our skipper,
Alan, replied that we were unlikely to see any whales
in the Bay as it was late in the season. He had hardly
finished speaking when a ski boat ahead of us called
to say that they had almost collided with a couple
of whales. Armed with this welcome news we traveled
slowly past Boulders and were treated to great views
of 2 Southern Right Whales. Hopefully this
being a good omen for the day.
The rest of the trip across False Bay was uneventful
with the sea a bit choppy. We rounded the Point to
find a very “confused” sea choppy conditions with
swells coming from two directions a legacy of the
recent stormy conditions. Although there was not much
wind, and the waves were small, the irregular chop
made the ride a bit uncomfortable.
Soon after rounding the Point a we encountered the
regular flock of Sooty Shearwaters, accompanied
by a single Manx, feeding in the current line
off the Point. We continued out into the Atlantic
Ocean making for the trawl grounds at the head of
the Cape Canyon.
As we approached the Canyon we detected
a number of trawlers. The closest trawler, Harvest
Miriam Makebe was a bit south of us and the Forest
Lily to the north. On previous trips I have been
disappointed with the birds around the Makebe,
so I opted to go north to the Forest Lily even
though she was quite a bit further away. It turned
out to be a good decision as the Forest Lily
had a large mixed flock in attendance including lots
of Shy and Black-browed Albatrosses,
both Northern and Southern Giant Petrels
and some late Pintado Petrels.
We spent quite a bit of time with
the Forest Lily enjoying the wonderful spectacle,
then started moving south towards the other vessels.
As we were passing a raft of over 50 albatrosses I
caught a glimpse of a shade of brown that was out
of place I couldn’t think of anything except a Wandering
Albatross with that particular shade of brown, but
there didn’t appear to be a big enough bird in the
raft. We made a U-turn and went to investigate.
We approached the raft of albatrosses
and sure enough there was the odd bird with a mottled
tan brown head and neck definitely one of the Wandering
Albatross complex, but really small, about the size
of a Shy Albatross with a fairly small pink bill.
I asked those with cameras to get plenty of pics of
the bird while I frantically tried to get my camera
ready, fearing that the bird would flush. I needn’t
have worried as the bird was very friendly, in fact
really reluctant to fly, and we all got photos. We
then moved closer to flush the bird so that the extent
of the breast band and the back colour could be seen.
The bird flushed reluctantly and flew a short distance
before landing again. We approached it again to flush
it a second time before leaving it in peace. Unfortunately
the bird did not have a ring so it probably will not
be possible to unequivocally assign this individual
to a species within the wanderer-complex. Based on
the small size, pale mottled tan back and neck, complete
breast band and smallish bill with dark gonys, I think
that there is a good possibility that this is a Tristan
Albatross (Diomedia dabbenma) rather than
a Wandering Albatross (D. exulans).
I sent digital images to various people for comment,
but there are currently no clear identification characters
to confirm the species identity.
We started heading south towards
the rest of the trawl fleet. Alan and I were in the
cabin discussing which trawler we should visit next
when there was a shout of “Spectacled”. Although the
bird had well marked white rings around the eyes,
nobody saw whether it had a white forehead or a dark
tip to the bill, so an aberrant White-chinned Petrel
could not be ruled out. We stooged around for a bit
but failed to relocate the bird. Then we moved off
to the westernmost trawler, where we stopped to drift
and enjoy the spectacle of the large attendant flock
of albatrosses, White-chinned and Giant
Petrels while we had lunch. There were a number
of Greatwinged Petrels, including one friendly
bird that flew directly over us making it easy to
ensure that everybody got on to the bird.
After lunch we started slowly making
our way back stopping briefly at each trawler on route.
The Spectacled Petrel was seen twice more,
both rapid fly-bys but the white forehead was clearly
seen confirming the identification.
After we rounded the Point we took
a leisurely drive across False Bay including the obligatory
stop at the Bank Cormorant and Cape Fur
Seal colonies off Partridge Point. On our return
to Simonstown we took a detour to round the yachts
anchored in the bay to look for Crowned Cormorants.
Estimated Pelagic species
“Wandering” Albatross 1
Shy Albatross 900
Black-browed Albatross 700
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross
50
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross 10
Southern Giant petrel 20
Northern Giant petrel 50
Pintado Petrel 20
White-chinned Petrel 1000
Spectacled Petrel 1
Sooty Shearwater 300
Great Shearwater 10
Cory’s Shearwater 100
Manx Shearwater 2
Great-winged Petrel 6
Cape Gannet 2
Subantarctic Skua 1
Arctic Skua 10
Kelp (Cape) Gull 50
Sabine’s Gull 10
Arctic Tern 6
Coastal
Jackass Penguin Common
White-breasted Cormorant Common
Bank Cormorant Few
Cape Cormorant Common
Crowned Cormorant Few
Kelp (Cape) Gull Few
Hartlaubs Gull Common
Swift Tern Common
Sandwich Tern 10
Common Tern Few
African Black Oystercatcher 4
Mammals
Southern Right Whale 2
Cape Fur Seal Common
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 Rob Leslie.
To book, simply email
or phone us, or submit a
booking enquiry online.
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