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Highlights: 4 Albatross
species, Great-winged Petrel
and Black-bellied Storm Petrel
At 07h15 on a Wednesday morning a group of birders
on board a Cape Town Pelagics trip departed Simonstown
harbour guided by Barrie Rose.
Virtually no wind and a flat sea resulted in a pleasant
although uneventful trip across the bay to Cape Point.
Coastal species and few White-chinned Petrels
provided the only interest.
Outside the Point there was a westerly movement of
Sooty Shearwaters and White-chinned
Petrels and by the time we had crossed the
Southwest Reef we were engulfed by an enormous pre-migratory
aggregation of Cory’s Shearwaters. After enjoying
this spectacle we proceeded on a south-westerly course
and made good progress across a glassy sea. During
our steam offshore we added Shy Albatross,
Great Shearwater, Pintado Petrel, Subantarctic Skua
and Wilson’s Storm Petrel to
the list. At 15 miles we stopped at a raft of loafing
albatrosses and were pleasantly surprised to find
that nine were Yellow-nosed: one
Atlantic and eight Indian!
At 24 miles with no trawler or long-liner visible
we swung south and were relieved to find the hake
trawler Maria Marine within the next 6 miles. The
trawler was fishing north and although not processing
fish it had a good flock in tow. The birds were obviously
hungry and gathered closely around us during a 40
minute drift. An inquisitive Giant Petrel
approached to within 2m of the boat! We spent some
hours enjoying eyeball views of this large flock.
Black-browed Albatross dominated
but we added Southern and Northern
Giant Petrel, European Storm petrel,
Arctic Tern and a single
Black-bellied Storm Petrel to the list.
Just as we started heading home, the trawler began
to haul its net. Our skipper had no hesitation in
turning the boat back and allowing us to witness the
feeding frenzy as hundreds of gannets pounded into
the sea and albatrosses argued noisily with Cape
Fur Seals over the scraps falling from the
net.
The trip back to False Bay was briefly interrupted
by a confiding Great-winged Petrel.
The mandatory stop at Partridge Point provided great
views of Bank Cormorants and Cape
Fur Seals before we docked at 15h00.
Bird species seen
Shy Albatross - 250+
Black-browed Albatross - 1000+
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross - 1
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross - 12
Northern Giant Petrel - 1
Southern Giant Petrel - 5
White-chinned Petrel - ca 800
Pintado Petrel - 60+
Great-winged Petrel - 1
Sooty Shearwater - 300+
Cory’s Shearwater - 1500+
Great Shearwater - 50
Wilson’s Storm Petrel - 200+
European Storm Petrel - 5
Black-bellied Storm Petrel - 1
Subantarctic Skua - 30
Cape Gannet - 500+
Arctic Tern - 1
Swift Tern - coastal
Kelp Gull - 30 and coastal
Cape Cormorant - coastal
White-breasted Cormorant - coastal
Bank Cormorant - coastal
Hartlaub’s Gull - coastal
Mammals
Cape Fur Seal - 100+
Fish
Blue Shark - 1
Yellowtail - 1 shoal
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 Barrie
Rose .
To book, simply email
or phone us, or submit a
booking enquiry online.
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