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A group of birders left Simon's Town aboard a
Cape Town Pelagic trip on Saturday October 24thin calm sea
and no wind,lead by Cape Town Pelagics guide Alvin Cope.
No birds were seen on the way to the Point, but two pods
of Southern Right Whales were
sighted. We headed outside the Point still in
no wind and no sea and sadly very few birds - a single
Parasitic Jaeger and a big patch of
Sabine's Gulls provided some interest.
The skipper spotted a trawler at about 20
miles as we approached them another 4 were seen in
the distance. None of the vessels had pulled their
net, so we, like the birds just sat around and waited.
It was not too long before the birds gathered around
one of the vessels and the rest of the day was spent
amongst these boats and their birds. The windless
conditions caused the birds not to fly as easily as
usual and very close views of all the birds available
were had by all. The lack of any Storm Petrels was
a bother, but we did manage reasonable looks at a
few towards the end of the trip. The trip back
was very pleasant but bird-less except for a large
flock of Sabine's Gulls - for sure the
same lot we saw on the way out. The wind in the Bay
was from the west and probably up to 15 knots in gusts.
A group of Southern Right Whales
and a single Bryde's Whale were seen
by some inside the Bay.
Of interest, a lack of Storm Petrels.
Birds seen,
with numbers where known and estimated, excluding
all the usual stuff on the inside.
Shy Albatross 100
Black-browed Albatross 30
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross 2
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross 4
Southern Giant Petrel 4
Northern Giant Petrel 10
Giant Petrel sp 10
White-Chinned Petrel 2000
Sooty Shearwater 10
Great Shearwater 80
Pintado Petrel 50
Wilson's Storm Petrel 3
Sub-Antarctic Skua 5
Parasitic Jaeger 1
Sabine's Gull 300
Arctic Tern 30
Mammals
Cape Fur Seal
Bryde's Whale
Southern Right Whale
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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