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After a cold front had blown through the Cape a few days
before, we were fortunate to be able to board a Cape
Town Pelagics trip on Sunday 4th September.
We departed from Hout Bay Harbour at approximately
07h30, the trip guided by Dalton Gibbs of Cape Town
Pelagics. In the harbour we found Cape
and Hartlaubs Gulls knocking about, whilst a few Cape Fur Seals hung about on the
buoy lines.
Out of the harbour we soon came across
Swift Terns feeding in the Bay, whilst
further out White-chinned
Petrels began to make an appearance.
Cape Gannets were heading out to sea mixed
with the first few Sooty
Shearwaters, soon followed by Shy
Albatross some distance off. A Giant Petrel passed
us, but was not close enough to determine the exact
species.
We headed further out to
sea, getting better views of Shy Albatross and having
brief views of Wilson's
Storm Petrel; and a Sub-Antarctic
Skua that followed us for a while. The radar showed
two vessels further out and we headed in their direction,
finding Black-browed
Albatross and the beautifully marked Pintado
Petrels on the way. At the trawlers Cape
Fur Seals tried to get on to the nets at
the side of the vessel, as Cape Gannets
dived in amongst them. A Northern Giant Petrel was about, along
with dozens of Shy and Black-browed
Albatross. White-chinned Petrels
and Sooty Sheatwaters made up further
numbers of the few hundred birds around the trawler.
An unseasonal Great
Shearwater made an appearance, with closer views
of Wilson's Storm Petrel. A small
group of small terns compared favourably for a group
of Antarctic Terns.
Whilst working through
the birds around us we contacted the skipper of our
second Cape Town Pelagics boat out at sea that day.
They departed from Simonstown that morning and were
a few miles south of us where they had found a stern
trawler. We headed off in their direction, finding
the trawler some 6 nautical miles from us. As we approached,
our skipper picked up a large white-backed albatross
rise up in front of us. It was a Northern Royal Albatross that flew before
us for a while before disappearing into a large group
of Shy and Black-browed Albatross.
We met up with the second boat and travelled
with her for a while before she turned back toward
Simonstown. We saw the Northern Royal Albbatross
again briefly, but the bird frustratingly disappeared
into mass of other albatross around. We had views
of both Northern
and Southern Giant Petrels, but despite much
searching could not locate either Yellow-nosed Albatross
species.
We stayed with the trawler
until 13:15 when she lifted her nets and we were treated
to the spectacle of several hundred albatross, gannets,
skuas, gulls, and petrels wheeling and falling into
the sea around the rising fish net. Heading back towards
Hout Bay was calmer with the light southerly wind
that had started at our backs.
Just outside Hout Bay we found three African Penguins in the water, while 12 giant petrels sat on a floating seal
carcass near the harbour.
Bird species seen and approximate
numbers:
Antarctic Tern
Swift Tern – coastal
Hartlaub's Gull – coastal
Cape Gull – coastal
Cape Cormorant – coastal
African Penguin – coastal
Cape Gannet – coastal & pelagic –
1500
Sub-antarctic Skua – 20
White-chinned Petrel – 500
Southern Giant Petrel – 8
Northern Giant Petrel – 10
Pintado Petrel – 800
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater – 150
Shy Albatross – 500
Black-browed Albatross – 500
Northern Royal Albatross – 1
Wilson's Storm Petrel – 50
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 Dalton Gibbs.
To book, simply email
or phone us, or submit a
booking enquiry online.
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