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Highlights: Southern Royal
Albatross
The morning of Sunday 6th
November was still and calm as we set out from Simonstown
harbour aboard a Cape Town Pelagics boat led by Cape
Town Pelagics tour leader Dalton Gibbs. There had
been heavy winds the day before and with a mild cold
front approaching we were keen to see what birds we
would find in its path. In the harbour we met up with
Cape Gulls, Cape Cormorants, Swift Terns,
and a few Sandwich Terns. False Bay was
relatively calm as we quickly motored toward Cape
Point, with only a few Cape Cormorants and Cape
Gannets joining us.
At Cape Point we stopped to check
in with the lighthouse keeper and admire the view;
we soon came into contact with a dozen White-chinned
Petrels that had no doubt strayed into the bay
with the heavy winds the week before. A group of
Swift Terns was harassed by a Parasitic Jaeger
and a Sooty Shearwater soon turned up as we
headed out to sea. Our first Shy Albatross appeared
some miles off Cape Point and we had only distant
views of this species before a curious individual
decided to follow us for a while.
We had reports of a trawler a long
way to our north, but decided to continue westwards,
picking up a long liner at the 20 N Mile mark. Before
we reached it we had found Great Shearwater,
Northern Giant Petrel, a young Black-browed
Albatross and just before reaching the long liner,
a Pintado Petrel.
The long liner was processing it’s
catch and had several dozen albatross and smaller
pelagics in attendance. We soon found Atlantic
Yellow-nosed Albatross and after further searching
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross. A few Sub-Antarctic
Skuas were about and we had good views of both
Northern and Southern Giant Petrel, including
an uncommon white morph of Southern
Giant Petrel. Wilson’s Storm Petrel appeared
in small numbers and were soon joined by European
Storm Petrel. This mix of birds was interspersed
with White-chinned Petrel, Shy and Black-browed Albatross
and Pintado Petrels. We followed the long liner for
a while, working through the birds behind her and
getting good views of most of the species. Another
long liner appeared nearby and we went across to her,
finding a similar composition of species, except for
a Great-winged Petrel which did not stay for
long, but of which Christoph did manage to get a photograph.
A second bird appeared briefly later, but with windy
conditions it soon moved out of sight.
A leisurely lunch was served as
we trailed behind the long liner, taking in views
of all the species. Eventually it was time to return
and we set off toward Cape Point. No sooner had we
left the long liner than a large white-backed albatross
rose from a group of birds nearby. It was a young
Southern Royal Albatross, which was joined
by two Shy Albatross as it rose up and headed toward
the long liner. We gave chase in the boat, but with
the high winds, the bird moved quickly westwards and
we had only a few more fleeting glimpses of it.
After this excitement, we headed
back to Cape Point, riding the ocean swells as they
surged toward land. Once within the calmer waters
of False Bay we headed across to the Castle Rock cormorant
colony, where we found White-breasted, Cape and
Bank Cormorants. Closer towards Simonstown,
a few African Penguins lined Boulders Beach,
and when we reached the harbour we picked up a Crowned
Cormorant and a pair of African Black Oystercatchers
on the harbour buoy line.
Bird species seen and approximate
numbers:
Swift Tern coastal
Arctic Tern 30
Sandwich Tern - coastal
Hartlaub’s Gull coastal
Cape Gull - coastal
Cape Cormorant coastal
Bank Cormorant coastal
White-breasted Cormorant coastal
Crowned Cormorant coastal 1
African Penguin coastal
Cape Gannet coastal & pelagic
3
Africa Black Oystercatcher coastal
2
Sub-antarctic Skua 8
Parasitic Jaeger 2
White-chinned Petrel 70
Southern Giant Petrel 8
Northern Giant Petrel - 6
Pintado Petrel 30
Great-winged Petrel - 2
Great Shearwater 100
Sooty Shearwater 5
Shy Albatross 70
Black-browed Albatross 40
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross
- 6
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross
4
Southern Royal Albatross - 1
Wilson’s Storm Petrel 20
European Storm Petrel - 5
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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