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Highlights: Flesh-footed
Shearwater and hundreds of European
and Wilson’s Storm-petrels
The morning of the 17th March was a calm morning after
a week of moderate southerly winds. We boarded a Cape
Town Pelagics trip guided by Dalton
Gibbs. In the harbour we met up with the usual
Cape and Hartlaub’s Gulls,
Cape Cormorants and only a few
Swift Terns. Once in False Bay we passed
a few African Penguins near the Boulder’s
Penguin Colony on their way out to catch fish. There
were not many of the usual Swift Terns
in False Bay as we headed toward Cape Point.
Near to Cape Point we picked up
flocks of Cape Gannet with a lone
Parasitic Jaeger passing us. Just
after Cape Point our first White-chinned Petrels
came into view, soon followed by groups of Cory’s
Shearwater. In this inshore zone the sea
temperature was 13.5 deg C and the sea a greenish
colour. There was a headwind blowing which made for
bumpy swells on the way out.
Heading out to sea we found a lone Sooty Shearwater
and then a few Wilson’s Storm-petrel.
On the horizon we made out the shape of a trawler
and set out for her, finding only Sub-Antarctic
Skua that was new en route. Our first albatross,
a Shy Albatross, was some distance
from the land and we started to see more of these
as we headed out. We crossed a current line and the
sea changed to a beautiful blue colour and the temperature
rose to 18 deg C and with it our first Black-browed
Albatross appeared. When we caught up to
the trawler it was the “Bluebell” out
of Cape Town. She had her nets down and a good trail
of birds behind her. We quickly picked up Indian
and then Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross,
with Great Shearwater soon following.
A few hundred Shy and Black-browed
Albatross added to the mix, whilst mixed
flocks of Wilson’s and European
Storm-petrels flew around the boat.
Sabines Gulls passed us in small flocks.
A Long-tailed Skua made a close fly
past, while several Sub-Antarctic Skua
flew around us from time to time. We travelled along
the line of birds behind the trawler for over an hour,
with a few hundred birds in attendance.
After working through all these
birds we were rewarded with a Northern Giant
Petrel and then a Flesh-footed Shearwater
that flew around our boat a few times. We had brief
views of Atlantic Blue Shark near
the boat before we decided to visit another trawler
that was nearby. Here we found a similar mixture of
birds but in lower numbers. With the day getting on
we headed back to land, reaching False Bay after an
hour and had lunch under the towering cliffs of Cape
Point.
After this we headed across False Bay to the Castle
Rock cormorant colony where we found White-breasted,
Cape Cormorants and Bank
Cormorants, the latter on nests. The nearby
seal colony had it usual assortment of young and adult
Cape Fur Seals and their accompanying
smells!
Back in Simonstown we caught up with a Crowned
Cormorant to complete this group for the
day.
Bird species seen and approximate
numbers:
Swift tern – coastal
Hartlaub’s Gull – coastal
Cape Gull - coastal
Sabine's Gull - 50
Cape Cormorant – coastal
Bank Cormorant - coastal
White-breasted cormorant – coastal
Crowned Cormorant - coastal
African Penguin – coastal
Cape Gannet – coastal & pelagic –
50
Sub-Antarctic Skua – 10
Parasitic Jaeger – 1
Long-tailed Skua – 1
White-chinned Petrel – 500
Northern Giant Petrel – 2
Cory’s Shearwater – 200
Great Shearwater – 100
Sooty Shearwater – 5
Flesh-footed Shearwater – 1
Shy Albatross – 200
Black-browed Albatross – 200
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross – 8
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross – 2
Wilson’s Storm Petrel – 200
European Storm Petrel – 200
Mammals:
Cape Fur Seal
Fish
Atlantic Blue Shark
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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