| - SOUTH POLAR SKUA
A party of 6 departed from Simon’s Town at 7 am on
Friday, 21 April 2005, led by Ross Wanless. The trip to the
point passed somewhat uneventfully, with the usual near-shore
species all putting in appearances, and the only noteworthy
species was an Arctic skua, seen briefly. As soon as we passed
through the washing machine and got into open water we started
seeing pelagic species, including plenty of Sooty and Great
shearwaters and White-chinned petrels. We also stopped to
enjoy a cloud of mostly Swift terns actively hunting above
a school of feeding yellowtails. After a brief shower, the
sun emerged, and dampened spirits were revived with sightings
of Shy albatross, European and Wilson’s storm petrels
and the single Cory’s shearwater for the trip. As we
reached the fishing grounds we immediately encountered active
hake longliners, with plenty of pelagic species in attendance.
While moving between two boats, a white-backed albatross was
briefly sighted. The skipper responded well, but the bird
was lost and did not re-appear. During the excitement, the
trips only giant petrel flew by, but attention was elsewhere
and it was not identified to species.
The spectacle of hundreds of seabirds around the vessels,
with new species occasionally arriving, kept everyone well
entertained. The abundant storm petrels came especially close
to our boat. The return run looked to be almost over, when
suddenly a skua showed an interest in the boat. It turned
out to be an intermediate morph of a South Polar skua! We
got excellent views of the bird from below and from the side,
and noted the generally plain, unstreaked/blotched/mottled
body plumage. The breast was a cold, uniform, grey-brown colour
and the light nape & mantle contrasted with the darker
back and wings. The clincher, not that more features were
required, was an obvious white ring of feathers around the
base of the bill.
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