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A Cape Town Pelagic trip departed
at 07h00 from Simonstown on Saturday 12th
September guided by Cape Town Pelagics guide Bruce
Dyer.
Several dozen Red-winged Starling
as well as Hartlaub’s and Kelp Gull were
conspicuous in the harbour prior to sailing. As the
vessel cast off, a Pied Kingfisher scooted
by, which got the group quite excited, as well as
providing a practice run to hone skills for birds
dashing past a bucking vessel. A cold front and subsequent
strong seas had passed by earlier in the week. From
time to time such fronts have been known to drag in
something unusual from the deep. It set the mood for
what turned out to be a productive trip.
Large numbers of Cape Cormorant
and several Swift (or Crested) Tern
and a single Grey Heron were viewed on
a moored pipe while we navigated our way between numerous
recreational boats fishing off the harbour. Immature
and adult cormorants were present and told apart from
similar Crowned Cormorant (which were not present
here) by size and eye colour Cape Cormorant adults
have blue eyes and the immature have brown eyes, while
Crowned Cormorants adults have red eyes and the immature
have yellow eyes. As we passed Boulders several groups
of African Penguin were seen heading out to
sea. Then some blows were seen and soon magnificent
views of two of five Humpback Whales were seen
by all, before they moved away from the vessel to
join the other three a little further away. More blows
were picked up shortly thereafter, and although a
little distant, were confirmed as Southern Right
Whale. A group of dolphins seen in the distance,
turned out to be Common Dolphins (Robin Leslie
confirmed this with myself). Right Whales were disconcertingly
scarce, but this may have to do with numerous fronts
and big seas that had been buffeting the Cape recently.
Chris stopped briefly in the front
of the awe-inspiring cliffs of Cape Point for a photographic
memory and we were once again treated to a cetacean
this time a fast moving Bryde’s Whale. The
cliffs all along from Smitswinkel Bay to Cape Point
were dotted with small to large colonies of Cape
Cormorant which have begun to breed.
We headed out towards the Cape Canyon
trawl grounds into a weak north-westerly and moderate
swell. The bank of cloud offshore did not look too
promising, but as luck would have, it did not worsen
the conditions. The diffused light in fact aided identification
and provided all round good viewing. Shouts went up
for Sooty Shearwater and White-chinned
Petrels and before long, most guests’ first view
of an albatross. One immature Shy Albatross in
particular insisted that there was something on offer
from our boat and soared extremely close-by, providing
really grand views. It led to several queries as to
why it’s called a Shy Albatross. Several boats were
detected on the horizon and as we drew nearer we noticed
with glee, no less than six trawlers each with stupendous
numbers of birds attending.
We steamed up to the first trawler
shortly after it had pulled its net aboard. A small
Sunfish was seen paddling steadily along the
surface, much to everyone’s delight. It happily and
momentarily distracted our attention away from the
birds. All the while though, hundreds of Cape Gannets
were frantically grabbing at scraps and dropping
from the sky like shot arrows. Many dozens of Black-browed
and Shy Albatross of all stages from juvenile
to adult were noisily squabbling over scraps and wheeling
about the surrounding waters in the wake of the trawler.
Hundreds of White-chinned Petrel and
literally thousands of Pintado Petrel were
noisily squabbling over scraps. Less numerous were
Sooty Shearwater and Giant Petrels of
which most were Northern Giant Petrels. We
moved down the wake and would you believe it, there
was a Northern Royal Albatross soaring along
conspicuously, large amongst its smaller cousins.
While getting the entire group onto this magnificent
bird, a Southern Fulmar settled onto the water
20 metres from the boat. It was quite a dilemma deciding
which of the two species to look at first.
Many dozens of Wilson’s Storm
Petrel were busily picking up scraps well behind
the vessel. A few curious Sub-antarctic
Skuas were also present as were several Kelp
Gulls. This was the trend at all the trawlers
visited until the penultimate visit, when shouts of
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross rent
the air excitedly. Most missed the bird as it got
lost amongst the confusion of attending birds. We
stayed with this vessel mainly because of the astronomical
numbers of feeding Pintado Petrels. Then, a
casual remark was overheard about a white Giant
Petrel. We dropped everything and moved closer.
We did not really need to, as it came so close it
almost joined us on board. Sitting discreetly a few
metres away from this wonderful bird sat an Atlantic
Yellow-nosed Albatross, providing great
views for all on board. Great Shearwaters were
about in very low numbers, and never really provided
great views as they disappeared into the mayhem. Fair
numbers of Cape Fur Seal also attended each
trawler.
We reluctantly left the trawlers
and headed back to Simonstown with a few of the group
finally succumbing to sea-sickness. However, I have
seldom seen such a happy bunch of sea-sick people
- it generally has quite the opposite effect. Such
trips must rate as one the greatest spectacles a birder
could wish to see and long may it be so. It was really
encouraging to note that both Sea Harvest and I &
J vessels all towed tori-lines during fishing and
deserve a special mention, as without their co-operation
such amazing spectacles could have been a thing of
the past.
Progress back towards Simonstown
was much more pleasant with a following sea and wind.
Once around Cape Point we were back into calmer waters.
We briefly stopped at Partridge Point to view the
colony of highly endangered Bank Cormorant.
Sitting on a nearby rock was an adult and two immature
Crowned Cormorant, and on another rock a small
colony of breeding White-breasted Cormorant.
Most rocks also included a generous sprinkling of
Cape Cormorant - thus all four marine cormorants
were on show for comparisons. The outer-most rock
had several dozen snoozing Cape Fur Seal, while
another rock had three African Black Oystercatcher
present. Our final stop was briefly at Boulders
to view several African Penguins ashore. Most
were in immature plumage with only a solitary adult
present.
The vessel was alongside at 14h15,
much to relief of some of the group who by then had
earned their spurs and the title of hard-core birders.
Bird List
Shy Albatross > 500 (adults,
imm and juv present)
Black-browed Albatross > 500 (adults, imm and juv
all present)
Northern Royal Albatross 1
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross 3
Antarctic Fulmar 2
White-chinned Petrel > 2000
Pintado Petrel > 10000
Southern Giant Petrel > 10 (incl. white morph)
Northern Giant Petrel > 10
Wilson’s Storm Petrel > 1000
Sooty Shearwater > 50
Great Shearwater > 5
Cape Gannet > 2000
Sub-antarctic Skua > 10
Kelp Gull > 40
Hartlaub’s Gull > 10
Cape Cormorant > 1000
Crowned Cormorant 3
Bank Cormorant 22 pairs
White-breasted Cormorant 15 pairs
Swift Tern > 20
African Penguin > 50
Pied Kingfisher 1
African Black Oystercatcher 3
Mammal List
Cape Fur Seal > 100
Southern Right Whale 3
Humpback Whale 7
Bryde’s Whale 1
Common Dolphin c.100
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 Bruce Dyer.
To book, simply email
or phone us, or submit a
booking enquiry online.
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