I had now done three pelagic trips, the first in October 2008 in the Cape, March 2009 again in the Cape, and one out of Durban in July 2009. I had yet
to see any of the Great or "White-backed" Albatrosses, namely Northern and Southern Royal as well as Wandering Albatross. I had also yet to set eyes on a Southern Giant Petrel, and needed some photographic evidence
of having seen its cousin, the Northern Giant Petrel. Leading up to our trip, there were continued reports of sightings of the Royal Albatrosses, as well as a white form of the Southern Giant Petrel. Trevor decided to
really rub it in, posting his Rare birds report with photos of what would be 4 lifers for me, one after the other: Northern Royal Albatross, Southern Royal Albatross, White form of Southern Giant Petrel, Southern Fulmar...
For the second time running, we had an inbound aeroplane delaying our departure from Lanseria - as we were already on the 18h25 flight, this meant we were going to be in Simon's Town very late... During the wait, I
checked the forecast with Trevor - all was good, seas were flat, wind was almost non existent (by Cape standards). We landed right in a calm hole in the weather, we were to be lucky indeed.
Early on Saturday, we met at the harbour and were soon on our way. The sea was indeed flat! Kelp and Hartlaub's Gulls, Swift Terns and Cape Cormorants were amongst the first birds ticked, before we were out of the harbour.
African Penguins, Cape Gannets, Bank and White-breasted Cormorants were next to be added. A single Bryde's Whale was seen just before we got out of False Bay - John gave us a quick lesson in pronunciation, as the origin of the
name is Norwegian, and pronounced "Breeders Whale". Our first pelagic bird was, surprise surprise, White-chinned Petrel. Soon afterwards we saw our first Albatross of the day, a Shy Albatross, followed by Sooty Shearwater.
A few Terns crossed our path, a few Common, as well as a pair of Arctic Terns, identified by their white rump.
Tobie then points at a greyish bird - "what is that!" - Our first Southern Fulmar! We got reasonable views and terrible photos. About 15 minutes later, Trevor resighted the Fulmar, probably the same bird. It gave us a great
show and we also managed to get some reasonable photos of it. The first of a few thousand Pintado Petrels was next on our list. A Northern Giant Petrel flew past, not the best views, but an improvement on my previous one. Black-browed Albatross were added, then lifer number two, a Southern Giant Petrel. We also crossed paths with a large school of
Common Dolphins, which gave us quite a show.
We got near to the trawler and the magnificent spectacle of whirling, diving squawking seabirds surrounded us. A few Sabine's Gulls were seen, non co-operative for photographers, as they usually seem to be. I had a great time
photographing the Pintado's, which were giving us quite a show, flying right next to us, above us, below us.... They were in fact so close, it was good to have a zoom lens, as the photo below is zoomed right out to 100mm!
Soon after we had tagged onto the stream of birds behind the trawler, a shout went up: "NORTHERN ROYAL!!!" We all got some good views of the bird, unfortunately a touch far for mind blowing photos, but some record shots were
taken. A few hours later, we were starting the long trip back, when a second "White-back" was seen: "SOUTHERN ROYAL!!!" Debbie unfortunately missed it, as it was soon past us, again some record shots taken.
Other species added before this amazing day out at sea was over included Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, Subantarctic Skua and Great Shearwater. Another Southern Fulmar was also seen, and judging by the bill colouration, definitely
a different bird to the one seen earlier in the morning.
Some pictures taken on the trip are on the following links:
The detailed report will soon be on the 'net from the Zest team, thanks to all of them for a great day out. We followed this trip up with a morning out at Arabella, successfully locating a Hottentot Buttonquail as well as
the Agulhas subspecies of Cape Clapper Lark. It was a great Cape trip!
