TRIP REPORT
23 October 2004
Hello the Net,
A group of birders led by Ian Sinclair, Barrie Rose and Alvin Cope, left Simon's Town at 07h00 on Saturday 23 October 2004 in a big South Easter and the knowledge that we were in for a bumpy wet ride.
Just off the Bullnose, we came across a Sunfish. No birds were seen up to the Point, and very few all the way out to 24 miles, where the skipper had found a few trawlers. Here we had reasonable looks at all the expected stuff and poor looks at Blackbellied Storm Petrel and Greatwinged Petrel. Most of the trawlers were either running or trawling into the west, which would have given us a very uncomfortable ride back home. The skipper had located a longliner 6 miles East of us and decided to go for it. This was the right decision, as we got brilliant very close views, of both Yellownosed Albatrosses, Blackbellied Storm Petrels, Giant Petrels and Greatwinged Petrels. The trip back produced very few birds and a reasonable amount of spray. In contrast to the day before, we only saw one whale, a Bryde's, 4 miles inside the Point, and the wind had churned up all the pink stuff (plankton) making the sea a khaki colour.
Of interest, the vast expanse of khaki sea, low numbers of Albatrosses and Sooty's, the large numbers of Black Bellies and no Sabine's Gulls..
Birds seen with numbers where known excluding all the usual stuff on the inside.
Shy Albatross 20Black browed Albatross 2
Indian Ocean Yellow-nosed Albatross 1
Atlantic Ocean Yellow-nosed Albatross 5 Southern Giant Petrel 1
Northern Giant Petrel 5
White chinned Petrel Greatwinged Petrel 8
Great Shearwater Sooty Shearwater 6
Pintado Petrel
Black-Bellied Storm Petrel 47
Wilson's Storm Petrel
Sub Antarctic Skua
Parasitic Jaeger 8
Arctic Tern
Common Tern
Mammals
Cape Fur Seals
Bryde's Whale
Thankyou to the skipper & his crew for finding the trawlers & longliner making for good views of the birds. Thankyou to the guides for making the trip so interesting, and for looking after the birders, and to Alvin Cope for writing the trip report.