TRIP REPORT
May 2002
Peter Ryan

Summary:
A stunning day at sea, thanks to virtually windless conditions, allowed
for excellent views of a variety of pelagic birds at a couple of longliners
and one stern trawler. It was a mixed bag of late summer and early winter birds, plus a few passage species. Highlights were protracted views of 3 Black-bellied Storm Petrels, 2 Manx Shearwaters, a very odd Skua, two obliging bull Subantarctic Fur Seals, and a couple of post-hoc SLENDERBILLED PRIONS !!!

Full report:
With winter just around the corner, an excited groups of birders, led by
Alvin Cope, Barry Watkins, Jim Enticott and Peter Ryan, left Simonstown aboard the Zest well before sunrise. The weather was perfect - windless, but with a large winter swell keeping the birds active. The first White-chins were seen before Cape Point, and we took a small detour to search for a dyke in the granite below the old lighthouse (bad enough stopping birding for mammals, but rocks were pushing it!)

Once round the point, the impressive size of the sea was more obvious, and we motored up and down large swells, with large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters and Cape Gannets going past. Just beyond Bellows Rock a small detour brought us to a group of feeding Shy and Black-browed Albatrosses, with Subantarctic Skuas and the first of many Great Shearwaters for the day. Running farther out we
had lots of birds for the first 10 miles or so, adding Wilson's Storm
Petrels and Antarctic Prions. We then went through the usual barren patch before finally reaching a group of longliners and tuna boats at around 26 miles out. Here we spent a pleasant hour gaffing kingklip and hake, while being treated to some of the best quality seabird viewing I have enjoyed in ages.

Here we added Pintado Petrel, Black-bellied and European Storm
Petrels, several Indian Yellow-nosed Albies and a late Arctic Skua. One
Catharacta was noticeably small and slender, with peculiar barred sides to the rump and vent - video grabs available on request. Here I also videod a couple of prions which on closer examination proved to be Slender-billed - proof of how difficult this group is even under ideal viewing conditions, and still further evidence of the value of video to capture detail on fast-moving birds!

Heading on to a stern trawler we had more quality views before heading home via another longliner that had an extremely obliging Black-bellied Storm Petrel that yielded some more great video grabs. Heading back to the Point we added a couple of Greatwinged Petrels, and a detour to inspect a roost of Sooty Shearwaters near Bellows we had a couple of nice Manx Shearwaters.

Full list:
Shy Albatross 100s
Black-browed Albatross 100s
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross 2-3
Pintado Petrel 2-3
Great-winged Petrel 2
Antarctic Prion 100s
Slender-billed Prion 2+
White-chinned Petrel 500
Cory's Shearwater 5 (all borealis?)
Great Shearwater 600
Sooty Shearwater 800
Cape Gannets 100s
Manx Shearwater 2
European Storm Petrel 10
Wilson's Storm Petrel 100s
Black-bellied Storm Petrel 3
Subantarctic Skua 15-20
Arctic Skua 1
Arctic Tern 3+

Plus the usual coastal species:Cormorants - Cape, Crowned, Bank,
Whitebreasted.
Terns: Swift , Sandwich, Common.
Gulls: Cape, Hartlaubs
African Penguins