It is January 1st! We have made it! It was a quiet morning here in the house, with few stirring early. I conducted an evening sea-watch & it turned out to be quite productive:
5 Arctic Skua; 6 Southern Giant Petrel; 1 Giant Petrel sp & 26 Cory's Shearwater. This is the first time I have seen numbers of Cory's from the house.
On 2nd January I left Delana at home with her family & I joined up with Pieter for a sea trip with Marine Dynamics out of Kleinbaii.These trips are quite nice but a little frustrating as they concentrate on marine mammals rather than birds & they drive fast between the various stops, so one cannot view any passing seabirds. Never the less it was an enjoyable experience & Pieter as always was good company.
As the wind slowly increased during the day I conducted a sea-watch in the evening: 111 Arctic & 5 immature Pomarine Skuas; 1 European Storm Petrel; 3 Giant petrel sp.; 1 White chinned Petrel & 10 Cory's Shearwaters.
The next day I woke up early to see Common Swifts flying by the house, all heading east. It was quite exciting to see them zooming by. Altogether 3,100 were noted, but it could have been many more, as birds were passing behind the house as well as over the dunes & sea in front of the house. This spectacle has happened before in previous years at this time of year.
A male Amethyst Sunbird paid a visit to the feeders during the day. In the evening I did a two hour sea-watch producing 20 Arctic & a single immature Pomarine Skua.
An evening sea-watch on 4th January produced 82 Arctic Skua & a single Giant Petrel sp.
A quick run out to the Pearly Beach Sewage Works on 6th produced: 18 Cape Shoveler; 14 Cape Teal; 2 Little Grebe & a Water Thicknee.
I then did a bird walk around the village seeing 44 species. The highlight being a pair of Water Thick-knee with a chick & an egg. An evening sea-watch produced 32 Arctic Skuas coming into roost on the sea.
A sea-watch on 7th January produced 43 Arctic Skuas coming into roost. No other birds of note seen.
The next day 136 Arctic Skuas & 6 Giant Petrel sp. came into the bay in the evening.
On the 9th January Rob, Cath, Delana & I did a walk around Pearly Beach. The Water Thick-knee nest held just one addled egg. Hope the chick was under the nearby scrub. All the normal species were recorded but nothing unusual.
In the afternoon we drove the Birkenhead 4x4 trail along the coast. Again nothing noteworthy seen but it was a lovely excursion.
In the evening we had a nice meal at The Whale Brewery here in Pearly Beach.
On the 10th January we all went on an all day birdwatch through Agulhas National Park & the back roads to Struis Bay. We enjoyed decent weather & saw over 80+ species for the day. Highlights were 120+ Greater Flamingoes; Damara Tern, Large-billed Lark & Plain-backed Pipit. The latter species is a highly localised species in the Overberg & not easy to see. An evening sea watch from home produced 95 Arctic & 2 Pomarine Skuas.
Dawn the next day saw 90+ Common Swifts feeding in front of the house over the sea. This is the only species of Swift I have ever seen doing this behaviour. Later we all went on a wine tasting tour to Walker Bay, Raka & Lombard Estates. It was a very pleasant afternoon.
On the 12th January we set out for Rietfontein, which is around 45 kms from Pearly. It is a desolate & scenic coastline, with the added possibility of a few birds along the way. A large group of 28 Common Ostrich were noted with 13 Glossy Ibis on a distant vlei. 30 Common Swifts were feeding over the agricultural land. By the time we reached our destination it became dull & overcast, few birds were seen.
