Pelagic out of Hermanus

Pieter, who arranged this trip.

 Pieter had arranged a pelagic out of Hermanus Harbor on 26th December. He had arranged it through Majestic Cruises, which run a small catamaran, with two powerful outboard motors. Pieter had been with them before & the vessel proved to be fine for our particular needs. One huge bonus, was that the skipper arranged to make the chum. This is a huge plus point, as this job is often left to me & I don't like it!

Rapidly leaving land behind.

Photo courtesy of Juantelle Louw.

Ten of us arrived on time in the early morning & after a short delay, we were off! The weather was pretty decent, clear skies warm temperatures & the sea was not too rough. Hopes as always, were high, but this is not the best time of year for pelagic seabird diversity. We rapidly made our way out to sea & stopped at around 25 kms from land. Because of the high speed, we had seen little on the way out, just a couple of Arctic Skuas, a distant Cory's Shearwater & a brief European Storm Petrel, which not everyone saw. Then we started to chum & birds arrived, as if by magic!

A few of the birders on board.

Photo courtesy of Delana Louw.

White chinned Petrel

Photo courtesy of Keith Hamilton

Photo courtesy of Keith Hamilton

This species was the first to arrive.

Quite an aggressive & fearless species.

Close & personal!

Photo courtesy of Delana Louw.

The white chin on this species 

is incredibly variable.

Photo courtesy of Delana Louw.

Little & large!

Photo courtesy of Delana Louw

Sooty Shearwater

Still a few around. 

Vast majority of the population are on 

their breeding grounds further south.

This species is a huge ocean wanderer.

Photo courtesy of Keith Hamilton

Photo courtesy of Duncan Fletcher

Cory's Shearwater

Freshly arrived in these waters, 

from their breeding grounds

 on the Azores & the Canary Islands.

This species arrives in large numbers 

to winter (in our summer) around 

southern African waters.

Photo courtesy of Keith Hamilton

This is an interesting bird, as it shows white 

going into the primary shafts. 

However, not far enough to be Scopoli's Shearwater.

Photo courtesy of Keith Hamilton.

European Storm Petrel

Up to nine birds were around the boat at any one time.

Photo courtesy of Delana Louw.

Showing the definitive white band on the underwing

for identification purposes.

Photo courtesy of Delana Louw.

The vast majority of this species entire population

winters in waters around southern Africa, 

One only gets close views like this 

when you chum from a boat.

Kelp (Cape) Gull

Kelp Gull has an extensive distribution,

 even reaching Antarctica.

Sabine's Gull

Photo courtesy of Duncan Fletcher

Adult in winter plumage commencing moult.

Photo courtesy of Delana Louw

Photo courtesy of Delana Louw.

Photo courtesy of Delana Louw.

Immature Parasitic Jaeger (Arctic Skua)

Species list:

11 Arctic Skua; 1 Sabine's Gull; 6 Kelp (Cape) Gull; 1 Common Tern; 14 Great crested Tern; 10 European Storm Petrel; 34 White chinned Petrel; 7 Cory's Shearwater; 4 Sooty Shearwater; 2 Cape Gannet; 15 Cape Cormorant.

Please note: no coastal species seen included in these totals. 

A big thumbs up for Pieter (for organizing this trip) & to all the photographers who very kindly let me use some of their images.

I for one, would be keen to make trips such as this a more regular event. We still have an awful lot to learn about the species distribution & abundance of pelagic species off this particular piece of the South African coast.

Pearly Beach

 We arrived home in late afternoon on 5th December after four flights; twenty nine hours flying time, crossing ten time zones & a three hour drive! Both of us were exhausted! We didn't do much in the next few days & it took us a while to unpack!

Speckled Pigeon

This house is the perfect home for them!

Red eyed Dove

African Rock Martin

Cape Sugarbird

It doesn't take them long to find the feeders!

Malachite Sunbird

Male in non-breeding plumage.

Malachite with Southern Double collared Sunbird

Female

Cape Weaver

This is the start of a Cape Weaver's nest

 which it had twined around a wall hanging.

Uilenskraal Estuary

Greater Sand Plover

It was always distant, so images heavily cropped.

On 13th December I visited the Uilenskraal Estuary in the afternoon. It was a beautiful sunny day & I walked around the eastern part of the area. Lots of waders were around & I picked up a Greater Sand Plover, which could possibly be the same individual returning to winter/summer here. 

Little Stint with a lone Curlew Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper

Three banded Plover

Birds seen:

53 Grey Plover; 190 Common Ringed Plover; 2 Three banded Plover (breeding); 4 White-fronted Plover; 33 Whimbrel; 2 Bar-tailed Godwit (unusual here); 27 Curlew Sandpiper; 116 Little Stint; 3 Common Greenshank; 940 Great crested Tern & 135 Sandwich Tern.

Sea watching with the cats!

I spent the evening sea watching & it was quite productive with 51 Arctic Skuas coming into roost & a European Storm Petrel feeding relatively close inshore.

Sandwich Terns

I conducted a short evening sea watch on 14th December recording 5 African Penguins: 81 Arctic Skuas came into roost. However, probably the best record was 385 Sandwich Terns moving east in the hour before dark. I believe this is the largest number I have ever seen off Pearly Beach.

The evening sea watch on 15th produced 147 Arctic & an immature Pomarine Skua.

I enjoyed a walk around the village in lovely weather on 17th December. Nothing special was noted but it was nice to wander around old haunts after our recent lengthy trip.

Best birds:

10 Egyptian Geese; 3 Yellow billed Duck; 1 Red billed Duck; 74 Speckled Pigeon heading east in small flocks; 5 African Swift; Malachite Kingfisher appears to be breeding again in the sand bank along the drain; 1 African Paradise Flycatcher (unusual here) & the Pin tailed Whydah have just arrived to start breeding.

The next day I walked/birded along the main R43 road just outside of Pearly. At this time of year there are normally a couple of ponds & a marshy area along the road. But this year dry, so no water birds seen. Best were 41 Cattle Egrets; 4 Crowned Lapwing; 1 Yellow billed Kite; 1 Steppe Buzzard & a Southern Tchagra.

Amethyst Sunbird.

The evening sea watch on 19th December saw the skua roost building up nicely: 338 Arctic & an immature Pomarine Skua came into the roost. However, the highlight was an adult male Amethyst Sunbird which visited the feeders on the balcony. A new species for the garden & only my second record for the village. 

A baby Angulate Tortoise found in the garden.

My neighbor was working on his roof today,

 hence the ladders! 

This Sugarbird thought the red plastic stoppers

 on the ladder were flowers & worthy of investigation!

The next morning my first Common Swift of the season flew along the coast. A Southern Tchagra in the garden was noisy but managed to evade my camera! 

The evening sea watch was quite spectacular & the best of the season to date. A massive 473 Arctic & 2 immature Pomarine Skuas came in to roost.

Uilenkraal Estuary at low tide.

Great crested & Sandwich Terns

Large numbers of Terns use this area for

washing & preening in the daytime.

Caspian Tern

On 21st December we visited the Uilenkraal Estuary. It was a nice sunny day, but strong winds made for challenging viewing. Delana & I walked right around to the furthest part of the estuary & we had some good counts of waders. 

Greater Sand Plover

This is the second individual.

A huge surprise was to find not one but two Greater Sand Plovers! This is a rare bird in South Africa & is a fantastic local record.

Common Ringed Plover

Curlew Sandpiper

Best birds:

26 Grey Plover; 225 Common Ringed Plover; 13 White fronted Plover; 65 Whimbrel; 196 Little Stint; 39 Common Greenshank (our biggest count here). 

A walk along the coast is always rewarding.

Black headed Heron

Hartlaub's Gull

African Oystercatcher

It makes a change for this species

 to choose a safe nesting place.

They normally nest close to the path!

White fronted Plover

Cape Wagtail

Karoo Prinia

On 22nd December I once more birded the village. I recorded 53 species, which is slightly below average for this route. The best being a Black Saw-wing which looks like it is breeding in the same banking as the Malachite Kingfisher. If this transpires it will be a great local breeding record.

Evening on the beach.

I started sea watching at 5.30 pm on 23rd December. Very few birds at all, but a Giant Petrel sp. flew by, which is a good record for this time of year. By 7.30 pm I had only recorded 88 Arctic Skuas coming into roost. Then it all started happening! One flock of 136 birds flew in from the open ocean really high & then dropped like stones onto the sea. It was spectacular! By the time I stopped viewing at 8.10 pm there were 599 Arctic Skuas roosting on the sea in a tight flock. 

It is difficult being the only observer here. Birds sometimes arrive from two or more different directions at the same time, which makes it tough for me to count accurately. Also by concentrating on the Skuas, I am sure to be missing more general sea birds like possible Sabine's Gulls & European Storm Petrels both species are active feeders at dusk.

The morning of 24th December dawned sunny & there was little wind. However, as the morning progressed the north-west wind picked up. I had a look over the sea but it was largely bird less. In the afternoon, it got colder & colder. The wind switched direction to the south-west & the rain hammered down. In these conditions pelagic birds often come into the bay & so it proved. I enjoyed an excellent sea-watching session from the balcony.

Giant Petrel sp.

Pomarine Skuas

15.20 - 17.10 hours:

2 Pomarine Skua; 40 Arctic Skua; 3 Southern Giant Petrel; 1 Northern Giant Petrel; 6 Giant Petrel sp.; 11 Cape Gannet.

Later in the evening had a quick look over the sea & 165 Arctic & 4 Pomarine Skuas flew west, quite close inshore. Delana & I had Christmas Eve guests, so I couldn't do a continuous watch. 

It was Christmas Day, so only a brief sea  watch in the evening which revealed 98 Arctic Skuas & a Southern Giant Petrel were over the sea. 21 African Rock Martins roosted on the side of the house. 

Blue Bay.

Juantelle, Etienne, Tess & Ryno.

On 27th December a few of us walked along Blue Bay. I spotted a Shrike at some distance which looked really interesting. It certainly looked like a Daurian type Shrike, which would be a mega rarity in these parts. However, it kept its distance & proved very elusive with only poor quality photos being taken. 

Crowned Cormorant

Grey headed Gull & Sandwich Tern

Sandwich & Great crested Tern.

Sandwich Tern

White fronted Plover

Cape Wagtail

The next morning I again visited Blue Bay to try & relocate the Shrike but despite extensive searching I had no luck. I then walked home along the beach, which was very pleasant. Nothing unusual was seen.

Arctic Skuas

A mixed flock of adult & immature birds.

In the evening, Tinus & his father Pieter visited to experience the Skua Show! Unfortunately the Skuas didn't play ball & the majority of them came in late. 207 Arctic Skuas; 1 Southern Giant Petrel & a Giant Petrel sp. were recorded. They seemed to enjoy themselves though, as both had never seen as many Skuas as this in one day.

Strong southerly winds got me out of bed early on 29th December. I was hoping for a good sea watch. Best birds were: 17 Arctic Skua (unusual in the daytime here); 1 Giant Petrel sp.; 2 White chinned Petrel & 38 Sandwich Tern.

The Cape Sugarbirds took a liking to the power 

source for the Christmas lights!

Bully Canary

I was up early, looking over the sea on 30th December. Despite the conditions looking good I saw next to nothing: only 4 Common Terns were of note.

Nothing was seen on 31st December apart from the Amethyst Sunbird still being in residence. It has taken a liking to the feeders!

The proof of the pudding!

Then it was all about getting ready for New Years Eve & our party. Delana & I also got engaged!

The year was over. Where has the time gone? 2022 was an interesting & bird filled year for us, with 832 species being recorded. It was an interesting mix of southern African countries & our mega trip to Indonesia & the SW Pacific.