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.