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.
