Outing to Cape Point National Reserve.

 

On 23 June 2024 the Cape Bird Club went on the annual sea watch at Cape of Good Hope. It was still dark when we arrived, and the gates hadn’t even opened yet. There were just a few people there at such an early hour of the morning. As we drove along, I looked out for caracals, nightjars and whatever other night creatures I could find. We got to the car park without seeing anything. A few minutes later, Uncle John Graham, the leader of the outing, drove up and said he’d seen two caracals on the side of the road. Soon afterwards it was light enough to get pictures and a few people got some good views as well.
After that we headed up the cliff to the spot where we did the sea watch. A couple early sightings, while Uncle John was still explaining some of the more basic tube-noses to the others, were a beautiful Shy Albatross soaring out near the bellows, and soon afterwards a humpback whale jumping out of the water, both within the space of about 10 seconds.
There were thousands of Sooty Shearwaters flying along, as well as a few Cape Gannets, although in the beginning they were difficult to see due to the haze. Numerous other Shy Albatrosses were seen during the day, other than the one I had originally seen, along with three Brown (Subantarctic) Skuas, none of which I saw.

There were also a few Giant Petrels seen, some Northern and some Southern. There were also a few White-chinned Petrels, but far less than normal, from my personal experience. There were a few ships passing through, which helped draw some birds landwards on such a calm day. To my knowledge, of the approximately 40 people there, everyone saw at least 3 – 5 species of tube-noses.

Report by Zachariah Kaspersen (12 years).

The outing was well attended, with the members eagerly anticipating the juicy winter pelagic sea-birding. Unfortunately for the birding (though fortunately for the comfort of the attendees) the weather was really good, with minimal wind and consequently flattish seas, and the rather exposed vantage point halfway up the cliffs was comfortable and dry and was not wind-swept, as might have been expected.

A good number of the attendees had come well equipped with spotting scopes and sturdy tripods and this made for good viewing of the tubenoses that were foraging offshore. Though many of the birds were more distant that would be ideal, there were relatively close flybys by most of the species on offer and these gave the guides the opportunity to point out useful identification features. And even on the more distant birds, the birders were able to become more acquainted with the gizz and flight characteristics of the birds, so important in the identification of pelagic seabirds.

The shore-watching was best in the first few hours and after this, the birds moved a little further offshore and the harsher light and haze made for more difficulty in appreciating them. Attention was shifted to the birds on the shoreline and the challenges of cormorant ID and, amazingly, a sharp-eyed observer picked up a Bank Cormorant, an extremely unusual bird for the west cost of the nature reserve, amongst the more usual Cape, White-breasted and Crowned Cormorants.

The long staying Cape (Glossy) Starling was also on show at Pappiesbank and capped off a most enjoyable morning, and as a loitering baboon prevented our picnicking there, members gathered rather, and maybe more fittingly, at Neptune’s Dairy for some snacks and a chat.

Report by John Graham.

Two members who have joined the CBC in the last six months – Grace Remondo and Liling Yan.
Thanks to John Graham for leading the walk, and to all those who shared their spotting scopes and helped others to identify the birds. Thanks, also, to the photographers for sharing their photographs. It was wonderful to have about ten people on their first CBC outing and a good number who saw their first albatross!

Photographs by John Graham, Liling Yan, Penny Dichmont and Dennis Laidler.

Report by Penny Dichmont.