05 June 2010    
Cape pelagic trip    
     

I was once again a guide on a ZEST for BIRDS pelagic trip today. There was very little wind to speak of and the sea was pretty flat as well, but that created another problem for us in that we had thick fog for the initial part of the trip. Once this cleared, we still had fairly overcast conditions and it was only quite a bit later that the sun eventually showed itself and gave us some decent light. Birdwise, the highlight was a single Spectacled Petrel although a late Cory's Shearwater was also of interest and a very lost Crowned Cormorant at 20 nautical miles offshore also created a distraction. This species is typically a coastal species and it looked really out of place out there. Not a single cetacean was seen today, but we did have a large Oceanic Sunfish to add to the fun.

     
Black-browed Albatross Shy Albatross Wilson's Storm Petrel
     
Cape Gannet White-chinned Petrel Sooty Shearwater
     
Northern Giant Petrel Great Shearwter Subantarctic (Brown) Skua
     
Pintado Petrel Spectacled Petrel Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross
     

 

Full list of species recorded on the day
   
Links to pages with additional photos highlighted in red
   
Common Name Scientific Name Additional notes
     
Birds - 22 species    
     
Subantarctic Skua Catharacta antarctica  
Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus  
Hartlaub's Gull Larus hartlaubii  
Swift Tern Sterna bergii  
Cape Gannet Morus capensis  
Crowned Cormorant Phalacrocorax coronatus 1 at 20 miles offshore!
White-breasted Cormorant Phalacrocorax lucidus  
Bank Cormorant Phalacrocorax neglectus  
Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis  
African Penguin Spheniscus demersus  
Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus  
Northern Giant Petrel Macronectes halli  
Pintado Petrel Daption capense  
White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis  
Spectacled Petrel Procellaria conspicillata  
Cory's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea 1 individual - late in the season
Great Shearwater Puffinus gravis  
Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus  
Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris  
Shy Albatross Thalassarche cauta  
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri  
Wilson's Storm-Petrel Oceanites oceanicus  
     
     
Mammals - 1 species    
     
Cape Fur Seal Arctocephalus pusillus  
     
     
Other sightings - 1 species    
     
Oceanic Sunfish Mola mola