21-27 November 2005
At 06:00 on Monday, 21 November, 2005, an excited group of 200 birders and guides began assembling at the N-shed passenger terminal in the Port of Durban for the “Mega Pelagic” aboard the MV Madagascar. The 6-night trip would take us via the Almirante Leite Bank, Hall Tablemount and Jaguar Seamount, to Europa Island, a French possession in the Mozambique Channel some 295 km off the south-west coast of Madagascar. The seamounts are just three of a series of underwater mounts within the Mozambique Channel that rise more than 1000 m from the sea floor and act as natural bird attractants where the upwellings formed by ocean currents striking them bring nutrient-rich waters to the surface, which attract fish to the area and consequently, the birds.
Spirits were dampened as it became apparent that the ship had not yet docked from its previous cruise, which would inevitably delay our start. We eventually boarded only to be informed that the pilot would not be arriving until 14:00. We strongly suspected that he was just having his lunch! With tempers starting to fray we slid out of the Port of Durban and we were finally off on our birding adventure just over four hours late.
A third of our number disappeared below decks not to be seen for the next day or two, as we hit the 2m swell outside the harbour – so much for anti-nausea tablets. Half of the rest, myself included, hung on to every possible support until we had developed our sea legs – “move when the ship goes down in your direction of movement, stop when it goes up” – good advice, and we were soon moving around quite comfortably.
In the few hours until sunset, we picked up a pair of Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, a Subantarctic Skua, a Cape Gannet and numerous Great-winged Petrel, already staking its claim as the trip’s “rubbish” bird. The tally of four pelagic species was not getting us off to a great start and the dinner-time conversation was about whether this was setting the tone for the next six days at sea. Events were soon to unfold that would make this a very interesting trip indeed.
Day 2 dawned, after a major overnight storm had brought 5 m seas, with calmer seas and lots of squalls on the horizon. Progress had been slow during the night due to the wind and strong currents, so it would be impossible to make the Almirante Leite Bank in daylight. A decision was taken to head straight for Hall, some two days away. There were some far-from-happy campers on board.
As we hit the first squall a cry went up from someone on the starboard side of the stern pool deck where we were all congregated. But this was not a pelagic bird! An unidentified, largish raptor, possibly a Steppe Buzzard was somehow 80 km out to sea. It was followed some minutes later by an unidentified small falcon. Then a bunting appeared, circled the stern once or twice, affording enough of a view for a consensus of Cinnamon-Breasted Bunting to be reached. Two Willow Warblers were smart enough to take refuge on the ship before flying on to who knows where, when, incredibly, a female Paradise Flycatcher passed down the starboard side. Best guess was that these birds had been blown out to sea during the major storm of the previous night.
I picked up my first lifer of the trip, an Icterine Warbler, 82 km off Cape Vidal! It flew in, settled down and had the good sense to stay. There were some excellent views when it perched on the pool net, before disappearing into some haven behind the funnel, and those with digital compacts in the pockets of their rain gear were in business. The SLR brigade with the big lenses could only watch, but our time was coming! An Amur Falcon flew (or blew) by, then a second bunting appeared, dipped a wing-tip in the water and was swallowed by the next wave. The seventh and last non-pelagic was a Barn Swallow that settled briefly in the rigging before moving on. Non-pelagics 7, Pelagics 4 – and we were 85 km offshore!
There followed a very quiet period with a few Great-winged Petrels, another Great-winged Petrel, and yes you’ve guessed, more Great-winged Petrels. In mid-afternoon a flock of distant Sooty Terns (lifer) was spotted and then a Red-Tailed Tropicbird (lifer) some 200 m off to port. This was followed by another and much closer sighting to starboard. This was a KZN or SA first for some of our assembled galaxy of bird guides that included, among others, Trevor Hardaker, Ian Sinclair, Prof. Phil Hockey, Barrie Rose, Andrew Sutherland, Dr. Peter Ryan, Dr. Rob Leslie and John Graham. Things were soon looking up – literally.
I was half way through a Windhoek Lager at the bar when I noticed lots of commotion out on the pool deck. Everyone was looking up! I rushed out to find that an immature Red-Footed Booby (lifer) had alighted atop the mast. Out came the Canons, the Nikons and the 400mm and 500mm lenses! Well worth the sacrifice of half my beer! Sunset was approaching and we were just short of Mozambiquan waters, but there was just enough time for a pair of White-chinned Petrels and a Wedge-Tailed Shearwater (lifer) to put in an appearance in our wake. Non-pelagics 7, Pelagics 9 – the claim of “Mega Pelagic” now had some substance.
Day 3 brought millpond conditions, a following wind and a much faster ship, but the lightning on the horizon was ominous. Two more Barn Swallows circled in our wake for about fifteen minutes and then disappeared. It rained for 5 hours and we probably missed a few more Great-winged Petrels while sheltering in the Athene Lounge. The hardy few had also seen a single Pomarine Skua, an Audubon’s Shearwater (damn!) and a Jouanin’s Petrel (damn!). Well, so they claimed.
Just after 11:00 an oil rig under tow of two large tugs was spotted off the port bow. After a half hour or so we were leaving it behind on the port side, when a cry went up and and good sightings were made of another Southern African mega-tick – White-Tailed Tropicbird (lifer). Then – here we go again – a Ruddy Turnstone (lifer) appeared, circled the ship for a few minutes and headed off in the general direction of Madagascar. We had only just finished marvelling at the number of non-pelagics we were seeing out in the middle of the ocean, when another small raptor came in from the direction of the oil rig, flew along the port rail about 5 m out, did a u-turn round the bow and headed back towards the oil rig. Perhaps this is where it was roosting. The raptor proved to be a pretty good tick whether on land or 140 km offshore – an immature Sooty Falcon (lifer). Non-pelagics 9, Pelagics 13 – getting a bit unbelievable? Well, there are 200 witnesses! Lots of mutterings of asking for a refund.
The rest of the day proved to be rather fruitless, with distant Sooty Terns, in big flocks of up to 200 birds and another single Red-Tailed Tropicbird. We could only hope for better things on our arrival over the Hall Tablemount early the next morning.
Day 4 proved to be a scorcher. Millpond conditions and not a cloud in the sky. There was going to be some sunburn today. Surprisingly, yet more of the seasick brigade put in a first appearance! The birding, however, began disastrously. Having arrived over the Hall Tablemount at first light and begun laying a trail of a horribly expensive and smelly fish oil not a single bird was seen – not one. But 20 km on over the Jaguar Seamount things improved dramatically with the ship being encircled by a wheeling flock of over 50 mixed Greater (lifer) and Lesser (lifer) Frigatebirds. So many Sooty Terns were evident in large flocks all around the horizon that it was awarded the “rubbish” bird title. Numerous Red-footed Boobies (both white and brown morphs), White-Tailed and Red-Tailed Tropicbirds made up the rest of the Jaguar haul. Not many species, but it was sheer weight of numbers of some very impressive birds that was so astounding. Good sightings too of Bottle-nosed and Striped Dolphins, some Pilot Whales and a Cuvier’s Beaked Whale.
On to Europa Island, which we circled around close enough to see a shipwreck on the beach, then set course back to Durban, but not before we had watched boobies catching flying fish disturbed by our ship, and followed the antics of one intrepid Red-footed Booby who used the fore-mast as a lookout and base for his fishing exploits. He was not too friendly with his fellow fishers who tried to usurp his position. More of the same, too, in the shape of both frigatebirds and both tropicbirds, but the highlight was the majestic flypast of a rare golden morph of the White-Tailed Tropicbird, which breeds on Christmas Island of all places – this is the photo I will cherish most from the trip. Again, a lucky few saw some species that most didn’t – Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua, Arctic Tern, Roseate Tern, a possible Bridled Tern and a possible Matsudaira’s Storm-Petrel (the argument still rages). Non-pelagics 9, Pelagics 18.
Day 5 proved to be another scorcher, with regular sightings of single high-flying frigatebirds and tropicbirds, the inevitable Great-winged Petrels and Sooty Terns. Some Risso’s Dolphins entertained us for a short while and a single large marlin put in an appearance close in along the starboard side. Just before lunch – it’s happening again! – a Whimbrel circled a few times then headed for the mainland, over 100 km away. A rather tatty Pomarine Skua took us to lunch. The afternoon was very slow with 2 hours between sightings of two Wilson’s Storm-Petrels in our wake and the event of the trip, a leaping, frolicking display by a pod of about 10 False Killer Whale, first in the bow wave and then dropping back for a curtain-call in the wake. These majestic beasts are actually large (5-6 m long) dolphins. The late afternoon brought sightings of several large flocks of 1,000-2,000 Sooty Terns, a pair of Pomarine Skuas, the ubiquitous Great-winged Petrel and late in the afternoon 11 Bridled Terns (lifer) passed us no more than 30m off the starboard side. The last sighting of the day was yet another Whimbrel! If it continued on its course it would end up in Australia! Non-pelagics 10, Pelagics 20
Day 6 was a very grey day, with a few whitecaps on the water. Not great conditions for either spotting or photographing birds. First bird of the day, just as the sun was rising, was – we couldn’t believe what we were seeing – an African Hoopoe (now regarded as a sub-species of Eurasian Hoopoe)! It limped across the foredeck, hesitated, circled, and headed for Mozambique. It would have to fly for another 100 km to safety and was not looking in good shape. Then, 30 minutes later, we almost ran down two petrels sitting on the water. Those of us on the foredeck watched as they flew up at only 20 m range, one a Great-winged Petrel, the other a HUGE MEGA-TICK – a Barau’s Petrel (lifer). This bird breeds on the island of Reunion, some 2000 km from our position. This was only the second record for South African waters and the fourth for Southern Africa. Two very good and incontrovertible photos were taken for submission to the Rarities Committee. The sight of Dr. Peter Ryan dancing a jig of joy at his lifer alerted the rest of us to the fact we had been very privileged to add a bird that the great majority of us will never see again (shouldn’t we be allowed to add 10 ticks for this one?).
The numbers on deck began to dwindle as the euphoria over the Barau’s Petrel wore off and a realisation set in that this was a moment that was unlikely to be topped. Peter Ryan resorted to photographing flying fish and flying (or jumping?) squid! The rest of the day comprised a string of Great-winged Petrel sightings broken only by a 15-minute inspection of the ship by a very inquisitive immature Shy Albatross, which did bring everyone back on deck for a marvellous photo opportunity. A massive storm off Richard’s Bay chased us all inside an hour early and made for a very uncomfortable last night aboard. Non-pelagics 11, Pelagics 22.
Day 7, back to Durban around 07:30. Nobody was really that interested in doing any birding, but we chalked up a pair of Arctic Skua and some Swift Tern off Durban Bay. The sandbanks within the harbour provided us with Pink-backed Pelican, Grey Plover, Whimbrel and White-breasted Cormorant (now regarded as a sub-species of Great Cormorant) while we waited our turn to disembark after a memorable cruise.
