Flying down to Cape Town on Friday for work, we used my SAA companion ticket to fly Nicola down as well. We planned to spend some time with my and her family and also try to do our first pelagic trip on Saturday. Unfortunately we got news during the course of Friday that the pelagic trip had to be canceled for the weekend due to high winds on the sea so we decided to visit Cape Point National Park instead. My Dad accepted the invitation of joining us for the day's birding but as my Mom had already made plans for the day, she could not.
On Saturday morning we were on our way before dawn and reached Simon's Town around 06:45. A quick peek at Boulder's beach got us our first African penguins for the year and we also paid tribute to the Western Cape's most famous dog, Just Nuisance. At Cape Point NP the weather was cold, windy and miserable and most of the birds seem to appreciate this and huddled down. Orange-breasted sunbirds, Levaillant's and Grey-backed cisticolas were abundant though and with the odd Cape sugarbird and Malachite sunbird, the birding was OK as we made our way down to Cape of Good Hope. Here we added Cape cormorants, Swift terns, African sacred ibis, the ever-present Common ostriches and Red-winged starlings feeding off the sea lice scurrying around the beached kelp. At the Cape Point lighthouse we took a quick walk to the historical lighthouse and also down to the new one, ticking Cape bunting, Cape bulbul, Cape robin-chat and Bokmakierie. Further sightings included Cape spurfowl, Jackal buzzard as we drove towards Olifantsbos and then returned to exit the park. By now the wind had died down and the sun emerged from behind the clouds - it was turning into a lovely day and we felt a bit cheated about not being able to do the pelagic trip. At Kommetjie we had a quick bite to eat and although there were a number of birds in the Kom, no new ones were added for the day. Past Hout Bay we drove into some afternoon fog on our way to visit Nicola's aunt in Greenpoint. Aunt Estelle made us a yummy calzone for afternoon tea and we chatted away while reminiscing through some of our travels' pictures. We left by 5pm and made it in time for dinner back home.
Sunday morning saw us taking a quick drive up to Sir Lowry's pass to try and find Cape rockjumper. Occasional drizzle and a stiff breeze made for a very chilly walk up to the cannons on Gamtouw pass and unfortunately we dipped on the rockjumper yet again. Orange-breasted sunbirds were very vocal though and quite entertaining to watch. A pair of Rock kestrels also seem to huddle out the cold, sitting quietly on an outcrop as we made our way back to the car. After brunch with my parents we made our way to the airport for our afternoon flight back to Gauteng.
On Saturday morning we were on our way before dawn and reached Simon's Town around 06:45. A quick peek at Boulder's beach got us our first African penguins for the year and we also paid tribute to the Western Cape's most famous dog, Just Nuisance. At Cape Point NP the weather was cold, windy and miserable and most of the birds seem to appreciate this and huddled down. Orange-breasted sunbirds, Levaillant's and Grey-backed cisticolas were abundant though and with the odd Cape sugarbird and Malachite sunbird, the birding was OK as we made our way down to Cape of Good Hope. Here we added Cape cormorants, Swift terns, African sacred ibis, the ever-present Common ostriches and Red-winged starlings feeding off the sea lice scurrying around the beached kelp. At the Cape Point lighthouse we took a quick walk to the historical lighthouse and also down to the new one, ticking Cape bunting, Cape bulbul, Cape robin-chat and Bokmakierie. Further sightings included Cape spurfowl, Jackal buzzard as we drove towards Olifantsbos and then returned to exit the park. By now the wind had died down and the sun emerged from behind the clouds - it was turning into a lovely day and we felt a bit cheated about not being able to do the pelagic trip. At Kommetjie we had a quick bite to eat and although there were a number of birds in the Kom, no new ones were added for the day. Past Hout Bay we drove into some afternoon fog on our way to visit Nicola's aunt in Greenpoint. Aunt Estelle made us a yummy calzone for afternoon tea and we chatted away while reminiscing through some of our travels' pictures. We left by 5pm and made it in time for dinner back home.
Sunday morning saw us taking a quick drive up to Sir Lowry's pass to try and find Cape rockjumper. Occasional drizzle and a stiff breeze made for a very chilly walk up to the cannons on Gamtouw pass and unfortunately we dipped on the rockjumper yet again. Orange-breasted sunbirds were very vocal though and quite entertaining to watch. A pair of Rock kestrels also seem to huddle out the cold, sitting quietly on an outcrop as we made our way back to the car. After brunch with my parents we made our way to the airport for our afternoon flight back to Gauteng.
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