Flock - Wednesday 29th

 

Wednesday  29th

Up at 5.00am and spent half an hour or so on the balcony, seeing Sooty and Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, Soft-plumaged Petrels, which we were going to see all day and a couple of Storm Petrels before collecting up our things and heading down to deck 7 for another day of staring at the sea! A few more Soft-plumaged Petrels were eclipsed by two groups of Gray’s Beaked Whales and short but great views of 3/4 Strapped-toothed Beak Whales. We went up for breakfast around 10 and managed to get some food, no fruit though, before they feared it all away.

Between breakfast and lunch we went to the front on deck 14 which was very windy and glarey. We stood talking to Jim Glover and Chris Skinner, old RSPB friends. I picked up two whales crossing the bow which were more Longman’s Beaked Whales, nice views. Something I really wanted to see was a flying squid and one took off and covered a short distance, glittering as it went from the starboard side, hope there are more.

Following lunch we returned to deck 7 and spent the rest of the day looking out at more Great-winged and Soft-plumaged Petrels, Indian yeel nos, sooty and a few Wandering Albtrosses as well as Tropical Shearwaters and White-headed Pestrel. Near the end of the day a lad called a petrel with a white underwing, we managed to see a couple of birds right down near the wake, one of which probably a Barau’s Petrel, but really not very satisfactory, hoping tomorrow brings more luck.

We left the deck just after 7 to go for dinner in the Buffet with Jake and Ian.

Tuesday 28th Heading home.

 

An early start of 4.30 had us on the balcony before going downstairs to deck 7. There were birds everywhere and this continued most of the day, mostly Salvin’s Petrels but there were also lots of Grey-headed, Sooty and Wandering Albatrosses plus a few Indian Yellow-nosed. A few Brown Skuas were about, one harassing a Wanderer. During the morning there was a small rush of Blue Petrels and later in the day a couple of White-headed Petrels floated through and we saw a few Black-bellied Storm Petrels and a Wilson’s. Most frustrating was the news of Kerguelen Petrels being seen yesterday but no news was put out!

The boat turned around at 10 am and headed back to Durban. The numbers of birds slowly dwindled the further we got from the island but there were a couple of cetaceans seen, including a Blue Whale in the distance and what was probably a Southern Right Whale.

A tiring but busy day.

Monday 27th Marion and Prince Edward Islands

 

An earlier start around 5.00 am with an half hour or so on the balcony before going down to deck 7 where we spent most of the day. Non-stop birds, mainly Salvin’s Prions but also Albatrosses and Penguins, including the much hoped for Southern Rockhopper Penguins. We also saw Gentoo, Macaroni and King Penguins, mainly porpoising through the water away from the boat but still recognisable. A real excitement came with the call of a Pintado (Cape) Petre which luckily came down our side of the boat giving good views. Unfortunately, my camera wouldn’t focus so no photos. The islands also showed through the clouds at times, giving photographable views. It also showed snow on the tops of the mountains. 

We had a break for breakfast, lunch and around 5 o’clock for a cup of tea, before going back to the cabins to sort out the pictures and get ready for dinner.

We agreed to meet in the cafeteria around 8, where we found the place pretty full. Jake then told us all about a Kerguelen Petrel that had been seen by the guides, they had luckily been there so managed very dark views.

Sunday 26th January

 

Feeling much better, I woke up around 5.30 and sat out on the balcony for a bit, with Dark-winged petrels and a couple of Wandering Albatrosses floating by before going down to deck 7 for a while. Bird numbers had picked up with a Wandering Albatross criss-crossing the wake that caused some controversy about whether it was a Wandering or Tristan’s. After breakfast we went out the back looking over the wake. 

During the day there were Little Shearwaters, Black-bellied Storm petrel, Indian Yellow-nosed, Great Winged, Salvins Prions, Wandering Albatross, Sooty Albatross and Sooty Shearwater passing by, often quite distant. I did fall asleep for a couple of hours in the afternoon but am feeling a lot better. The weather was cool but not freezing and I had put on my thermals. 

We met up with Jake and Barney for our evening meal, choosing the cafeteria as being quicker and with more variety, before going back to the cabin, writing up notes and the bird list and turning in. 

Saturday 25th

 

Saturday

Didn’t wake up till 6 and then fell back to sleep. Woke again at around 8 and slowly got up. Sat on the balcony for quite a while not seeing very much before heading out for breakfast. We then went to the customer desk to see if they could sort out the cold shower, which they did a little later. I also went to see where my Firefinch stuff was, I was told they would announce when it could be collected.

We then went out on deck. I wasn’t feeling too good and wrapped up really warm as I was shivery and spent most of the time nodding off. David shouted out a whale sp but I couldn’t see it. So once we had lunch I decided to go back to the cabin and sleep there.

I woke up around 6 ish and felt better so I got up, looked out from the balcony for a while and then we went for dinner in the cafeteria this time, meeting up with Jake and Ian.

I was back and in bed by about 9.30.

Flock - Friday 24th

 Friday 24th 

Time came to board our next flight and we joined the queue. The flight was fine and we landed in Johannesburg with a couple of hours to collect our luggage, trek to Terminal B, following the signs to Domestic Flights and check back in for the last leg to Durban. It all went very smoothly and we had well over an hour before boarding for the flight to Durban. We actually landed nearly 15 minutes early, collected our luggage, stopped for a drink while deciding what to do. We chose to find a taxi driver, negotiate a price and get him to take us to Botanical Gardens for a few hours for the morning. As we came out there was a line of taxis, we chose a pleasant looking one holding an accredited taxi driver sign. He quoted 900R for the morning, so we accepted, loaded up the car and set off. The gardens turned out to be free, so we wandered around birding as we went. There was a pond in front of the centre with water lilies and several dragonflies.

It was very hot, but there was lots of shade. There was a large, flattish area with a pond which held a large colony of breeding Sacred Ibis and Black-necked Herons, it also has some very wet areas an another small pond, with Egyptian Geese and a a small field near the back of the ‘allotments’ held flocks of *** a chat, Cape Wagtails among other things, and there were loads of dragonflies and butterflies, mostly Southern Banded Groundling and Blue Pansy but there were several others that we need to identify.

There was a terrapin gliding through the water and a family of Egyptian Geese resting on the water’s edge.

 In the greenery some Red Bishops flitted around and there were several nests in the Weaver colony.

We meandered around and climbed gently up through some trees which gave other birds like ****

Then we slowly made our way down to the reception area where a ‘pop up’ trolley gave us toasted sandwiches, hotdog and various cold drinks. Our driver was there so we offered him an iced coffee, before we got back into the car and headed to the airport. A lovely break from all the travelling.

The check in for the Musica went pretty smoothly, apart from a very thoughtful man insisting that I took a much lower, goods entrance and then the lift up, I couldn’t tell anyone as they had gone up the gangplank before I could tell them.  However, the desk could tell David I was onboard so it was a matter of finding me. I made my way to my cabin as the most likely point of contact and it wasn’t long before we were in. We settled in and then went on deck, seeing an Osprey and some very happy people on a small boat. We had to go through the mandatory safest drill, go to muster stations and scan our cabin cards during which time the boat began moving out into harbour mouth and on our way. The decision had been taken to leave early which meant we had a few more hours daylight at sea.

There wasn’t much on the way out and as we sailed south we had a few birds, mainly Cory’s and Black-winged Shearwaters, but we were lucky enough to see a Tropical Shearwater, although fairly distant. Several people were also scanning in the warm weather.

We stayed until nearly dark, met up with Jake and Ian before a quick shower and hair wash and then down to dinner. We coincided with the end of a lecture, so there was a bit of a queue before being seated and choosing our meals. Afterwards we headed back and I changed and crashed out after a very long and tiring 36 hours.

Flock to Marion Again! 2025

Earlier last year it was announced that Birdlife South Africa would be revisiting Marion Island. As it was such a good trip we decided to do it again. This time we would be joined by Jake and Ian. Following the cruise we arranged to visit Mkuza, Hluhuwe and Imfolozi Parks for a different set of birds and another try for  Cheetahs.

As our flight was at 10.00 am, I was picked up,around 5.30 for the drive to Copthorne for off airport parking for Gatwick. All went well until I noticed we had missed the Tunbridge Wells turning. Checking the sat nav on the phone there were two options. One was to go up to the M25, along to the M23 and down then back towards Copthorne, which sort of messed up the reason for parking there. The other option was to go a little more cross-country which was a few minutes longer but missed the possibility of problems on the M25. The route turned out to be through many narrow and windy B roads but we had few problems and arrived at Copthorne parking relatively easily. We booked the can in, handed over the keys and got on the bus to North terminal, via the South.

Check in was quiet with just a short wait before we got rid of our luggage. Unfortunately, we will have to collect and re-checkin our luggage in Johannesburg so hopefully we have time. We then went through security, again very quickly, bought a sandwich and a drink and then met up with Jake and Ian, making our way to the departure gate. We ate our sandwiches and then boarded the plane. It was a very easy boarding as the plane was half empty. We were given a packet of rusky things and a drink just after take-off and lunch of creamy chicken, rice, peas and salad, plus cake after a couple of hours with a drink and tea or coffee. Not long before landing we were given a meat and cheese roll with tea and fruit juice and then we were on the approach to Addis Ababa. We had a smooth landing, disembarkation was relatively quick, with a bus to the terminal and then a bit of a walk through the airport to our gate for the onward flight. There seemed to be a lot of activity in the toilets with people hanging about, changing clothes and water being sloshed about, one girl was washing her feet in the sink.