Earth-Touch Expeditions

Earth-Touch.com

Foggy island morning - 05:26 am

27 Jan 2010

We woke up extra early to catch the sun rising behind the crowned cormorant roost. But it didn’t happen. Fog rolled in and we had to make other plans.

So very carefully and slowly we made our way towards the northerly corner of the island to catch the vast numbers of cape cormorants making their way out to the ocean for their day’s foraging.

There are still masses of Cape cormorants on nests. They’re nesting for the second time this year, most likely having lost previous eggs and chicks to hungry gulls or pelicans. So the going is slow as we have to be careful not to disturb any of them.

The fog kept coming and while it meant we couldn’t check to see if there were any seals on the shoreline, it did make things rather atmospheric. It also made the rocks especially slippery. Nothing makes one careful like carrying an expensive camera over damp guano covered rocks while being dive-bombed by kelp gulls.

A pair of African black oystercatchers began screaming at us. I noticed a small pile of freshly gathered mussel shells on the rocks, which meant that a chick was nearby.
As the light was getting worse we decided to head back and try again later and leave the oystercatchers to feed their chick in peace.