On the day that the Pelagic trip out to sea was supposed to happen (but the Cape winds had other ideas) I headed up the West Coast to visit the West Coast National Park. I had never visited the place but had been wanting to do so for years.

The place is truly spectacular - and even though I was a month or two late for the full flowering season, these scenery pics show that it is still amazing:

The reason why this is such a great birding spot is the presence of bird hides at Geelbek and Seeberg. As the tides comes in and out of the lagoon the wader birds feed and provide great opportunities to see common and rare species. Here are some shots showing the view from the hides and also the abundance of waders on the water and shoreline:

One of the highlights was spotting a group of Red Knots (a bird I had never seen before) feeding in the mud just in front of the Geelbek hide:

Another highlight was another bird I had never seen before, Sanderling, feeding in front of the Seeberg hide:

Then of course there were a multitude of Terns and a highlight was spotting Little Tern among the many Common Tern at Seeberg Hide (another lifer for me):

I finally managed to get a little closer to Common Whimbrel and are happier with these shots than anything I have taken in the past:

Here are some other waterbird highlights from the day:

During the day I spotted a number of Raptors including Lesser Kestrel, African-Marsh Harrier, Black Harrier, Osprey and African Fish-Eagle.

There are grasslands all around the lagoon so the day was not only spent looking at birds on the water. Here are some other birding highlights (the best being my first ever sighting of Southern Black Korhaan as I entered the park in the morning):

I drove back to Cape Town truly satisfied after an amazing day out birding, and wondered whether the winds would truly die down enough to allow the Pelagic to take place the next day!