Page 226 - Atlas Sea Birds Ver1

Tsitsikamma No. 12 stacks and adjacent mainland cliffs
Coordinates: 33.9826 S, 23.5925 E
Description: Coastal stacks and adjacent mainland cliffs.
Species and numbers breeding: Cape Cormorant
(Phalacrocorax capensis), White-breasted Cormorant
(P. lucidus), Crowned Cormorant (Microcarbo coronatus),
Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) bred at the stacks. Numbers
that bred are shown in Table 1.
Notes: The site consists of four stacks (Phalacrocorax,
Carbo, Capensis and Dominicanus) and the adjacent
mainland cliffs (Figure 1, Crawford 1983).
The earliest record of seabirds breeding at the site
dates from 1971 when seven pairs of White-breasted
Cormorants bred there (Brooke et al. 1982). The maximum
number of this species recorded breeding was 30 pairs
in 1978 (Underhill 1978). Although the data from 2006 to
2019 create the impression that the species declined and Carbo stack (photo RM Randall)
finally ceased to breed at Tsitsikamma No 12 this could
be an artefact of the timing of the annual seabird census substantial decline in numbers. That pattern was similar to
at the site. Data from the Gericke’s Punt site reveal that Knysna. However, in 2021, 731 pairs bred at No 12 stacks
the species breeds earlier in the year and the numbers of and the adjacent cliffs.
breeding White-breasted Cormorants are at their lowest in Crowned Cormorants were recorded on one occasion
October and November (Crawford et al. 2013). only (in 2003) when four pairs bred (Whittington 2004
Cape Cormorants were first recorded breeding at the Similarly to White-breasted Cormorants, Kelp Gulls
site in 1980 when 77 pairs bred (Crawford 1983). This were first recorded breeding at the site in 1971 (Crawford
increased to 821 pairs in 2016, after which there was a et al. 1982). Records of their breeding there continue
Table 1: Numbers of seabirds (pairs) breeding at Tsitsikamma No 12 stacks and on the adjacent mainland cliffs, 1971–2019

White-
Cape Crowned Kelp
Year breasted Date Source
Cormorant Cormorant Gull
Cormorant
1971 0 0 7 10 19/10/1971 Brooke et al. (1982), Crawford et al. (1982)
1975 0 0 10 50 2/11/1975 Brooke et al. (1982), Crawford et al. (1982)
1978 30 30/1/1978 Underhill (1978)
1980 77 0 24 63 7/11/1980 Crawford (1983)
1981 72 0 16 45 13/11/1981 Crawford (1983)
1982 12 1982 Crawford RJM (in litt.)
1989 42 0 20 22 24/11/1989 Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2003 37 4 15 17 29/10/2003 Whittington (2004)
2006 336 0 0 14 4/11/2006 Randall RM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2007 167 0 0 10 30/10/2007 Randall RM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2008 210 0 8 0 22/09/2008 Randall RM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2009 330 0 0 0 02/10/2009 Randall RM, Randall BM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2009 606 0 2 9 29/10/2009 Randall RM, Randall BM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2010 820 0 0 0 5/10/2010 Randall RM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2011 140 0 0 2 6/10/2011 Randall RM, Randall BM (unpubl.)
2012 0 0 0 0 16/02/2012 Randall RM, Randall BM (unpubl.)
2012 339 0 0 0 30/08/2012 Randall RM, Randall BM (unpubl.)
2012 573 0 1 2 11/10/2012 Randall RM, Randall BM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2013 646 0 0 1 9/10/2013 Randall RM, Randall BM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2014 384 0 0 0 26/8/2014 Randall RM, Randall BM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2014 430 0 0 3 22/10/2014 Randall RM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2015 541 0 0 2 22/10/2015 Randall RM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2016 821 0 0 5 19/10/2016 Randall RM & Russell IA (unpubl.)
2017 196 0 0 0 10/11/2017 Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2018 66 0 0 2 15/11/2018 Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2019 3 0 0 2 24/10/2019 Randall RM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)
2021 731 0 0 2 12/10/2021 Randall RM & Hanekom N (unpubl.)

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