So, on to plan C. Peter Ryan, head of the Fitzpatrick Institute, tells me there's a trip going out tomorrow to Dassan Island to ring great white pelican chicks, would I like to go? Daft question!
Another pre-dawn start and an 80 km drive up the west coast to Azerfontein where we board a very fast boat for the five-mile, back-jarring sprint to Dassan. This low island is home, to amongst other things, over 20,000 African penguins.
As we approach, thousands of common, Arctic and Sandwich terns swarm over the island, crested cormorants nests perch on top of abandoned lobster pots, black oystercatchers vie with sanderlings for food along the tide line, and everywhere, penguins stand or march.
We meet the warden, Johan, who quickly marshals us and gives us our instructions. We load the equipment onto the pick-up, and head out across the arid island landscape, heading for the pelican colony.
As we do, one of Johan's instructions quickly begins to become clear. African penguins nest in burrows dug into the hardened guano crust that covers the whole island. These burrows are everywhere, and to avoid collapsing them, we must step in the burrow entrance, not on its fragile roof.
Kneeling in front of one, I can see a face peering out at me from the gloom, two dark eyes in a black face with a horseshoe of white around it.
To catch our young pelicans, we first construct a corral, a semi-circular cage into which to herd the flightless youngsters. We then split into three teams. One heads off on each side of the headland, in a pincer movement to start pushing the pelicans towards the corral. The third team wait, hidden, to rush in and close the trap. Well, that's the theory!
An hour later, most of the young have been herded into the corral, but several have made a break for it, and some of us head after them. I run after one individual, get ahead of it, and urge it back towards its colleagues. The bird turns on me, and lashes upwards with its long neck, opening and closing its huge bill with a loud 'clop'.
I put down my camera, distract the bird with my left hand, and quickly grab its head with my right, before, well, sitting on it! I manage to get my other arm around its wings, and keeping tight hold of its head, start back to the corral to be greeted with a warm 'welcome to your first pelican, Peter!' from Maria.
Stumbling across the rough ground, avoiding penguin burrows, I notice two things: for an 8-10-week old chick, it's really heavy; and it stinks!
Placing the chick with its friends in the corral, we now have 66 young pelicans, and everyone gets to work processing the birds. Metal rings are put on one leg, large numbered white ones on the other, blood samples and wing feathers (for DNA analysis) are taken, and bill, wing and leg measurements recorded.
Weighing the birds is fun - you stand on some bathroom scales, holding the bird, then release it, and go back to weigh yourself! The heaviest weighs in at over 15 kilos! It's hard, hot and dirty work, and by the time we finish three hours later, we are all thirsty, hungry and a little sunburnt, but we still have to dismantle the corral before we can traipse back to the reserve centre for a much-needed wash, drink and lunch.
The rest of the day goes in a blur, and it's a tired but happy team that returns to Cape Town as the sun begins to sink towards the horizon.