1.10.22
Oxley
Mr D picked me up and we spent a couple of hours at Oxley. Quite birdy but nothing out of the ordinary.
We had a long breakfast at Arte & Gusto in Graceville afterwards.
2.10.22
Minnippi
With the car playing up I was nervous about driving it anywhere, however, I decided to give it a go and drove it gingerly to Minnippi. All went well, although the birding was quiet, it did get me out for a while which I enjoyed.
ARGENTINA & ANTARCTICA
10.10.22 - 20.11.22
Day 1 Monday 10.10.22
Finally, 43 years in the waiting and it’s started. 43 years? Yep!
In 1979 I dreamed of leaving Dublin (I did), travelling to Australia via USA (I did), working hard in Australia for 12 months (I did), then flying to South America and riding a horse up the Andes to the USA….. (that part - I didn’t).
Despite the fact that I had never ridden a horse, spoke Spanish or had a job arranged in Australia, it all seemed doable.
I got to Australia via Hawaii and Fiji after driving across the States and found a job of sorts.
But then life intervened - and I never made it to South America.
Now, 43 years later, finally, I’m on my way.
Three years in the ‘planning’ – sort of….
Initially, in late 2019, I booked the Antarctic part of the trip for, I thought, late 2020.
Then Covid hit the world.
When I contacted Chimu Adventures in July 2020 to enquire, they advised that my booking was fine and all planned for 2021…! WTF? Oooookay. That worked because the Australian international borders were closed and I couldn’t go in 2020 anyway. (Note: I never did work out how the booking got confused, whether it was my mistake or a misunderstanding, I still don’t know)
So, 2021 came along and, as you know, the borders were still closed, so I arranged to delay my departure another 12 months.
And here I am. October 2022.
My original plan involved a month’s travel in Argentina before the Antarctic voyage, and a month in Chile afterwards. However, when I started planning the details in mid 2022 I had to reconsider, given the price of hire cars. It was pretty frightening. I decided to reduce the size of the trip and focus on the Antarctic stage – that was the priority and I didn’t want to f….. it up.
Normally when I travel I organise everything myself – flights, transport, accommodation ect – or Mr D my regular travelling companion does. I decided that, to avoid any possibility of missing the Antarctic bit, I would let Chimu Adventures do it for me. It felt weird having no control, but Craig at Chimu did a great job and maintained his patience and contact successfully. I did find it quite stressful at times, but it all worked out in the end – the way these things usually do. It means I'll be met at airports/hotels and transferred to hotels/flights - something I have never done before. There are also a couple of tours organised which I decided WTF, just do it!
So, basically, I now have 2 weeks in Argentina before and 1 week after, the 21-day boat trip and here I am at Brisbane airport waiting to board QF507 to Sydney for the first leg of the journey.
Later same day… (to skip Rant, jump down one paragraph)
That went OK, only a few minutes later than scheduled, but I had plenty of time. Transferred from Domestic to International efficiently by bus, but then the queue for the security was several hundred people long. It did move through fairly quickly.
I wanted to buy Duty Free tobacco – my usual brand Port Royal. Last time I had tried in Sydney, they hadn’t had any – it was the same again this time. And a very limited choice of brands as well. It really is pretty pathetic. You can buy as much alcohol as you can carry, but buying tobacco or cigarettes? Only sold at one register and the selection hidden away and very limited. Must make all those smug, arrogant, self satisfied, selfish anti-smokers proud as they glug their beer or gulp their cocktails. No one ever hit their partner because they had too many cigarettes. No one ever drove into another car or pedestrian and killed them – because they had too many cigarettes. No one goes home empty pocketed having spent all their pay on a night out with cigarettes. No one ever started a fight over some minor detail because they had too many cigarettes. Sorry if you’ve heard this before but it really pisses me off! No, I’m not sorry, actually. I’ll keep saying it – its called FREEDOM OF CHOICE and ranks to me in a similar fashion as other controversial freedoms we all cherish and desire.
And Sydney International airport in its supercilious, arrogant, ignorant, racist way does not provide anywhere for smokers. Racist? If you exclude a part of the population because of their choices – then is it not racist? Once again – see above…
We left Sydney on time, this time with Latam airlines. There was a bit of passenger confusion as some old dude was in my seat. His daughter, wife and, I presume, son-in-law were with him. So I kicked him out and they all found somewhere else to sit. Somehow I ended up with a free seat beside me – I really hadn’t been mean or rude so I don’t understand how that happened. They seemed to take it in turns to sit in different seats, but anyway, not my monkey, not my circus….
As I understood it, the flight was direct to Santiago, Chile, via Auckland, New Zealand.
The part ‘via Auckland’ was all a bit vague. Did we get off the plane? Get back on the same plane? Take our luggage with us? Have to wait long or what?
(To skip another rant jump down one paragraph)
As it happened we all got off with our carry-on stuff. Then we queued up again for yet another security check. Two lines only working, slow, slow, slow. Take out your laptops, take off your boots, take off your belts. A young bint found my rechargeable batteries (4 x AA and 4 x AAA) and decided that they couldn’t be carried all together in a plastic bag. She’d have to find a ‘secure place’ to put them, individually, regardless of the fact that I have carried re-chargeable batteries the same way all over the world and, in fact, had been through two security checks already today without any issue. I asked her what she would suggest? It was either redistribute them or dispose of them? I said I wouldn’t have them with me if I was going to throw them away, so she took everything out of my bag and redistributed the batteries, singly, in all sorts of hidden places - in with my camera, in with my bins, in the top pocket of my bag. It took me 20 minutes to find them all in the (thank God) smoking area and I still only found 7, one AAA is still somewhere in my bag…… but at least I got to have a smoke. The onward flight to Chile was not for two and a half hours so I had plenty of time….
(I did find the eight battery, it was hidden in my camera case....)
Interestingly, on the Latam flight they had the first 3 episodes of House of the Dragons. I was surprised because it’s only just started on HBO. I didn’t watch it, preferring to catch up at some future time with the whole season. I did watch the first uncut/unchanged 3 episodes of Season 3 of Game of Thrones – just for old times sake. They also had some recently released movies which were still on in the cinemas in Brisbane. Surprising for what I thought was a second level airline, I mean it wasn’t Qantas or a major international airline and the left wing appeared to be stuck together with duct tape. It was the same plane we had disembarked from 3 hours previously - the same two little kids in front of me, but this time I didn’t have a free seat beside me.
They made the announcements firstly in Spanish, which seemed to go on for ages, then in accented English which only lasted half the time.
Then again most announcements on planes are worthless - unless it’s crashing – and even then telling you isn’t going to change anything.
Still later same day:
10 hours later and we landed in Santiago, Chile.
For me - a new city. A new country. A new continent - SOUTH AMERICA!
The Andes loomed in the not too distant distance, snow visible on some peaks.
I looked hard for my first bird in South America, but didn’t manage to see anything at all from the taxiing plane.
Another walk through endless corridors and duty free shit. Another security scan – this one without any hassle - to the furthest-gate-at-the-end-of-the-line (as usual? Or is it just me?) for the final leg, the fourth flight of the day, to Buenos Aires. And no smoking area here either……Jesus Mary & Joseph.
Later still, same day:
While the plane was taxiing out I saw a couple of obvious Southern Lapwings and pretty sure a Chimango Caracara – so started my Chile list off…
Uneventful 90 minute trip to Buenos Aires – apart from the spectacular viewing over the Andes. I think this is probably the ‘low’ end but still amazing to see this mountain chain at last.
Another new country/city.
No obvious pickup at the airport so I wandered outside for a smoke and saw a Variable Hawk soaring around pretty low immediately overhead - I think it was a juvenile. There were a few Hirundine sp, which I think were probably either Grey-breasted or Brown-chested Martins but the light was pretty shit so sp not called.
I found the guy in the waiting area with my name on an iPad and with only a ‘Hola’ he led me off and into a car and away we went for the 45 minute drive to the Argenta Tower Hotel, city center. On the way I saw several more Southern Lapwings in grassed areas alongside the road and one other Chimango Caracara at the airport. So kicked off my Argentinian list before it got too dark. The poor driver had more twitches than…..a UK birder… stroking his hair, shrugging his shoulders, touching his face – quite extraordinary - and said nothing all the way in.
I checked in, had a shower, and got a phone call from the Chimu rep in BA which made me happy. We established WhatsApp as a communication source and discussed the next few days itinerary. Went for a short walk around the local streets, mainly for a smoke, before settling in for the night.
Trip List: 3 Lifers: 3
Day 2 Tuesday 11.10.22
I didn’t sleep well. Possibly jet lag, maybe because I had slept a bit on the plane or might have been because I’d done bugger all for 24 hours. However, I got up at 6 anyway.
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| Argenta Tower Hotel |
Breakfast wasn’t till 7, so went for a wander locally. Not far away I found a plaza – not much in area, not much in vegetation, but a few birds….
On the way I almost stepped on Eared Doves feeding on the path beside the Feral Pigeons. In the plaza – Rufous-bellied Thrush (3), Rufous Hornero (1), Picazuro Pigeon (1), House Sparrow and European Starling. In the trees finally got onto White-eyed Parakeet and in the street a Great Kiskadee and a single Chalk-browed Mockingbird.
So in 30 minutes I saw 7 of the first 8 birds in the ‘Most Likely at this location’ list in Merlin! Not a bad start – 7 lifers.
Back to the hotel – after being briefly lost and rescued by MapsMe, I know, I’m bloody hopeless in cities – and a serious go at breakfast.
At 8.30 I was ready to go on the tour. They picked me up at 9.05, which I was happy to wait for, and Sabrina and her driver spent the next 3 hours guiding myself, and 2 others only, around the highlights of Buenos Aires. It was interesting and she was very good. Most importantly to me, I picked up another 2 lifers.
Creamy-bellied Thrush (4) in the main square and a Harris’s Hawk near the main cemetery which one of the other ‘tourists’ pointed out. The view was a bit shit, but happy with it. Also had great views of Monk Parakeet (20 in the La Boca area) but had seen them, as an established introduced species, in Athens, Greece in 2017. Also saw more of the morning’s earlier species and found a Hornero’s nest in a tree.
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| Creamy-bellied Thrush |
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| Harris's Hawk |
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| Hornero's (presumably Rufous) nest |
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| Monk Parakeet |
Monk Parakeet......
After a break at the hotel I decided to head out and find a bank. I needed to get some pesos. I had asked the Chimu rep the previous evening, but it all sounded so complicated if I wanted to change the US dollars I was carrying and anyway, I wanted to keep them and withdraw pesos from my travel card. I found a bank nearby that was ‘Linked’ so headed out there with birding gear intending to chase down some of the birds I’d seen earlier, as well as, obviously, see what else I could find. I hadn’t had my cameras with me on the first outing so needed to get some photos to entertain and amaze you all.
I found the bank after a couple of false starts and worked the ATM. I asked for 40,000 pesos – about $400 as I figured I’d get as much as I was likely to need in one hit?
Nothing came out. There was some stuff in Spanish but of course I had no idea what it all meant.
Slight panic.
I went into the bank and, eventually, they pushed a woman out who didn’t really speak English, but, I was betting, had lost the drawn straw competition out back. Maybe it was just her unlucky day or maybe she was the office bitch. She was really nice anyway and it turned out that I had asked the ATM for too much?
We tried 10,000 at the same ATM, but that didn’t work either – she had no explanation for that. But a second ATM delivered 10,000 (~$100 AU) and I thanked her effusively as she scurried back inside to the safety of the back office looking very relieved and hopefully gaining the respect and honour she deserved for putting it out there – so to speak.
I needed more and probably should have gone again at the same bank, but the stress had been too much and I just got out and went birding. Later I tried another ATM at another bank and it wouldn’t even give me 10,000 so…..WTF?? Hopefully I can get money somewhere else along the way.
Across the road was a park and I walked knee deep into Chalk-browed Mockingbirds, Rufous-bellied Thrushes, Rufous Horneros, Eared Doves and a couple of Picazuro Pigeons. I spent the next three hours wandering around taking photos and looking for new stuff. The only new bird I came up with was Shiny Cowbird, although I did see a Vermillion Flycatcher high in a tree – it’s a migrant and I’d seen it before in the States – nice male though.
At one point a small green and yellow bird flew past me and landed up. What could it be? I got all excited and quickly ‘binned’ it. It was a freaking BUDGIE! Jesus Mary & Joseph, I come all this way, suffer all the indignities and stress of air travel, spend all that money and find a freaking AUSTRALIAN BUDGERIGAR!! It took me years before I saw one at home – less than 24 hours in South America with all its potential and I get a Budgie….The species is not even listed in the book or on Merlin so maybe a new species for Argentina – look at me!
It looked a little lost. Maybe it needed MapsMe to get home?
There were a couple of small birds high in the trees that I just could not get onto – no idea what they were, but, for me, anyway, that’s standard in a new country. They were probably Brown Honeyeaters or Striated Pardalotes….
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| Chalk-browed Mockingbird |
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| Eared Dove |
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| Picazuro Pigeon |
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| Rufous Hornero |
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| Rufous-bellied Thrush |
Rufous-bellied Thrush singing
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| (Male) Shiny Cowbird |
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| (Female) Shiny Cowbird |
I left the park, found a chemist and bought a couple of packets of Dramamine. It’s the only seasick tablets I have found that actually work. I had some with me already – but just wanted to make sure I was well covered. The last thing I want to do is screw up the boat trip by being sick. Even if I have to stay drugged up for three weeks – the worst thing I will suffer is constipation as these things dry me out incredibly. Time will tell.
I headed ‘home’ and checked my bird IDs over a couple of cups of coffee.
Trip List: 19 Lifers: 13
Day 3 Wednesday 12.10.22
I didn’t sleep well again. In fact I didn’t seem to sleep at all, although I must have for a few hours at least. It’s definitely jet lag. I assume because I flew east from Australia. I spent most of the night reading and finally gave up and got up at 6. I finished off packing and went downstairs hoping to get a coffee. Breakfast wasn’t to start till 7 and I was scheduled to be picked up at 7.30 so…. After a smoke and a coffee in the hotel restaurant where they were setting up, I checked out, paying my bill for coffee and the previous night’s meal. In total it came to 1,340 pesos = $14Aus. I’m not sure how they arrived at that price because I had believed the previous night’s meal cost at least $30. I wasn’t complaining. Maybe the $5 tip (500 pesos) I had left the waitress had encouraged her to change the bill? No idea. I started into breakfast as soon as they set it up and by 7.15 was waiting outside the hotel.
7.30 and the car arrived. It only took 15 minutes to get to the Jorge Newbery airport - different airport than my arrival. (On the way saw another Harris's Hawk gliding low over the beach.)
I had checked in on-line the previous night, but had to queue to get my boarding pass and dump my check-in backpack. Then made my way through the usual security stuff to await my flight to Iguazu.
The 90 minute flight passed uneventfully, although it was one of those flights where everyone seems to be coughing and sneezing and you’re sure you’ll come down with something afterwards.
(On the tarmac at Iguazu and a Southern Lapwing was not too far away - I realised I haven't actually seen one of these yet with bins yet, they've all been 'eyes only', seen from a plane!)
I was picked up as part of another group in a small bus and handed an itinerary for the next few days by the driver. Apparently he will be taking me, along with others I assume, on the tours tomorrow and Friday and back to the airport next week – all good and very efficient.
I was the only one dropped off at La Cantera Jungle Lodge and checked in before making my way to my ‘jungle room’. And jungle is exactly what it was. Heavy rainforest all around, the Lodge was situated within the Natural Reserve called Selva Iryapu, as were other lodge-type places. The rooms were scattered through the rainforest with walkways between them and the facilities. There was a restaurant/café, swimming pool, massage place ect.
I unpacked a bit, then, eager to get started, headed out for a wander.
The first birds I found were Eared Doves and a family party of Great Kiskadees.
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| Great Kiskadee |
The calling young of the latter got a bit annoying after a while. I also had a Rufous Hornero and at that stage started to think I was just going to repeat yesterday’s effort when a family party of Red-rumped Caciques turned up and investigated a nest covered bush.
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| Red-rumped Cacique nests - all empty |
I hadn’t brought the camera, thinking it was a bit quiet, but dashed back to get it. Of course they had moved on, but I did see them throughout the afternoon on several occasions – very common – but not as well as the first time and no photos …yet.
I continued walking and the birds – and butterflies – kept coming. It was good, because I wasn’t overwhelmed, having time to spend with each observation. I was quite impressed as I identified most of the birds straight away, just checking with Merlin to confirm. The app was brilliant. By reducing the bird list to ‘most likely to be seen at this location’, it avoided confusion and the birds were easy to find on the list. I did have a flycatcher or two, seen only briefly, that I failed to ID definitively, but other than that the hours spent with the book and the app at home seemed to have paid off.
Birds I did see and ID, in order of appearance:
Thrush-like Wren – seen quite well, but no photos.
Streaked Flycatcher – average views, poor photos.
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| Streaked Flycatcher |
House Wren – apparently the same as the wren in the States. Managed to grab one photo.
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| House Wren |
Squirrel Cuckoo – seen briefly, no photos
Black Vulture – soaring high overhead.
Creamy-bellied Thrush – seen and photographed previously
Picazuro Pigeon – heard only (!! Look at me!)
Rufous-bellied Thrush –saw several, taped one signing, although Merlin failed to identify it by song, which I thought was a bit weird.
Plumbeous Kite – seen high overhead, then later one landed in a tree. Nice looking bird.
Cattle Tyrant – one seen quite well, but silhouetted so didn’t get any photos this time.
Magpie Tanager – possibly bird of the day – spectacular views, photos and short video. Quite a stunner!
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| Magpie Tanager |
Boat-billed Flycatcher – one seen briefly and not very well, no photos.
Also had 4 butterflies.
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| Lysimnia Tigerwing Mechanitis lysimnia |
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| Fridericus Spreadwing Ouleus fridericus |
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| Ethilia Longwing Heliconius ethilla |
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| Red Postman Heliconius erato |
After 2 and a half hours I was feeling really knackered again and headed back to the restaurant for coffee. I downloaded the photos and sorted them, then had started to write this when calling birds took me away and, after frantically packing up the laptop, grabbing my stuff and getting into position 20 meters from the swimming pool, I had
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet perched up high, calling
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| Yellow-chevroned Parakeet |
And then a Chestnut-eared Aracari flew in – one of my target birds – brilliant. Not the best of views, or photo, but expect I will see more.
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| Chestnut-eared Aracari |
And just as I decided to go back and get something to eat the aforementioned Plumbeous Kite flew in.
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| Plumbeous Kite |
I went back to my table and ordered dinner. I was eating when I noticed another guy with a ‘birder’s camera’ trying to photograph something. Following his camera angle I had a brief view of a Blue Dacnis – another bird I’d like to see more of.
By the time I had finished eating I was really, really knackered and decided to call it a day and retire gracefully for a shower, a shave and sleep, hopefully.
While doing that I received a message advising the Argentinan side of the falls tour had been moved to Friday instead of tomorrow as the river had risen. Instead it’s Brazil tomorrow for a half day tour…… Jesus, this is killing me, another new country!
Although the birds weren’t coming in droves, it was a nice way to be. Instead of being deluged with new species and not managing to get all of them, I had time to identify and try for photos – and enjoy the birds better. An 10 lifer day followed by an 11 lifer, isn't to be complained about. So far so good – and I’m here for 7 days!
Trip List: 32 Lifers: 24
Day 4 Thursday 13.10.22
Another night of jet lagged sleep. A bit better this time, but wide awake at 4am. Around 5 I heard a bird calling and fiddled with Merlin until I identified it as a Common Potoo. That was enough motivation for me to get up and go birding. Still dark, of course, but I wandered out to the road and walked along randomly trying bird calls. I didn’t see the Potoo, but heard at least 3 calling, but I did stir up a pair of Short-tailed Nighthawks which responded well, flying around above the road. I also heard but failed to see Tropical Screech-owl, calling relatively close, but of road out of reach. Good start to the day!
Walked back to the restaurant for breakfast around 6.30. Breakfast didn’t ‘start’ till 7, but I figured I’d get in if I could. On the way I had a Crested Caracara perched up – lousy photo due to low light and not the best view, but, beggars can’t be choosers!
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| Crested Caracara |
I also decided that some of the Thrushes I was seeing were definitely Pale-breasted Thrushes so another lifer before breakfast. Finishing breakfast I hurried out to Reception and sat and waited for my pick up at 7.35.
At 8 I messaged the tour organization and asked if I had somehow been forgotten?
It took another 30 minutes for Aquas Grandes Tours to send another bus to pick me up. I had actually seen the bus, but didn’t recognize the driver or the company name. He had picked up two English women who were going to the airport immediately after their waterfall tour – obviously that distracted him. No problem – I was on the way!
But the delay actually paid off because as I waited I birded and picked up 5 more lifers!
Turquoise-fronted Amazon – big chunky parrot flying across the canopy, calling, passed overhead several times before I ID’d it. No photos yet.
Glittering-bellied Emerald – my first South American Hummingbird. At least 2 buzzing around flowers in the canopy – difficult to ID obviously, but I did get one perched up briefly and the choice in this area is pretty limited anyway so…
Ruddy Ground Dove – a couple flew in and perched up long enough for me to ID them from the reception area. No photos.
Swallow Tanager – back near my room. No photos, brief view, obvious blue bird with black bib, nice!
And so it was off to Brazil!
We had to get my passport stamped at the border, involving two stops, but not much delay. And I had to show my Vaccination cert as well. Then we drove close by the border with Paraguay (!) and on to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls to meet up with the tour group I was assigned to.
Now, the reason the Argentinian side of the falls was closed today, was because there was too much water over the falls. Apparently there was 10 times more water than normal! Approx 16,000,000 cubic meters of water a second (I think that’s right). A number of the lower tracks were washed away or at least under water in Argentina and we found part of the normal viewing area inaccessible in Brazil too – as you will see if you watch the videos I intend to load.
Facts: Normally more water goes over Niagara and Victoria Falls in Africa is higher, but for sheer width and water volume Iguazu is the biggest – and with the water flow at the moment, definitely bigger.
The first bird I saw in Brazil was, predictably (?) Southern Lapwing, followed by a few other of the already seen variety, roadside. We hung around a bit getting tickets and waiting for the bus ride in. The access point was about 25kms from the waterfall and you have to get a bus. Its all very organised chaos, but it works. While we waited I had Sick’s Swift, a pair of Plumbeous Kites, Black Vultures and Blue and White Swallows overhead and a pair of Saffron Finches in the eating area that wouldn’t stay still, in the shade, but I did my best.
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| (Male) Saffron Finch |
On the drive in – a Crested Caracara beside the road and a Red Brocket Deer Mazama americana broke cover and ran alongside for 50 meters or so.
At the entrance to the walk a bird I had really wanted – Plush-crested Jay – and you can see why!
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| Plush-crested Jay |
Halfway along the walk, just beside one of the viewing points I was totally stunned to see a Black-fronted Piping Guan perched up! I was so surprised, I thought it was a stuffed one until it shook its head and looked around. This was one bird I did NOT expect to see and was just so stunned it was so easy. It was perched up no more than 10 meters away, clearly visible to everyone – and there were hundreds of people passing along the narrow track. I’m still not sure it was a genuinely live one, but I can’t see it really being anything but. This thing is twice the size of a Bush Turkey, its freaking huge and the markings are awesome!
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| Black-fronted Piping Guan |
Great Dusky Swift: approx 5, not as many as I’d hoped, maybe because the water was so churned up?
Giant Cowbird: around the shopping area at the end. Pretty cool character!
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| Giant Cowbird |
The walk took about an hour and a half. The crowds were annoying (to me anyway, but then I have little patience with people who don’t think of anyone but themselves). The waterfall was amazing, actually quite scary in places. You could see an accident just waiting to happen and hundreds being washed away. I tried to capture the whole experience on video, but it was hard to get it all in.
Along the way and particularly in the meeting area at the end there were butterflies of all shapes and colours. I had several actually land on my hands. They must have liked Irish Australian sweat.
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| This one landed on a lady in front of me - must have liked blue. Agathina Emperor Doxocopa agathina    Same species above and below |
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| Orange Mapwing Hypanartia lethe |
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| Red Rim Biblis hyperia |
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| Brazilian Lady Vanessa braziliensis |
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| Epinome Cracker Hamadryas epinome |
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| Pygas Eighty-eight Callicore pygas thamyras |
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| Julia Heliconian Dryas iulia |
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First it looked like this - then it flashed open its wings...
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We left the area in the bus and were taken back to the access point. Along the way I saw a couple of Goanna-sized lizards beside the road, but no way of getting photos and no ID yet.
We got ‘our’ bus and headed back towards Argentina.
Along the way we dropped some of the group of at hotels and then had to wait at the border while the tour leader took our passports in to be stamped. I got off the bus for a smoke and found a Tropical Kingbird and a Fork-tailed Flycatcher on the wires. Wow! The latter was just Unreal! The tail! Far out – just brilliant!
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| Tropical Kingbird |
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| Fork-tailed Flycatcher |
I also got photos of a pair of Southern Lapwings at last, although the light was pretty harsh.
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| Southern Lapwing |
The last bird I saw in Brazil was a Burrowing Owl sat in the shade under a bush on the side of the road!
So, kicked off my Brazilian list with 22 species and 8 lifers. Now I need to go back and start ticking the 1,883 other species in Brazil….
Rufous-collared Sparrow – just back across the border, driving slowly away and a pair on the ground beside the road.
Finally back at La Cantera and I got the driver to drop me off at the entrance. As I walked in a Boat-billed Flycatcher perched up above was a nice final camera opportunity.
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| Boat-billed Flycatcher |
I spent a couple of hours downloading and sorting 800+ photos, reduced to ~260+videos. Then had dinner (Chestnut-eared Aracarias came in again), a shower and wrote this up. While doing so I heard the Screech-owl, the Potoo and the Short-tailed Nighthawk calling again, but its raining lightly so….. maybe tomorrow morning.
The Argentinian side of the waterfall is closed tomorrow, so, as the weekend is busier, I have asked to go on Monday. Hopefully the water level will drop enough to allow them to open the park again by then.
Trip List: 50 Lifers: 41 Mammals: 1
Day 5 Friday 14.10.22
I gave up on sleep at about 3am. I am seriously jet lagged so might as well make the most of it.
Got up at 5 and went out to the road again. Again played random night bird calls.
Short-tailed Nighthawk responded immediately and in fact stuck around for most of the next hour providing early daylight views.
Tropical Screech-owl showed up sometime after playback. Quietly flew in and perched up. Just could not get the camera to focus, but it sat for several minutes high on a dead branch.
Common Potoo – at least 2 calling, somewhat distantly, but playback brought one in! It was huge, I thought it was a Black Cockatoo at first. It too perched up on a high stump and, again, I couldn’t get the camera to focus.
I headed back to the restaurant for breakfast at 7, seeing a few other previously listed species along the way. A leisurely breakfast this morning as it’s the first morning I’m not flying somewhere or going on a tour. In fact – this is my first full day birding in Argentina!
As I left my room, a small yellow bird attracted my attention. Unsure what it had been I took a guess and soon had a pair of Banaquits on the boardwalk.
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| Bananaquit |
Further along I came across a female Glittering-bellied Emerald hovering at flowers beside the boardwalk, quite confiding, just ignoring passers by.
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| (Female) Glittering-bellied Emerald |
I had decided to walk out to the road and turn right, then left 100 m further on and down to a flooded pond beside an Indian settlement. The First Nations people here appear to have a pretty basic standard of living and in this area, their houses are randomly scattered along or near the roads. At the pond, when I got there, there were at least two women beating clothes with sticks at the edge of the dirty water. The water was more flood water rather than clean pond water. There were several scruffy looking little kids hanging around, but there was no feeling of threat to me, they just shyly said ‘Ola’ and left me to myself.
I tried to walk around the pond, but the margins were too badly flooded, however, I picked up a number of birds in and close to the edge of the water and nearby trees.
Green-winged Saltator – seen well and photographed, although a bit silhouetted. I was pretty pleased to get this as it seems to be persecuted for the pet trade. I don’t know why as it’s not much to look at – in comparison to other local birds – and doesn’t sound anything special either.
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| Green-winged Saltator |
Smooth-billed Ani – also seen very well, crashing around in the lower vegetation – weird looking bird, but kind of nice with it.
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| Smooth-billed Ani |
Yellow-bellied Elaenia – seen well, but not photographed as other things started to happen at the same time.
Sayaca Tanager – seen well, responded well.
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| Sayaca Tanager |
Wattled Jacana – flushed unexpectedly and pretty startling vision with the large yellow panels in the wind. These were the Chestnut-backed variety and very smart looking.
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| Wattled Jacana |
White-faced Whistling Duck – stuck their heads up out of the grass – yes, it is two birds, although it almost looks like a double-header!
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| White-faced Whistling Ducks |
I walked back round to the other side of the lake and started in through a patch of trees. I found a side gully flooded and decided to sit there for a while and let the birds come to me? This worked well as individual species sporadically turned up, I’d ID most of them – to at least family level, sometimes species level, then play back and see if I could photograph them. I spent almost three hours at the same spot doing just that and had the following lifers among other, already seen, species:
Common Tody-flycatcher – a pair hung around most of the time, fly catching and generally being cute.
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| Common Tody-flycatcher |
Saffron-billed Sparrow – seen briefly, refused to come closer. Quite a surprise actually, but very distinctive.
Purple-throated Euphonia – at last, a Euphonia! One of those ‘must see’ birds for me. Stunning, but didn’t come very close – lucky with the photo.
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| Purple-throated Euphonia |
Long-tailed Tyrant – one male only seen. A bit distant, top of a tree 70 meters away, but immediately ID’d as ‘one of those long-tailed Tyrant things’.
Yellow-chinned Spinetail - great views, but never stopped moving.
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| Yellow-chinned Spinetail |
In fact I had just picked up the camera to film the Spinetail, when I saw a snake swimming AWAY from me. It must have been right at my feet as my boots were only inches away from the water’s edge. It was so brightly coloured I was amazed I hadn’t seen it. I ID’d it later as an Argentinian Coral Snake Micrurus pyrrhocryptus although I think it might also be known as South American Coral Snake.
I actually managed to take 25 photos of it in the short period of time it was visible. I think my finger just stuck to the shutter button in pure excitement!
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| Argentinian Coral Snake Micrurus pyrrhocryptus |
White-winged Becard – I saw this a couple of times, but badly, then it was in a tree beside me and I managed to get a few shots. I had no idea what it was but Merlin ID’d it for me from the photos! Pretty cool – and listed as ‘rare’ in this area.
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| White-winged Becard |
Large Elaenia – also ID’d from photos via Merlin I am not embarrassed to admit. I knew it was an Elaenia, but these are difficult bastards to ID at the best of times.
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| Large Elaenia |
Pale-vented Pigeon – perched high up a tree, as Pigeons do.
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| Pale-vented Pigeon |
I left my spot and headed on along the lakeside turning off on a track and walking back ‘home’ through open fields and low bush.
A Roadside Hawk soared overhead along the track.
I also had a couple of butterflies on the small red flowers.
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| Ithra Crescent Ortilia ithra |
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| Leuce Yellow Pyrisitia leuce |
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| Gulf Fritillary Dione vanillae |
Back home and I woke myself up somewhat with coke and coffee as I downloaded and sorted 400+ photos. I had just finished and was heading back to my room for a rest when I spotted two (in fact there were 3) blue/green birds fly up into a tree on the other side of the pool.
Green-headed Tanagers! A bird I really wanted to see. Unfortunately they didn’t hang around for photos but seen well, if briefly.
I was pretty knackered and had a little ‘lie down’ for an hour or so. Then I found a way into the jungle from the carpark, sat on a log in a small clearing and played calls of birds I haven’t come across yet. I had no success apart from a female Ruby-crowned Tanager that appeared, but I don’t think it was responding, just simply passing. While I sat, at least 5 Plumbeous Kites and a handful of Great Dusky Swifts fed over the canopy on something, continually swooping and circling.
Back ‘home’ again and I had something to eat and then headed back to my room. I figure I’ll just go along with this, not sleeping properly thing, and hope it wears off soon.
Trip List: 65 Lifers: 54 Mammals: 1 Reptiles: 1
Day 6 Saturday 15.10.22
At last! A good night’s sleep – until 5am when Linc woke me with a phone call – and a Praying Mantis to show. All good. actually went back to sleep again until 6.30!
Breakfast over and I headed out. I had planned to walk a couple of ‘off road’ tracks starting locally. The first one headed out across open fields with scattered trees through ‘native’ settlements for want of a better word. Small holdings, but no ‘crops’ as such, just a few cattle here and there. Everyone was reservedly friendly, so long as I stayed on the track.
Plenty of birds – Fork-tailed Flycatcher nest building, plenty of Smooth-billed Anis falling around, Magpie Tanagers and Tropical Kingbird. Embarrassingly I think I’ve been writing off Tropical Kingbirds as Cattle Tyrants so that was a lifer, but a bit retrospectively….
I also had Chalk-browed Mockingbirds which challenged my, admittedly poor, identification skills, but it was so different from the ones I had seen in Buenos Aires, much browner and less well marked, I thought.
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| Chalk-browed Mockingbird |
New birds I did have:
Variable Oriole – seen distantly, but ID’d straight away. Seen much better later in the day, read on!
Double-collared Seedeater. Saw 1 quite well, but photos not great.
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| Double-collared Seedeater |
I came out on the road again and started down another track – this time through the rainforest.
It was disappointing and I didn’t see much at all until I reached another road where I had a Pale-breasted Thrush with food for young.
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| Pale-breasted Thrush |
I tried to go up yet another dirt track but an old Indian guy basically told me I couldn’t and I had to beat a retreat. Luckily in a way because a Black-tailed Tityra landed in a tree nearby. Only stayed briefly but long enough was good enough.
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| Streaked Flycatcher - a better photo than previous. |
I wasn’t sure what to do and thought about working my way round to the track I wanted to avoid the local elder, but I felt a bit uncomfortable with that so decided as I’d walked as far from ‘home’ as I had, I might as well walk the rest of the way to the Hummingbird Garden in Puerto Iguazu. It was 35 minutes walk by MapsMe and I felt I could manage that.
The app took me through some dirt streets, some rough cobblestone type roads with dogs and kids and motorbikes and drains and some rubbish, but I never felt uncomfortable or threatened. Eventually I arrived at a locked gate in a wall - they didn’t open till midday and it was only 11.15. So much for my research!
I walked a bit further and found a caf̩ for water and coffee Рboth badly needed by this stage.
Back at the gate at 12.05 and I was admitted and paid my 1200 pesos (~$12 Aus) entry fee. The garden was tiny compared to some similar places I have visited in the States, but there were plenty of feeders and dozens of hummers! It was a bit overwhelming, ID-wise.
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| Hummingbird Garden (+ Alan in hat) |
I recognized a guy from ‘home’ whom I knew spoke English – we had discussed the breakfast items briefly the day before – and I struck up conversation with ‘Alan’ from Yorkshire. He had more experience with South American Hummingbirds than I did and helped me ID the 7 species present.
There were:
Versicoloured Emeralds – the smallest and most common.
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| Versicoloured Emerald |
Gilded Sapphire – probably the next commonest and, I think, the hummingbird I have featured before on the blog, calling it Glittering-bellied Emerald – incorrect, sorry!
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| Gilded Sapphire |
Glittering-bellied Emeralds
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| Glittering-bellied Emerald |
Black-throated Mango
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| Black-throated Mango |
Black Jacobin
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| Black Jacobin |
Swallow-tailed Hummingbird
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| Swallow-tailed Hummingbird |
Planalto Hermit (my favourite I think, although Swallow-tailed was pretty special too)
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| Planalto Hermit |
There were also loads of Banaquits and Sayaca Tanagers taking advantage of the sugar water and bananas that were scattered around. A Purple-throated Euphona, male & female, made brief appearances and a Variable Oriole showed some creativity.
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| Variable Oriole |
We spent about two hours initially, then went out for lunch (for Alan) and coffee (for me) and then went back again for another hour or so.
When we just about to leave the manager/owner of the place pointed out a Yellow-fronted Woodpecker that had come in to the fruit he provided on a higher platform. It was a female and outside across the road the male was in a roadside tree.
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| Female |
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| (Male) Yellow-fronted Woodpecker |
Alan and I got a taxi ‘home’ and discussed possibilities for the next day. The taxi cost 800 pesos or ~$8 Aus.
I sat down and sorted my photos in the café - as I have become accustomed to doing. Just as I took a break I noticed some of the other patrons pointing at a tree at the end of the pool area. Log story short it was the Green-headed Tanager back again. This time I did manage to get photos of this (in my opinion) f……..g stunning bird. There is SO much going on its just unbelieveable!
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| Green-headed Tanager |
Alan had not seen this and had mentioned it as I bird he really wanted. Unfortunately he didn’t appear until well after it had departed – maybe tomorrow?
I had dinner and retired to my room to write this up..
Trip List: 77 Lifers: 65 Mammals: 1 Reptiles: 1
Day 7 Sunday 16.10.22
Alan and I had discussed the possibilities and decided to share the 5,000 peso ($53 Aus) round trip taxi ride to Iguazu National Park. We didn’t intend to do the waterfall thing – he had already done it and I was scheduled to the next day, but to walk a non-waterfall trail, the Macuco trail.
After breakfast, therefore, we met at reception and they ordered the taxi for us. 30 minutes later we set off on the 20 ‘race’ to the NP entrance. He dropped us off and we agreed to a 15.00 pick up time. We had to buy tickets to enter the park – 4,000 pesos (~$40 Aus), then walked in and turned off on the trail itself. All in all it was quiet at the entrance, considering it was a Sunday and the trail didn’t have many people on it, certainly in comparison to my experience on the Brazilian side the other day. That had been chaos at the entrance. But here on the Argentinian side I would have said it was almost dead.
The trail was 3.5 kms long, all mud, some very messy spots, but overall not a hard walk. Alan was a bit slower than myself, given his arthritis, but it didn’t make much difference either way.
I have to say it was a disappointment and, potentially, my worst birding day as far as number of lifers goes – but we saw some good stuff.
At the entrance – Blue & White Swallows, my first in Argentina. They are big swallows, much more like Australian Woodswallows than ‘normal’ Swallows.
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| Blue & White Swallow |
A Common Tody Flycatcher sat up well at the start of the trail and it was looking good. BUT it was a long time before we saw any other birds, apart from a brief Green-winged Saltator which Alan failed to get onto.
Eventually my main target showed - and showed well! Toco Toucan at last! Very impressive and awesome in fact!
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| Toco Toucan |
Shortly afterwards a Squirrel Cuckoo put in an appearance, but was difficult to photograph – BIG cuckoo!
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| Squirrel Cuckoo |
And not long after THAT a calling bird showed up as Surucua Trogon. We did see both female and male birds, but I only got photos of the female.
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| Surucua Trogon |
We reached the end of the track just before 12. It finished at the top of a waterfall and in the surrounding area we saw several lizards which may be the same species, but looked a bit different to each other – I have no IDs yet.
Heading back the only bird we saw, believe it or not, apart from a couple of Thrushes, in the first 2.5 kms was a Sepia-capped Flycatcher. Very cute.
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| Sepia-capped Flycatcher |
A family group were looking at something above their heads and when we arrived, they pointed out a Common Potoo perched up in classic style on a stump! Their 8 or 9 year old son had spotted it! I thought of Lincoln straight away! We congratulated the boy and he looked quite embarrassed, but, wow, how he saw it at all, I don’t know. Where does the stump end and the bird begin?
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| Common Potoo |
Further along the track and another group were pointing and looking – they had come across a family (?) party of Black Capuchins. There were at least 3 animals hanging out above the track, quite unconcerned. My first South American monkey.
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| Black Capuchin Sapajus nigritus |
The day had been hot and very humid and we relaxed for an hour or so while we waited for the cab to arrive.
While we did a couple of big 'Blue-tongue-like' Lizards wandered around.
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| Argentinian Black and White Tegu Salvator merianae |
Back at ‘home’ we sat and watched for the Green-headed Tanagers to return, from 15.30-17.00. It/they didn’t.
Alan said goodbye and headed off to pack. He returns to Buenos Aires tomorrow and home on Thursday. I sat on doing my photos ect and was joined by two American birders around my age and we struck up conversation. They told me of a site ‘just up the road’ for Red-breasted Toucan which they had watched going in and out of its nest hole.
After I ate I went for a walk to try to find the tree. I didn’t find it definitely, but will try again tomorrow. I did hear a soft tapping and had a very, very, brief glimpse of a Blond-crested Woodpecker before it flew and disappeared into the dusk. 3 Short-tailed Nighthawks then appeared overhead as I walked back to the Lodge.
All in all not a bad day, I guess, just not quite as productive as the previous few days.
Trip List: 82 Lifers: 69 Mammals: 2 Reptiles: 2
Day 8 Monday 17.10.22
A tour of the Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls was the plan for today. All good this time – breakfast with Alan, said goodbye and the bus was there to pick me up at reception at 7.30.
It took a while as we picked up other participants at various lodges and hotels along the way, then all transferred into a bigger bus for the 20 minute ride to the entrance.
There was only one other English speaker in the group – about my age, maybe older, Marcia from Kedron (go figure!) who was on her way to Peru after Iguazu and had been to Antarctica already on a previous trip. We kind of hung together – it made it easier for our guide and at least gave each of us someone to talk to.
The guide bought our tickets and checked us through the gate, then we moved on as a group.
This tour was much more complex than the Brazilian side as there were several tracks closed, including the Devil’s Throat which was the biggest attraction really, but the walkway had been completely demolished by the high water level and was unlikely to be repaired this year.
We walked a lot. Along several tracks, upper level, lower level, another loop – I was kind of over waterfalls by the end. The tracks were very busy – partly due to the fact that several were closed – and people were so bloody ignorant it really got on my wick. I managed to contain myself, but really? Couldn’t get away quick enough. It was a looooong day. Social media and frigging selfies has a lot to answer for….
Bird-wise it was very poor. Only a few Plush-crested Jays, Shiny Cowbirds and Pale-breasted Thrushes. Other than that a single Neotropic Cormorant (see before in the States) and, of course, the highlight – Great Dusky Swift. Amazing watching them fly into the thundering waterfall and just disappear. I took hundreds of photos - or at least attempted hundreds of photos – most of which failed, but I did get some of the birds very close to the falls.
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| Neotropic Cormorant |
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| Great Dusky Swift |
I also had them perched on the rock face beside the falls.
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| Great Dusky Swift |
Great Dusky Swift video:
And some more butterflies….
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| Blue-frosted Banner Catonephele numilia |
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| Thoas Swallowtail Papilio thoas |
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| Statira Sulphur Aphrissa statira |
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| Blue Sailor Dynamine tithia tithia |
A boat trip was mentioned for some of the people who had been pre-booked on it. I enquired and paid $50 US to go on it – what the hell, I’ll possibly never be here again - and so at 14.00 we boarded the bus for the Grand Jungle tour (30 minute ride to the boat through the jungle, during which we saw nothing special, but the guide did her best to tell us all in Spanish, and English for Marcia and I, about the local environment and inhabitants.)
Then we were given a dry-bag to put our cameras ect in. Then a life jacket. Then we got in the boat and headed up the river through the quite rough, flooded conditions. When we got to the base of the falls the boat stopped for us to take photos – I didn’t bother, getting the camera out of the dry-bag was just too messy.
Then they took the boat closer to the falls and we all got a bit spray-wet. That was OK.
Then they took the boat right in beside the falls and our side of the boat got hit twice by what constituted a fire hose quantity of water. Obviously we were soaked – to the skin. We had been prepared to get wet, but it really was a bit over the top – especially as they didn’t do the same for the other side of the boat and they were the ones screaming and laughing. I must admit I didn’t find it particularly funny. I mean I can take it with the best of them, but it all seemed a bit too much.
We partly dried out on the way back, but I doubt my shirt and pants will be completely dry by tomorrow. I’m glad I did it, but wouldn’t do it again.
The best part of the boat ride were a couple of White-rumped Swallows over the landing stage – my only lifer for the day.
On the way back in the open-topped bus I spotted what I thought initially was a Toucan. they stopped the bus for everyone to see it. It was a Chestnut-eared Aracari, but everyone seemed happy to see it anyway. I'm gonna put another photo of it in, cause its just such a freaking great looking bird!
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| Chestnut-eared Aracari |
I got ‘home’ at 17.30 – just in time to order dinner before 18.00.
Trip List: 84 Lifers: 70 Mammals: 2 Reptiles: 2
Day 9 Tuesday 18.10.22
My last full day in Iguazu. I had made enquiries regarding getting to the Observatorie de Aves, about the same distance away as Iguazu Falls, just a little further along the main road. The taxi wanted 10,000 pesos and I wasn’t willing to pay $100+ AUS so decided to just bird locally and bird hard!
I started at 6 and walked the road outside the lodge area. Saw a good list, but nothing new before breakfast at 8. Back out again before 9 and this time I walked in on the dirt track Past the native farms to the ‘lake’ where I had been the other day.
It went well, I had….
Brazilian Teal – 7 birds on the pond. Very skittish.
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| Brazilian Teal |
I moved on to my little side pond where I had sat a few days ago and as I approached had an
Ochre-collared Piculet feeding low down – which was great! You can’t beat a good Piculet - love 'em!
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| Ochre-collared Piculet |
As I settled in it started to rain in earnest but I sat it out getting quite damp, but not soaked.
A Dark-billed Cuckoo was next on the agenda for a brief few minutes, but no photo.
Cobalt-rumped or Blue-winged Parrotlet showed up next and preformed quite well.
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| Cobalt-rumped or Blue-winged Parrotlet |
The Common Tody Flycatcher and Yellow-chinned Spinetail came around and I had a male Blue Dacnis briefly as well.
Yellow-chinned Spinetail video:
I decided to move on after about an hour. My ass was damp and I needed to dry out in the sun. Some local kids had been throwing stones into the pond while I sat and when I walked around I found their ‘target’ was a 2 meter Broad-snouted Caiman Caiman latirostris lying calmly in the water a few meters offshore. I always thought Caimans were slender and more alligator-like – this one looked like a salt water croc!
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| Broad-snouted Caiman Caiman latirostris |
I headed off around the back of the pond and found a White-tipped Dove. Probably seen this before, but just not recognized it as something different.
I found a track through bamboo and scrub which was inviting and brought me out at the far corner of the pond where I had the same Great Egret, Wattled Jacanas, Striated Herons and a Black-crowned Night Heron.
A little further up this track and I had another Piculet – good morning for Piculets! This one was a White-barred Piculet – brief, clear view of red crown, but no photos.
A pair of Saffron Finches further along and then a female Hooded Tanager feeding in a tree with its bright yellow legs - was a nice addition to my lifer list.
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| (Female) Hooded Tanager |
Shortly afterwards a small bird-wave occurred, all of which I missed except for a Rufous-crowned Greenlet. Whose photo I also missed.
I did get a photo of sorts of Red-rumped Cacique (pronounced 'Caa-seek-eh'). For a really common bird its been hard to get them in the camera - and this isn't my best effort. They are very active and noisy - quite a character type bird.
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| Red-rumped Cacique |
I also took a photo of Tropical Kingbird - which I have featured before as Cattle Tyrant...
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| Tropical Kingbird |
By this time it was 12.30. I’d been birding for 6 hours and was pretty knackered in the damp, humid heat so decided to trudge ‘home’ and have a coffee or two and a rest.
I did that and at 15.30 headed out again – but I was still pretty tired. Its been a big week for walking and fairly intense birding.
But I trudged up the road again. It was very quiet. I did have a Squirrel Cuckoo and several Chestnut-eared Aracaris – which are just brilliant!
Then high in a tree a new bird – but I had no idea what it was. I asked Merlin via a photo from my laptop and was advised it was a Chestnut-crowned Becard.
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| Chestnut-crowned Becard |
I also had a couple of Gray-breasted Martins overhead to finish off my 10 lifer day.
I had the Ceasar Salad for the fourth evening in a row – well, I liked it! Then retired to pack and sleep. 3 Short-tailed Nighthawks overhead as I walked back to my room and the Common Potoo was calling again.
Trip List: 97 Lifers: 80 Mammals: 2 Reptiles: 3
Day 10 Wednesday 19.10.22
I got up at 6.30 having slept quite well and walked the road for an hour and a half generally birding. Nothing super special – watched a pair of Purple-throated Euphonias nest building and saw a nice pair of Thrush-like Wrens (weird birds) crawling around a tree and calling – a call I NOW recognized as having heard all week…..Jesus Mary & Joseph, I am sooooo slow when it comes to calls.
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| Thrush-like Wren - not the best, but they are difficult due to their skulking |
Back ‘home’ had breakfast, then took a bowl of coffee outside for a smoke. (I’ve been drinking ‘bowls’ of coffee, French-style, to save me having to go up and down to re-fill my cup). Anyway, sitting outside watching the Red-rumped Caciques move around noisily, as you do, and I had the Green-headed Tanager again. Brilliant, brilliant bird!
Back to my room and finished packing, then down to reception at 9.30. Due to be picked up at either 10 or 10.30, I was in no rush – just conflicting schedules.
I paid my bill – meals, coffees, cokes, more coffees…all told 20,600 pesos = $206. Not bad considering it covered 7 days.
10.30 pick up, took an hour to get to the airport as we picked up several other groups of people on the way. Checked in, no drama, went to the boarding area and had a coffee, then boarded and flew. All good.
At Buenos Aires Jorge Newbury (Domestic) airport it was very busy. I stood waiting at the arrivals door under the Private Vehicles Pick up sign for 30 minutes or so while everyone else left. Then realised there were two Arrivals doors and my driver was waiting at the other one, 30 meters away… had to wait another 10 minutes for him to get the car – watched the chaotic arrival and departure of taxis, private cars, buses ect outside, absolute mayhem.
Arrived at the same hotel – Argenta Tower – in downtown Buenos Aires and checked in. I was handed a bill for approx $37 that they had not billed me for before I left a week ago. Fair enough, I guess, I didn’t argue as I knew they had undercharged me last time.
Unpacked and decided not to do anything too energetic with what was left of the afternoon, but did go out and buy some ‘Argentinian’ cigarettes – Marlboro and Camel – go figure. And ordered my first coffee in a public café. Look at me!! It came with a piece of cake! I should have done this every day before! I could even smoke at the outdoor table – how civilized!
The weather. I haven’t talked about the weather at all. On the whole its been dry with just that bit of rain yesterday during the day. It has rained a little at night, most nights (in Iguazu at least), but more a pattering on the leaves than a serious downpour. Most of the days have been cloudy for at least some of the day. We did have some sunshine on a couple of the days and it was very humid then. Maximum temp probably around 31C, but generally mid twenties – very much like the weather would be at this time of year in Brisbane. Mind you, with what’s coming, I imagine it’ll be the last time I’ll be warm outdoors for at least a month….
Summary so far. 80 lifers, 97 species. Could I have done better? With a guide? Without doubt - probably would have exceeded those numbers in one day. BUT I'll remember every one of those birds, I found them myself and identified them myself. I'd like to have got to other sites, locally, but just too expensive to use the cabs, I felt like they were taking advantage a bit. Maybe they thought I was an American? Maybe if I'd walked down to the main road and found my own cab? Maybe? But really there was enough going on around the lodge area to keep me occupied to date. Sure, there were a few fly overs and disappearing individuals that I missed, no doubt about that, but generally I was pretty happy that all the birds I got onto to, I did identify, apart from a couple of Elaenia-type flycatchers which are always difficult no matter where you are.
Trip List: 97 Lifers: 80 Mammals: 2 Reptiles: 3
Day 11 Thursday 19.10.22
An amazing day – of birds, meetings and small-world-type coincidences!
It started off with breakfast at 7. Bloody scrambled eggs AGAIN. I have had scrambled eggs for breakfast every morning cause that’s all they seem to serve, hot. Every day. Every where.
After breakfast set off at 7.45 to walk to Costanera Sur. It’s the premier birding site in down town Buenos Aires, an area of parkland, scrub, lakes and sea front. It took me 25 minutes to walk the 4.5 kms through part of the city. No problems, no uneasy feelings, I’m getting to like this city!
At the north end I arrived at a gate which I expected to enter the area by – but it was closed. I didn’t know why, couldn’t read the signs, so started walking south towards where I knew the main gate was. Alongside a wide (100 meters?) water filled canal type thing backed by trees and scrub and FILLED with birds. They just started and kept coming, unbelievable stuff…
Lifers in order of appearance:
Nanday Parakeet – seen regularly through the day, an introduced feral species, but a lifer none the less.
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| Nanday Parakeet |
Grayish Baywing – a charismatic species reminded of Apostlebird, but much smaller. Really cool.
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| Grayish Baywing |
Rufescent Tiger Heron – Unbelievably standing out in the open, a big Bittern type thing, stunning markings.
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| Rufescent Tiger-Heron |
Silver Teal – beautiful duck, in number although listed in Merlin as ‘Uncommon in BA’, must have seen at least 100, conservatively.
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| Silver Teal |
Giant Wood Rail – also standing out in the open!
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| Giant Wood-Rail |
Spot-flanked Gallinule – only saw the one and it was attacked by a Wattled Jacana, dived and I never saw it again.
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| Spot-flanked Gallinule |
Cocoi Heron – very like Grey Heron, saw 2 or 3 only.
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| Cocoi Heron |
Red-gartered Coot – heaps.
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| Red-gartered Coot |
White-winged Coot – more than heaps.
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| White-winged Coot |
Red-fronted Coot – not so many
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| Red-fronted Coot |
White-banded Mockingbird – saw one only and was too tied up with other stuff to take a photo.
Rosy-billed Pochard – heaps upon heaps, begging for food.
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| Rosy-billed Pochard |
Coscoroba Swan – only one, looked like a dump duck/goose to be honest, but a genuine wild bird.
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| Coscoroba Swan |
Yellow-billed Teal –discreetly at distance.
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| Yellow-billed Teal |
Southern Screamer – really wanted to see them scream, but the pair with 5 chicks I saw, just stood around like vacant geese. Big birds, was very happy to see them, just cause they are called Screamers!
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| Southern Screamer |
White-tufted Grebe – absolutely charming little guys, fell in love immediately, just so dam cute.
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| White-tufted Grebe |
It was at this point I came across another birder. We nodded and said ‘good morning’ and continued birding separately.
Just further on, a guy with a scope appeared. We started talking and it turned out Javier was a Bird Pal and a Bird guide. Long story short – we ended up spending the rest of the day together! We birded along this ‘canal’, then because, believe or not, the Sur was closed he took me off to a couple of other spots and we saw some amazing birds together. That was the first amazing meeting of the day.
Not long after starting with Javier, Alan from Iguazu turned up! He had a few hours before flying home and had actually spent some time with Javier a day or two before, so they already knew each other. Second amazing meeting really!
As the three of us chatted, the first guy I had seen came along and HE knew Javier too. But more amazing was the fact that he is the bird guide on the Sea Spirit to Antarctica that I am joining on Saturday
Is it a small world or what??
Alan, Javier and I spent some time together and the birds kept coming…
Bare-faced Ibis – one flew in and around but didn’t land.
Black-necked Swan – just a pair, gliding along.
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| Black-necked Swan |
Black-headed Duck – several birds but not in great number.
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| Black-headed Duck |
Yellow-billed Pintail – just two seen.
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| Yellow-billed Pintail |
Chestnut-capped Blackbird – 3 in a tree, I did take photos but the brownish/red head is difficult to see and didn’t show well enough in the rather grey morning light.
Brown-chested Martin – these are BIG Martins compared to Australian Martins.
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| Brown-chested Martin |
Lake Duck – for all intents and purposes it could be a Blue-billed on Lake Galletly!
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| Lake Duck |
Ringed Teal – Javier found two half hidden 100 meters away. Good in the scope, poor in bins, hopeless in camera. Pity cause they are a nice looking duck. But quite uncommon and few in number in BA.
Snowy-crowned Tern – nice Tern. Flew in along the ‘canal’, dived a few times and flew away.
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| Snowy-crowned Tern |
At this point Alan had gone and Javier suggested we go elsewhere. Not totally sure why the Sur was closed. They called it ‘bad weather’ but it was only overcast and a bit dull. It may have been because there was rain overnight and they were afraid the tracks would get damaged by too many feet. Or something. Anyway, my one full day in BA and the place was closed – not overly happy, Jack! But Javier made up for it in a big way.
We got in his taxi – his normal job – and drove for about 45 minutes to the north of the city in Buenos Aires province. We stopped at a location with no name so…..close to the river mouth and started trying for Many-coloured Rush Tyrant which I had expressed a desperation for - or at least an interest in!
Along the way we had:
Brown-hooded Gull - a bit distant and brief, but we saw another 20-30 fly overhead later in the afternoon. My first South American Gull.
Rufous-collared Sparrow – not strictly a new tick as I had seen it briefly from the bus coming back from Brazil, but when its hopping around your feet….
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| Rufous-collared Sparrow |
Black and Rufous Warbling Finch – nice bird, saw several, but challenging to photograph.
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| Black-and-rufous Warbling Finch |
Wren-like Rushbird – reminded me of Little Grassbird or Cisticolas, very hard to see and impossible to photograph.
Spectacled Tyrant - a female sat up – look at the eye! Far out!
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| Spectacled Tyrant |
Bran-coloured Flycatcher – just one, briefly, a bit so so, pretty much as it says on the box!
Whistling Heron – glad to get this as its not really a marsh bird, more an open field bird – a bit weird looking for a heron.
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| Whistling Heron |
Screaming Cowbird – another screamer that did nothing! Subtly different from the much commoner Shiny Cowbird. Well, its not shiny and its bill is a bit different…
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| Screaming Cowbird |
White-crested Tyrannulet – seen a couple of times, but too ‘flicky’ to get the camera on. Nice little bird though.
White-browed Meadowlark (or Blackbird) – I found this all on my own! Javier’s first for the year, they started arriving. Stunning bird, there were two together.
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| White-browed Meadowlark |
Checkered Woodpecker – just one, seen well, but brieflyas is normal with Woodpeckers in my experience.
Hooded Siskin – a pair flew up into a pine tree. Didn’t even try to get a photo. Nice view though.
We had tried several spots along the back of a reed bed for the MCR Tyrant, but no luck. Apparently very reactive to ‘encouragement’ but no responses so far.
I felt Javier was getting a bit desperate, but we tried one more spot and as he walked back from placing the speaker one appeared. Wow!! Stunning! Brilliant! Incredible colour. I got good views as it flitted around, but it was bloody difficult to get a photo – focused between the reed stems - so here’s my best effort. I know it’s blurred to shit, but the colours!!
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| Many-colored Rush Tyrant |
We went back to the car and drove somewhere else, back towards Buenos Aires. Into a pretty degraded area of low bush alongside a pretty grotty stream. As we walked in Javier saw a bird and got very excited. It was a White-naped Xenopsaris and was several hundred kilometers out of range. (And, no, I don’t know how to pronounce it either) he sent messages to his birding friends and put it on E-bird, I think. Very exciting and rare in Buenos Aires. For me, sigh, just another lifer….
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| White-naped Xenopsaris |
We tried for Rufous-sided Crake. We heard at least two and very close, sounded like Spotless Crake, but they just would not come out, so remain as heard only and not ticked.
We also had a Grey-cowled Wood Rail, seen briefly in the tiny creek.
Sooty-fronted Spinetail – took a bit of work, but we did see one in the end. Not well enough for the camera, darting around in an overgrown, dark area.
Glaucous-blue Grosbeak – just further on in the same area. We saw two, one perched up quite well
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| Glaucous-blue Grosbeak |
Greyish Saltator – briefly overhead on a branch, but no chance with the camera.
Masked Gnatcatcher – prolonged underside views and some side on, but too flitty to try for photos.
Tropical Parula – seen very briefly.
Spix’s Spinetail – again seen briefly and moving fast through thick, dark undergrowth.
By now it was after 16.00. Quite frankly I was knackered. I’d only had one cup of lousy coffee since breakfast and a mouthful or two of water and that was it. Javier had to pick up his wife at 17.00 in the city and so we drove back and he dropped me off at the hotel. I insisted on donating 5,000 pesos for fuel, although he didn’t really want to take it, but hey, what a day! 44 lifers!
Of course along with all those new birds there were heaps of previously-seen stuff – Chimango and Crested Caracaras, Harris’s Hawk and a Snail Kite (seen in Florida), White-tipped Pigeon, Gray-breasted Martin, Green-winged Saltator, Limpkin, Wattled Jacana, Common Gallinule, Pied-billed Grebe (seen in USA), Black-crowned Night Heron, Great & Snowy Egret, Brazilian Teal, Monk, White-eyed and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, White-faced whistling Duck, Fan-tailed Flycatcher, Vermillion Flycatcher, Glittering-bellied Emerald and Gilded Sapphire, Double-collared Seedeater and Plush-crested Jay to name a few (or most of, in fact, the 85 species we had in the day!)
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| Crested Caracara |
I stopped at the coffee shop across the road and sucked down two Café con Leches before heading in for a shower and a rest. Then started sorting the 1,237 photos I had taken, breaking them down to 345. I’m not sure what that says of me as a photographer, but there you have it.
Treated myself to a half inch thick sirloin steak for dinner and continued doing all this stuff till midnight…
Trip List: 145 Lifers: 124 Mammals: 2 Reptiles: 3
Day 12 Friday 21.10.22
I got up at 7, had breakfast and then headed out. Firstly I walked to the Alvear Art Hotel – the hotel I needed to transfer to for the Antarctic leg. It was only 300 meters from the place I was staying so I decided I’d walk it later in the afternoon – with my bags.
I walked down to Costanera Sur again – and it was open! Obviously the drier weather overnight had made a difference? I headed in from the north end and walked along the track that kind of skirts the perimeter until I reached the Middle Track, this I walked down to the back of the ‘canal, before turning left and heading out the main gate.
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| Costanera Sur - middle track |
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| Costanera Sur - 'canal' |
All that took most of the morning – it was midday before I left the park.
Along the way I had loads of stuff I’d seen before but added a few new species and got photos of a few previously seen ones…
Spot-winged Pigeon – only saw one, but there were probably more around. Hundreds of Picazuro Pigeons in the trees and on the ground were distracting.
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| Spot-winged Pigeon |
Golden-billed Saltator - picked up from its strong call, really attractive bird. I then saw another individual which at first I thought was some other species, but turned out to be a race, I believe. I’m not completely sure of the race ranges, but it seemed strange to have two races in the same area, right beside it each other? I don’t have time to investigate further at the moment.
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| Golden-billed Saltator |
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| Golden-billed Saltator |
Green-barred Woodpecker was perched up brilliantly in the top of a tree and I was angling for a photo but an overweight Indian man dressed only in a pair of Speedos flushed it early. I saw a second one on the ground after I left the park, but it flushed naturally before I could get close enough – very frustrating, cause Woodpeckers are just stunning photography subjects!
Checkered Woodpecker – got close on a couple of occasions – quite a confiding little bird. I just love woodpeckers for some reason!
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| Checkered Woodpecker (Female) |
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| Checkered Woodpecker (Male) Checked Woodpecker video: |
Small-billed Elaenia. As usual with Elaenias there’s always a difficulty in identification, but I was confident with this one – relatively confident anyway. Saw 2 and then 1 later.
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| Small-billed Elaenia |
Hooded Siskin – not new, but got the camera on one.
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| Hooded Siskin |
Blue-and-yellow Tanager – nice bird! And very reactive.
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| Blue and Yellow Tanager |
Southern Beardless Tyrannulet saw 2 but could not get them in the camera.
Straneck’s Tyrannulet -1 and ditto.
I spent an hour or so trying really hard to get Rufous-sided Crake along the back of the ‘canal’ area. I heard them call in a couple of locations, but they just stopped when I played back and didn’t appear.
I tried once for Plumbeous Rail – more from WTF kind of attitude – and one came charging in out of the blue, immediately. Unfortunately a Giant Wood Rail was hanging around and kept chasing it away so didn’t get any photos. But I was pretty happy about the view.
Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, I was really pleased at finally seeing a Woodcreeper – and seeing it so well, right beside the track, brilliant!
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| Narrow-billed Woodcreeper |
Narrow-billed Woodcreeper video:
Yellow-billed Cardinal. I saw a juvenile first and was, like, WTF is that? Then it flew and was fed by an adult. One bird I hadn’t really expected to see.
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| Yellow-billed Cardinal (Juvenile) |
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| Yellow-billed Cardinal (Adult) |
Later I saw a pair of Red-crested Cardinals. I had seen this before in both Hawaii and Sydney, but here it was a native bird, for the first time!
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| Red-crested Cardinal |
Once I exited the park I headed north back along the ‘canal’. I was kind of running out of time so didn’t spend much time looking at the Rosy-billed Pochards, Yellow-billed Teal, White-tufted & Pied-billed Grebes, 3 species of Coots, 2 Swans, Herons ect. I did notice a large Coypu swimming along the edge of one of the islands. I thought, at first, it might be a Capybara, but when its tail broke the surface I knew it wasn’t – and it didn’t look quite right anyway.
I got back to the Argenta Tower at about 14.15, but headed first across the road and had a couple of coffees and relaxed before actually entering the hotel.
I retrieved my bags (I had already checked out and paid my $95 account), loaded up and walked the 300 meters to the Alvear Art. This hotel was a 5 Star place, doorman and busboys (?) all hanging around eager to help and I stomp in carrying laptop bag, 2 rucksacks and my yellow drybag, in my dirty hiking boots, birding pants and t-shirt.
I checked in and was advised my room wasn’t ready because they had had a ‘problem with a pipe’. So I hung out in the lobby for an hour and a half trying to stay awake. During that time I checked in with the boat trip people in the lobby and received my final instructions, luggage labels and medical form to complete.
Finally my room was ‘ready’ – although it had been ready for some time, because when I got up to room 405, Russell from South Australia was already there. We introduced ourselves and started to get acquainted as we’ll be spending the next three weeks living together – along with a Mr Gao – onboard the ship.
Eventually Russell and I went out for something to eat, Mr Gao having not shown up. We walked around for a while and finally decided on a slightly upmarket kind of place where we shared a vegetarian pizza and had a beer each. (54,000 pesos or approx $54Aus) Returning to our room, Richard Gao from Shanghai - but has spent the last two years in south America - introduced himself as our third room mate.
We just poked around for the rest of the evening and then crashed around 10.
Trip List: 158 Lifers: 134 Mammals: 2, 1 Reptiles: 3
Day 13 Saturday 22.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 1
Finally the big day arrived. I was awake at 5.45, but lay on in bed until 7.15 when I thought it was best to start getting it together. The other two woke as I started packing up my stuff in preparation for the move to the ship.
We went down for breakfast around 7.45 and dropped our bags at reception to be taken separately. After breakfast I spent the time updating my photos and bird lists and, finally, updating the last entry in my blog. I guessed I wouldn’t be able to do that again until we berthed at Ushuaia in 23 days time.
At 11.15 Russell and I were in reception waiting to board the first bus, Richard was on Bus no 3.
We left the hotel at 11.30 and soon after midday were ushered through a scanning process – I don’t know why really – and a passport check before boarding Sea Spirit and joining the other guests in the lounge area. We were given a brief briefing and then taken in groups to hand in our medical forms and our passports which were then held by the ship. Then we were taken to our cabin – 341 – and left to unpack and generally start settling in.
Video
I chose the bed by the window, Russell took the larger sofa bed – we left the other middle single to Richard. When he arrived we discussed changing beds every 7 days so that we all took turns on the sofa bed and/or the bed by the window. We all agreed to that scenario, which was great.
At 13.00 we had lunch. A 3 course a la carte delivery which was very 5 star. This was way above what either Russell or I had genuinely expected, but it seemed to be the norm. We sat at a table with 5 other guests, including an older couple from Melbourne, 2 individual guys from the Netherlands and a 30 something woman from Germany. There seemed to be a number of people travelling individually which I found surprising. I had thought most would be with a group or at least in couples.
After lunch and a bit of free time, most of which I spent exploring the ship and on deck looking for stuff, we had the main briefing of the day. It appears there are only 98 passengers on board (which is brilliant!) out of a possible 114. This is the first trip of the season (we knew that) and the team were flexible when it comes to doing things – which may work to my advantage later in the trip. A large percentage (maybe 60%) were Taiwanese with a fair number of Germans, a few other Europeans and a few UK. Most appeared to be at least my age or older, although there were a few younger people on board. I had been expecting a large number of Americans, but so far had only identified a couple. The ship is quite small – I joked with Russell as we boarded suggesting this was just the ship to take us to the ship – and was built in 1991. It isn’t a cruise type ship – there is no ongoing entertainment or classes in embroidery or line dancing. The trip was actually referred to as an ‘expedition’, which, of course, suits me down to the ground, and there was a very strong focus on preserving the environment and wildlife.
The briefing ended with an emergency lifeboat drill during which we had to wear lifejackets and meet in designated muster areas. While we stood on deck waiting for the exercise to finish a large hawkmoth appeared from somewhere and I grabbed it off the floor. I took it back to my cabin and took some photos.
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| Poplar Hawkmoth |
(Side Note: Later a lady approached me and asked me about it. She believed it was a Popular Hawk Moth from the Northern Hemisphere. I had found out the boat had recently been to Iceland and Greenland before sailing down to Argentina so its quite possible it was ‘smuggled’ down in a life jacket? I had it in my room, on the curtain, intending to speak to one of the Biologists on board, but when we returned later after dinner, the beds had been turned down (including a chocolate on the pillow) and the curtains had been drawn. I didn’t know where the moth had ended up)
The rest of the afternoon I spent mostly on the deck until 17.30 when we were issued with our expeditionary (take home) parkas and heavy duty (borrow) wellington type boots. I didn’t see much – about a dozen Brown-hooded Gulls and a couple of Snowy-crowned Terns. We were still relatively close to the coast and apparently will travel south before turning east to the Falkland Is, our first destination. The sea was relatively calm, with just a slight roll noticeable and the weather forecast for the next 4 days was to continue as is.
At 19.00 it was dinner time. As Russell said it’s just eat, brief, eat, brief…. Amazing amount of food and selection on the, again, 3 course, a la carte meal. There were at least 5 starter choices and the same on main course as well as a list of an ‘always available’ selection. Russell and I sat at a table for three and invited an individual 30 something Russian woman to join us. She actually worked for Poseidon in a marketing capacity and was on this trip to assess the options and look for improvement. Russell, it turns out, is a really funny guy and we kept her amused, I think, with typical Aussie humour and his dry wit.
Towards the end of dinner the ship picked up a much more noticeable roll, nothing dramatic, but a bit staggery at times.
So!! It’s really happening! Finally, I’m actually on my way to ANTARCTICA!! It just seems so unreal. Its still hard to believe – but has become a little more believable today. I met up with Gaston, the expedition ornithologist whom I had bumped into on Thursday in Buenos Aires and it does appear that I am the only serious birder on board – well, no one else showed up on deck with bins! Maybe I was the only one stupid enough to bother! That again may work in my favour if I want to do something special bird-wise later on?
Trip List: 158 Lifers: 134 Mammals: 2, 1 Reptiles: 3
Day 14 Sunday 23.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 2
I woke up at 5.15 and read for a while, getting up at 5.45. I was on deck just after 6 with a coffee and a smoke and during the day returned to the same spot whenever I had ‘free’ time.
It was a bit slow to start with but during the day we had 100s of Great and Manx Shearwaters, a load of White-chinned Petrels, Black-browed Albatross, approx 10 Brown Skuas, several Wilson’s Storm Petrels, Southern Giant Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters.
We also had
Yellow-billed Terns – about 20 altogether over the first few hours
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| Yellow-billed Tern |
South American Tern – only saw 2, once, but the red bill was clear to see.
Magellanic Penguins, I was surprised to see so far from shore (land no longer visible, although we were still heading SE). Groups sitting on the water, head pattern clearly visible.
Olrog’s Gull. A guy showed me a photo on his camera that I was pretty sure was one of these. An hour or so later a similar aged gull appeared and I got my own photos – quite likely the same bird.
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| Olrog's Gull |
I also believed I had a juvenile Long-tailed Skua and a single Chilean Skua, but not 100% certain on either – just being cautious really.
I did miss a Grey-headed Albatross, seen by a group with Gaston, the resident ornithologist.
At one point in the morning I was surrounded by Taiwanese birders, most of whom had no idea, and I became the local expert, although I denied having any expertise I was certainly the most experienced birder on deck in the absence of Gaston! Me?? Yeah, really! I was introduced to professor Wu who is on Taiwan’s Rarities Committee and I was given a badge by their Team Leader in honour of my association!
It was just brilliant watching the Shearwaters and Albatrosses cruising alongside the ship – I never tire of watching these birds.
Twice breaching whales were called – once a Humpback which I didn’t try to get out to see - and the second a Southern Right Whale which I didn’t try for either because they were all too far away to be worthwhile and by the time one gets on deck…
Dolphins were seen several times and I managed to catch a jumping Dusky Dolphin at one stage – the only one I saw that was identifiable.
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| Dusky Dolphin |
I also believe I had a Minke turn briefly, just once, no blow.
On a couple of occasions South American Sea Lions were seen floating on their backs with their flippers in the air.
I didn’t take a lot of photos – it was difficult enough getting onto the birds from the ship and most of the close stuff I already had heaps of photos of.
We had three briefings – one to introduce the expedition team members, the second a talk on Pelagic Seabirds and the third on Cetaceans. Apart from those – and breakfast, lunch and dinner (a la carte again…. Jesus Christ, its just food, food, food!) I spent my time on the deck.
The weather continued more or less calm with just a slight roll noticeable, although it was predicted that tonight the sea conditions would worsen and sea sickness tablets should be taken.
All in all the first day at sea was excellent – and a lot more birds than I had expected at this latitude.
Some details:
Buenos Aires to the Falkland Islands is approx 1,900 kms and takes 4 days – we may get there Wednesday evening or Thursday morning dependent on sea conditions. I didn’t realise it would take that long.
Falkland Islands to South Georgia is over 1,400 kms and takes 2.5 days.
South Georgia to the South Shetlands and the Antarctic itself is 1,300 kms and another 2.5 days.
South Shetland to Ushuaia – 1,000 kms and 2 days.
The expedition leader gave an excellent summary and begged for flexibility as everything depends on the weather – and the captain.
Trip List: 171 Lifers: 138 Mammals: 4, 2 Reptiles: 3
Day 15 Monday 24.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 3
Up and out at 6 again. Seas a little bigger than yesterday and it was colder.
Just a quick note. I hadn’t worn any thermals yet. It had been quite pleasant and at times quite warm out of the wind. Even in the wind, once the sun was up properly, it wasn’t bitter – cold, but livable in a long-sleeved T-shirt, long sleeved shirt and my Karrimor fleece. Long pants, (no thermals), socks and hiking boots. Some folk were wearing their expedition parkas, hoods up, gloves on, but I was trying to minimize protection to acclimatize myself gradually. Overnight it had dropped to 8C, so the temperature was coming down and apparently the sea temperature had dropped 3 degrees since leaving Buenos Aires.
I spent two hours on deck. The bird numbers had dropped off quite dramatically since the previous day. More (juvenile mainly) Southern Giant Petrels, a few Great Shearwaters – approx 50 throughout the day – a handful of Manx Shearwaters and a few Black-browed Albatrosses.
About a half hour in and I saw my first (of this trip) Wandering/Royal Albatross. During the day I saw about 8, a couple of which were close enough to definitively ID as S Royals. Photos of others taken by the Taiwanese group also proved to be Royals, not Wandering.
Late in that watch Cape Petrels started to appear, looking cute as they circled the ship.
We had breakfast and I went back on deck from 9-11.00. Just before I had to go to the mandatory Kayak briefing, I saw my first (ever) Atlantic Petrel. Brilliant! Very like the Tahiti Petrel of the Southport pelagics.
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| Atlantic Petrel |
I also had a couple of White-bellied Storm Petrels – also a lifer. It was good, because the Stormies came around singly and so made it easier to follow with the boat’s height in between the waves. There were also a number of Wilson’s Storm Petrels, but easy to differentiate given the underbelly views.
The kayak briefing was in great detail and safety stressed repeatedly. The putting on of the dry suit, the booties, the life jacket and the kayak skirt was demonstrated and then we were all provided with items of the same that will remain with us for the voyage. We had to put it all on to the instructor’s satisfaction. We were told exactly what to wear under the dry suit too – no cotton, all merino thermals (check), fleece (check) and two pairs of thick socks (check, check). We were also provided a small dry bag to put the small stuff in – beanie, gloves, water bottle. They showed us how to wrap our parkas up so they were compact and would be carried in the accompanying safety zodiac while we paddled, in anticipation of landing. Getting in and out of the kayaks would be done via the zodiac and it was stressed that we needed to be capable of hauling our own weight over the inflatable edge of the zodiac. It sounds like a challenging operation, but all will be good! I think…..
After lunch I went back out to the deck and wandered around for a while. The birds were few in number and now seemed to be primarily Atlantic Petrels, although few in number, not the masses of other birds we had had the previous day. Interesting really. We must have moved out of the main feeding/fishing area overnight. Now it was ‘just’ Atlantic and Cape Petrels in small numbers and the occasional Great Shearwater, Southern Giant Petrel and Storm Petrel sp.
We were still two days from the Falklands and I was really enjoying this 4 day seawatch, because basically, that’s what it was! I knew it wouldn’t appeal to everyone – some might have found it boring - but I never tired of watching the Albatrosses, Shearwaters and Petrels soaring around- just awesome!
Other passengers used the time between food (!) to walk around the deck (the ship is only about 80 meters long so it’s a short walk), go to the gym, sleep, read or, in a couple of cases, use the hot spa on the open deck. There were also a couple of presentations around previous historical expeditions to Antarctica – Shackleton and so on – which I didn’t bother attending, but they did help take up people’s time, I guess.
I spent some time alone on deck during the latter presentation until 16.30 when I decided to have a shower and some quiet time alone in our cabin.
Then it was dinner time – again….
Trip List: 175 Lifers: 140 Mammals: 4, 2 Reptiles: 3
Day 16 Tuesday 25.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 4
Out on deck again just after 6. Almost a flat calm. Virtually no wind. The ship’s wake was creating a bigger wave than the ocean itself. The birds, although fewer in number, were cruising slowly along, gliding in the ship’s wake or just off the rear – perfect opportunity for photographers, stable platform, slow birds, close proximity. The Taiwanese contingent were making a day of it, huge lens, tripods, all the gear.
I spent two hours seawatching from the upper deck. Nothing new, but saw my first Prion of the voyage and had good views of a Southern Fulmar.
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| Southern Fulmar |
Through the day the Prions, presumably Fairy and any photos I saw seemed to bear that out, increased in number with several always passing the boat. A conservative estimate of at least 150 through the day was probably way under estimated.
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| Fairy Prion |
A few Northern Giant Petrels were spotted among the many Southerns and we had a few (less than 5, I believe) Wandering Albatross – my first confirmed view.
I saw a porpoising Magellanic Penguin briefly and what I believe was a single Southern Elephant Seal checked us out as we passed.
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| Southern Elephant Seal |
In contrast to previous days I recorded only 3 White-chinned Petrels, 2 or 3 Sooty Shearwaters and 1 Great Shearwater.
The morning continued calm, wave height increased with the wind in the afternoon, but it all settled down again by evening.
We had a couple of briefings.
The first advised us that thanks to the excellent conditions we would arrive at the Falklands a day early – the next morning! So the brief contained all the advice and instruction regarding getting in and out of the zodiacs, how to prepare and how to sit in the boats. Walking on the private island we will land on was also outlined and what we would see – a Black-browed Albatross rookery and the penguin species we could expect. The plan is to land first at a quiet inlet on the east side of the Falkland, then move during lunch to a second spot. The next day we should visit Stanley, the main town on the Falkland west coast.
Then Gaston gave a briefing regarding the birds of the Falklands and how we might see them, then the kayak ‘team’ were called together and we discussed the first kayak outing of the trip, planned for 8.00 the next morning. It would be a short, getting set up outing of about an hour thus giving us time to walk across the island to the rookery. I was very glad of that as I didn’t want to miss a landing if I could avoid it.
Later in the day we had to collect all the clothes and baggage we would be taking onto the island and have it bio-security checked by the expedition leaders. That involved vacuuming all pockets and bags, checking all Velcro for any bits of vegetation etc and washing our footwear, firstly in soapy water and then in a special disinfectant, to avoid taking any seeds or dirt onto the land. Bird flu was of particular concern at this time.
Apparently South Georgia is even more strict and there are biosecurity officers there who may do spot checks. My gear took about 40 minutes work – and as I am going to land in the kayak gear (dry suit, booties etc) most of my stuff that got vacuumed won’t be worn tomorrow morning anyway. However tomorrow afternoon is predicted to be a ‘wet’ landing and we’ll need to wear the provided rubber boots and our own waterproof over trousers. The advice was if you don’t have waterproof over trousers, you wouldn’t be landing anywhere.
All in all it was pretty intense and the ‘guidelines’ (read as ‘rules’) were pretty rigid – as, I guess, they have to be to protect this fragile environment. Fragile in the sense that any exposure to a disease like bird flu would decimate whole populations and put specific species at immediate catastrophic risk.
A final brief before dinner by the on-ship photographer regarding taking photos in Antarctica was interrupted momentarily by 3 Hump-backed Whales passing off the starboard bow and everyone crowded out to see them before returning to Pete’s talk.
Trip List: 178 Lifers: 140 Mammals: 5, 3 Reptiles: 3
Day 17 Wednesday 26.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 5
What a day!
We all awoke at around 5.30 and, basically, got out on deck as soon as. It was a misty, damp, cold morning, but we were here, at the Falkland Islands.
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| The Falkland Islands |
Our first landing was in the northwest - West Point Island.
Our second landing was at Saunders Island - at the thin part called The Neck.
A day early, choppy looking water, strong wind, but all looking good for a landing. (It always depends on the conditions at the time of landing. The weather and the seas in this part of the world can change. Very quickly – as will be seen…..)
I had both the Shags fairly quickly while we cruised slowly to our anchor point in the inlet.
Rock Shag and Imperial Shag
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| Imperial Shag |
We had breakfast and then were scheduled to depart. The zodiacs were lowered into the water and we checked off the ship by swiping our individual credit-type cards in a scanner. That way they knew who was ashore and, as we swiped them again on our return, whether anyone had been left behind.
I was in the first zodiac to leave the ship and we were all carefully seated by a couple of guys on the ship and the boat driver himself. All very controlled and supported. We all sat, hands inside, bags between your knees and the driver steered the zodiac into shore. This would be a ‘dry’ landing, as a short jetty had been built on the beach so I was wearing my own hiking boots for comfort on the 2.5 km walk across this part of the island. I also had on my Berghaus waterproof over pants, my Expeditionary (bright red) parka, my flotation device and a beanie. Underneath I only had a long-sleeved t-shirt and long-sleeved birding shirt. No thermals. My bins, gloves and camera/bum bag arrangement were all secured in a dry bag I had brought for the purpose – most people were similarly dressed and prepared. Hands and face were a bit cold in the wind, but otherwise I was quite warm and comfortable – it was about 6C.
We landed, again assisted by the expedition leaders, and were welcomed ashore by the owner of the island. A number of islands are privately owned and this was one of them. The owner was paid by the ship per passenger to land and provided a morning tea of home baked cakes and such – I actually didn’t partake, being interested in the birds and not wanting to spend time indoors.
The first bird I saw was, I was sure, a Blackish Cinclodes fly by as we landed. I didn’t see that particular bird again, but saw a couple more along the way.
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| Blackish Cinclodes |
Austral Thrush was next, acting like a Blackbird, saw quite a few on the first part of the walk.
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| Austral Thrush |
We had a few minutes before setting off and I managed to see Kelp Goose along the shoreline.
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| Kelp Goose |
Then Upland Goose – and they were all along the walk, some with goslings along side.
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| Upland Goose (Male) |
Video
There were a few Ruddy-necked Geese here and there, but they were in the minority to the Upland Geese.
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| Ruddy-necked Goose |
Before we left the beach I spotted a single Crested Duck some distance away and a pair of flightless Falkland Steamer Ducks. I didn’t get photos then, but later. The latter one of the two endemics on the Islands.
Magellanic Oystercatcher looking very like every other Pied Oystercatcher from a distance and a pair of Blackish Oystercatcher were also along the stony shoreline.
A pair of Yellow-billed Teal in a soak were the only ones I saw all day and several Turkey Vultures soared overhead.
I made sure I was at the forefront of the walking group alongside Gaston and he soon spotted a Dark-faced Ground Tyrant ahead on the track. Once again, photos came later.
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| Dark-faced Ground Tyrant |
Two Long-tailed Meadowlarks were poking around nearby adding some colour to the rather bleak landscape
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| Long-tailed Meadowlark |
and we also had Striated Caracara fairly soon which was seen well by everyone birders and non-birders.
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| Striated Caracara |
Two raptors appeared overhead and Gaston called them as Aplomado Falcons. I accepted his identification, but wanted to check further on my photos if they were good enough.
The 2.5 km walk ended at the top of a steepish slope falling away to the ocean below. Down this slope and on similar slopes nearby was the Black-browed Albatross and Southern Rockhopper Penguin colony. We all quietly moved down the established tracks through the long marram type grass and feasted on the spectacle before us. We had to stay 5 meters from any animal or bird and they had right of way when it came to movement. We were advised to remain quiet and move slowly and give everyone their due, there wasn’t a sound from the 90 odd people present. The birds were just fantastic and my photos can say more than I can......
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| Black-browed Albatross rookery |
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| Southern Rockhopper Penguin |
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| Black-browed Albatross |
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| Black-browed Albatross |
Video
Unfortunately there wasn’t time to look for my other target bird – Cobb’s Wren (endemic) as its habitat was tussock grass and the nearest was several hundred meters away.
I was handed off into the third zodiac to return to the ship. By now the waves and wind had picked up considerably.. We had 8 plus the driver (Pete, a Dutch guy) in the boat. As we approached the landing ‘marina’ on the back of the ship we watched the previous two zodiacs land their passengers. It was pretty hairy. The zodiacs were going up and down and the sea was creaming across the marina – and then pouring into one of the boats as it tried to dock.
Pete told us it was gonna be dangerous and we should pay attention to all instructions. I was pretty nervous but determined not to panic. It was pretty scary.
When it came to our turn, we made two attempts before latching on. I threw the rope to the marina crew and they tried to secure the zodiac to the railings. The boat was going up and down and bumping hard against the marina. Pete started to offload passengers, got one off, then fell as the boat tilted and landed half on top of me with the passenger in his arms. Meanwhile the sea poured into the boat via my side and back. I stayed as calm as I could and helped Pete back to his feet. One of the other passengers, a small, elderly German woman, had also fallen and was lying on her back in the bottom of the zodiac. The boat was still going up and down and twisting from side to side. The water was still pouring in across my back and legs when the wave ran off the marina. Pete got the passenger he had been helping, off, then helped the fallen woman to her feet. She kind of froze and appeared almost incapable of moving. Between Pete and the marina guys they almost lifted her off the boat. He quickly guided everyone else off until only I was left. When he told me to stand up, he grabbed my shoulders and told me ‘great work, good man’ and I got off safely and quickly.
Wow! Later it came out that it was the worst landing Pete has ever had and was considered pretty seriously dangerous.
The captain then turned the ship at an angle to the waves and used the turning propellers to flatten the sea out somewhat and the other zodiacs disembarked quite safely and without incident.
I expected to be soaked through, but was hardly even damp. My Berghaus overpants worked perfectly (thanks Mr H – I bought them in Belfast a few years ago and they’ve proved their worth!) and my parka took the water like a duck’s back. My beanie was wet and I had a few damp spots, but other than that. Even my Gortex lined Zamberlains didn’t get wet inside!
It was quite an experience and made it all so real. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!
As we had lunch the captain took the boat a short distance to our second planned landing spot – The Neck on Saunder’s Island. It was almost flat calm and the landings went without any trouble at either end. Except this was a ‘wet’ landing and we had to wear the provided rubber boots. Stepping out of the zodiac into the knee high waves, helped and supported by two expedition team leaders and the boat driver was a dawdle though and we all got ashore dry.
This spot was the Gentoo Penguin rookery and again I’ll let my photos do the talking.
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| Sea Spirit and part of the Gentoo rookery |
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| Gentoo Penguin |
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| Gentoo Penguin |
Videos
Kerrod & Colin go fishing:
Along the way Magellanic Penguins appeared to have individual ‘properties’ – not in a rookery like the other penguins.
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| Magellanic Penguin |
On the main beach on the other side of the rookery – a handful of King Penguins.
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| King Penguin |
Video
Overhead and two on the ground – Brown Skuas
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| Brown Skua |
On the beach – Dolphin Gulls.
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| Dolphin Gull |
Video
And a pair of Falkland Steamer Ducks.
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| Falkland Steamer Duck |
Video
Magellanic Oystercatchers proved to be quite different from Pied on closer inspection – their yellow eyes were weird!
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| Magellanic Oystercatcher |
Video
A pair of Brown-hooded Gulls put in a nice appearance.
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| Brown-hooded Gull |
And I found a pair of Crested Ducks doing their thing in a rock pool.
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| Crested Duck |
Man it was just AWESOME!!
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| Russell sneaked a photo of me... |
Eventually we were taken back to the ship – safely and completely boring this time!
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| The Neck, Saunders Island, Falkland Islands |
Then it was time for a de-brief and dinner.
The plans for the next few days were laid out.
Tomorrow is Stanley, the Falkland Island capital – and a visit to a nearby location called Gorse Cove – especially for the birders. (Thursday)
The plan then WAS to head for South Georgia on Friday, but the weather is showing an average 7 meter wave height between here and there and a 4 meter wave height at South Georgia in two days time so…. As we have a day in hand (we arrived a day early at the Falklands) we plan to spend another day here (Friday), before following that storm to South Georgia and hopefully the wave height will be only 4 meters on the journey and 2 meters on site.
We’ll know more tomorrow, but that’s the way it is in this part of the world – Plan A becomes Plan B changes to Plan C, D, E, F…… All good, we’re here and so far so good.
What a day!!
Trip List: 197 Lifers: 158 Mammals: 6, 3 Reptiles: 3
Day 18 Thursday 27.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 6
When we woke we found ourselves in the outer harbour off Stanley, the capital of the Falklands. The bunker barge was alongside and they were preparing to refuel. No smoking onboard.
The crew did a trial zodiac run to the inner harbour but it was too wet to transfer us so we had to wait until the ship finished bunkering and we headed in to the inner harbour. By midday we were being transferred to a wharf in downtown Stanley.
I took a zodiac and wandered the foreshore. There were Upland Geese, Steamer Ducks, Kelp and Dolphin Gulls, Rock and Imperial Shags, Southern Giant Petrels and the occasional South American Tern but the only new bird I added to my Falkland Island list was House Sparrow
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| Upland Goose (Male & female) |
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| Rock Shag |
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| South American Tern |
Video Falkland Steamer Duck
I visited the general store and bought some cigarettes – not many as they were horrendously expensive – a couple of lighters and had a coffee (good, barista made). I chatted for a few minutes with three local girls of around 14 years of age to find out what it was like living here at the bottom of the world.
I wasn’t overly impressed with Stanley, although it was nice to be somewhere where they drove on the left again. All the number plates had an F as a starter.
At 14.30 as we waited for a bus to take us to Gypsy Cove, around 15 minutes away, a female South American Sea Lion sat on the dock nearby.
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| South American Sea Lion (Female) |
I managed to get photos of Blackish Oystercatcher along the rocks, where Black-crowned Night Herons and Rock Shags were breeding.
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| Blackish Oystercatcher |
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| Rock Shag |
Around 15.30 a group of us elected to walk back escorted by Gaston on a birding walk. Most of the participants were not hardcore birders and had difficulty seeing Steamer Ducks never mind identifying them but we got lucky and had a single brilliant White-bridled Finch.
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| White-bridled Finch Video |
We were picked up by the ship after about 6 kms and relaxed on board. However, as we waited for the ship to dock several Commerson’s Dolphins appeared. I managed to get a few poor shots as they turned, but include one for the hell of it.
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| Commerson's Dolphin (part of) |
Back on board the evening briefing was a bit somber. The weather was predicted to be generally horrific the next day. We would stay docked to the wharf overnight and, hopefully, leave Stanley around midnight the next night. The expedition team leader had organised two guest lectures from Stanley to talk the next morning, bus shuttles to take anyone who wanted into Stanley and 3 separate walk/tours for the next afternoon. Amazing work – to organise these options at short notice to keep people occupied. Their attention to detail and consideration for the passengers was exceptional. They didn’t have to do this stuff. The whole trip was weather dependent – we all knew that – and they could have just said, ‘suck it up’, but they went out of their way to arrange stuff as alternatives. This was my opinion but others who had cruised before were similarly complimentary and somewhat impressed by the effort made.
We had the usual a la carte 3 course waiter/waitress served dinner. The food is just exceptional. Breakfast and lunch were generally buffet style with a huge range of choices. There was also other stuff you can order that’s not set out – but was always available – poached or fried eggs or an omelet for example at breakfast. It was just extraordinary! The evening dinner was so well presented – 5 star stuff. Now maybe some people would expect this, but for me it was just so luxurious. Obviously our rooms were served every day – beds made, turned down in the evening with a chocolate on the pillow. The staff would do anything, anything, to make your day and trip perfect. The expedition team were so friendly and helpful and interested and informative. It was just blowing me away!
I felt like I had been away for months, not just 3 weeks and on board for 6 days. I have had meals with different people and established friendly relationships with people from the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Argentina, Russia, New Zealand, USA and the UK - mainly English-speaking, but a couple of the Taiwanese as well. It was a very ‘all together in this expedition’ feeling – possibly because there were only 98 of us and one saw the same people all the time. There have been some whom I would prefer to avoid, naturally, but in general everyone has been very cool.
Trip List: 198 Lifers: 159 Mammals: 6, 3 Reptiles: 3
Day 19 Friday 28.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 7
A ‘make and mend day’ to use the age-old seafarer’s jargon. We remained tied up to the dock all day as the storm passed over. High winds persisted, up to 45 knots at times. It rained a bit in the early morning but the winds were so bad the port of Stanley was actually closed to incoming ships.
We were all thankful we were not en route to South Georgia where the seas were predicted to be 7 meters plus…
Most of the offered tours were cancelled due to the weather, but the local information sessions went ahead and an extra one was added in the afternoon, as the trips were not available.
I didn’t do much, just updated all my photos and wrote up my preparation blog stuff. Late in the afternoon I did take the shuttle bus into Stanley and sent off some more postcards. I nearly fell off the gangplank on exiting the ship as a gust struck and I wasn’t prepared, but other than that it was a pretty quiet day.
In the evening the expedition team leader announced we would depart for South Georgia between 22.00 and midnight and we should take seasickness tablets if prone to being ill. The seas over the next couple of days were expected to be around 4 meters, but we were planning on following the foregone storm south as close as possible to get to South Georgia ahead of the next low pressure system approaching from the north. There were no promises made of course, but she hoped we would be protected on the east side of the island once we got there and hopefully would be able to land at some stage. The trip to South Georgia was expected to take two and a half days.
I didn’t do any birding, but did see some Falkland Steamer Ducks, Southern Giant Petrels, Rock Shags, Turkey Vultures and Kelp Gullsknocking around the harbour area.
Apart from the aforementioned we just enjoyed the three meals and general company during the day.
I took a tablet as I went to bed at 21.30.
Trip List: 198 Lifers: 159 Mammals: 6, 3 Reptiles: 3
Day 20 Saturday 29.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 8
We were well out to sea when I got up at 6. We had sailed before midnight and there was no land in sight. It had been a bit bumpy and the swells had increased, but was still very manageable – I enquired and was advised the swells were 3-4 meters.
I had taken a seasickness tablet before going to sleep, but didn’t take another. On deck it was colder, a bitter wind, greyish skies and I had a shower or two of light rain as I seawatched.
As one shower crossed the stern of the boat a rainbow appeared. One end touched the deck below me and the other the edge of the ship on the opposite side. It was a complete rainbow, almost two thirds of a circle and seemed to be within touching distance! It only lasted a couple of minutes but another passenger managed to capture it on his phone camera.
Bird-wise it was pretty much as previous sailings – Northern & Southern Giant Petrels, Black-browed Albatrosses and Cape Petrelsmade up the bulk, while Wandering Albatrosses, Southern Fulmars, Wilson’s Storm-Petrels and Prion sp moved through every few minutes.
I seawatched until breakfast at 8 and had a few Atlantic Petrels, White-chinned Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters and one Great Shearwater.
After breakfast I resumed my position at the stern, seated, feet on the lower rail, huddled down in my bright red jacket, beanie, overpants and, for the first time, gloves, and worked on identifying the Prions buzzing backwards and forwards around the ship.
I was pretty confident I had a few Slender-billed and one or two Antarctic, while most were Fairy or just unidentifiable.
Lunch was called at 12.30 and I sat on to let the queue reduce. Just before I headed in I had my first Grey-headed Albatross of the trip. There had been at least one seen from the ship and one nesting on our first stop in the Falklands but I had seen neither.
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| Grey-headed Albatross |
After lunch I went out again for another hour and a half and towards the end of that had a Light-mantled Sooty Albatross that circled the boat and flew really close several times at my level. Brilliant views!
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| Light-mantled Sooty Albatross |
The bird numbers dropped a bit after that so I gave it away and headed in for a bit of a rest.
The briefing in the evening emphasized the bio-security on South Georgia. We had been through another rigorous check during the day – vacuuming our beanies, gloves, jackets, gloves – anything we would take onto the islands and scrubbing and disinfecting our boots etc. It was very intense. We were advised we could not sit down anywhere on the island – we must remain standing everywhere to minimize contact and avoid transference of material. The wildlife was detailed and we were warned to be aware of the male Fur Seals and watch out for rampaging Elephant Seals - and they weren’t joking.
After dinner we headed for bed and put our watches an hour ahead to compensate for South Georgia time. The windows were all blacked out too and the deck lights dimmed to avoid birds landing on the ship – apparently this is a real issue at South Georgia. I was hoping to see some Prions in the hand and that may well still occur.
Trip List: 202 Lifers: 159 Mammals: 6, 3 Reptiles: 3
Day 21 Sunday 30.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 9
A bit of a slow day for birds in some ways, but I did add two new species to the trip list.
I didn’t get up till 6.45, dawn already at least an hour gone. The birds were much less and this pattern continued through the day. I seawatched as ‘normal’ until breakfast and afterwards for most of the morning. I did take a break around 11 and read for a while, but when lunch was called I hung around to give the queue a chance and almost immediately had a Light-mantled Sooty Albatross hanging almost overhead. I suspect it was the same bird as the previous day as it behaved the same way exactly, but didn’t hang around more than a few minutes.
At the same time I spotted two Grey-headed Albatross around the ship – the same time as the previous day? I didn’t see either species again any time during the day.
The birds of the day were Blue Petrels however. They were first seen by Gaston early on and continued to show up among the Prions all day. I reckoned I saw about 20 in total, but, as with all pelagics, were they the same two or three birds circling the ship or 20 individual birds? It’s always difficult to know. We also had several (those numbers again) Black-bellied Storm Petrels. They actually seemed to be in about equal numbers with the Wilson’s.
Other than that it was a pretty quiet day. The seas continued around the 3 meter size, I thought, but the wind dropped off, the sun shone most of the afternoon and the sky was blue. The weather was truly fantastic considering what could have been. It was colder, 4C in the morning, but wrapped up well, it was easily manageable. Still no thermals, just beanie, thin gloves and the supplied jacket, which was phenomenal! It’s clear how far south we have come, as the sun was now shining straight down the wake from the north (obviously) where before it had been overhead during the day.
Other birds: Gaston had seen a single Soft-plumaged Petrel, and expected more, and one of the Taiwanese dudes had a picture of an Arctic Tern.
In the afternoon Gaston gave a presentation re the birds of South Georgia – during which I nodded off, which was very embarrassing. I then spent some time with him, kindly, describing for me where to go in Ushuaia. He was a professional bird guide there so the info was very welcome and reliable.
The meals continued unabated. And we still had two more weeks of this!
Trip List: 212 Lifers: 164 Mammals: 7, 3 Reptiles: 3
Day 22 Monday 31.10.22 Antarctic expedition Day 10
I was up at 5 and out on deck. It was 0C and there was a shallow drift of snow on the deck. The westerly wind was freezing. Within 10 minutes a small snow storm came in and visibility dropped to about 30 meters. An Arctic Tern showed up during the snow fall – really weird seeing it happily flying through the weather close behind the ship.
It didn’t last too long and the sky cleared – to show South Georgia on our port side. Steep, snow covered mountains reared out of the sea – it was pretty spectacular.
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| South Georgia - we approached from the top right. |
Birds were few around the ship – a few Giant Petrels, a handful of Cape Petrels and the odd Black-browed Albatross. Most significantly there were several Grey-headed Albatross circling the ship.
I wandered up to the bow where it was relatively sheltered and had several Blue Petrels hammer across the bows. I soon saw small groups of Diving-Petrels flying away from the ship. One only came close enough for me to be confident it was a Common Diving Petrel, bearing in mind South Georgian Diving Petrels were a probability.
Another snow storm came down upon us and out of the murk a pure white Snow Petrel! Wow, one of my target birds, absolutely beautiful. I chased it down the ship to the stern and watched it swoop and dive around before disappearing again.
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| Snow Petrel |
After breakfast I headed out again and Gaston and I watched several Soft-plumaged Petrels drive through another snow storm before it cleared and we were sailing slowly up Fortuna Inlet.
The scenery was spectacular, including the Fortuna glacier (my first) oozing out of the mountains to the sea.
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| Fortuna Glacier |
Along the way several Antarctic Terns passed the ship while the odd King Penguin dived out of sight at the ship’s approach.
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| Antarctic Tern |
Apart from those species there was little to see bird-wise, but the scenery just kept on coming and with the bins the beaches could be seen to be covered in seals and King Penguins.
I didn’t bother going to lunch – there was just too much to see and so only myself and a Taiwanese birder saw the second Snow Petrel of the day.
Several South Georgia Shags also flew by, but I didn’t get the camera on them. Mind you they looked pretty much like the Imperial Shags we had had at the Falklands, but they are a separate species (tick!)
A landing was planned and as the sea was calm, the wind had dropped off or we were protected by the island itself, it looked good to go. Kayaking was also on the cards….
I changed into thermals for the first time, 2 pairs of thick socks, a light fleece, dry suit, booties, the kayak skirt and the life jacket, beanie and gloves and hung around waiting for the go. 6 of us had decided to kayak out of the 12 on the list. My kayak buddy, Joanna, was ready to rock n roll and eventually we went down to the marina at the back of the ship, loaded into a zodiac and headed off to a slightly more sheltered bay to start. Joanne and I were the second kayak off the ramp and we managed to both get into the craft from the zodiac without too much trouble. I was in back with steering control and Joanne up front.
We kayaked around for about an hour seeing Southern Elephant Seals and Antarctic Fur Seals along the beaches and in the water. We didn’t get too close to anything and it snowed throughout. In fact it snowed all afternoon – not heavily, but continuously.
I was pretty busy trying to keep the kayak in a straight line and match my paddle stroke to Joanne’s and still get a look at everything that was going on. It wasn’t cold, but my hands did get wet despite being in gloves and inside pogies - a cover attached to the paddle. I had also added my muff to my ensemble and was glad of its additional warmth around my face.
After the hour or so, we met up with the zodiac – which had been following us at a discreet distance as safety/rescue boat – and climbed back out of the kayaks into the zodiac. It was easier than I had expected and all managed to complete the maneuver without incident.
They dropped us on the beach with all the other passengers and we set off for the King Penguin rookery.
Video
At the landing one of the expedition team, knowing my bird interest, pointed out the endemic South Georgia Pipit nearby. I got a view before it flew, which was lucky because it was the only half decent view I got of the species on the day.
The beach was littered with Antarctic Fur Seals and groups of Southern Elephant Seals. Some of the males were colossal, while the Elephant Seal females suckled large young and bawled at each other. King Penguin groups and individuals wandered around in between the seals, the passengers and each other. It was a scene out of a National Geographic documentary. All a bit surreal really.
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| Southern Elephant Seal female |
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| Southern Elephant Seal male |
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| Antarctic Fur Seal mal |
Further along the beach the third endemic of the day – South Georgia Pintail. About 30 birds scattered over a relatively small area, feeding within meters of the passing visitors. They looked pretty much the same as the Yellow-billed Pintail I had seen in Buenos Aires, but…tick!
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| South Georgia Pintail |
Video
I walked the km or so to the rookery which was still 250-300 meters away at the closest point. There were a heap, at least hundreds, of large brown juveniles and many of the thousands of adult birds appeared to be molting hence the distance preserved between us and them.
I took some photos and videos but started feeling cold and very tired so made the hike back to the landing zone, stopping to allow Penguins cross my path as the wont took them – they have right of way and must be allowed to proceed. Fur and Elephant Seals had to be avoided too as they have a tendency to aggression, the former to the visitors, the latter to each other.
I got the first zodiac back to the ship and stripped off my gear prior to getting a very welcome cup of coffee and cigarette.
The rest of the afternoon was spent reviewing my photos, updating my lists and reliving the day with the other guests. It was a pretty cool day!
Trip List: 217 Lifers: 169 Mammals: 8, 3 Reptiles: 3
