Reflections On Cruising.

 Almost as soon as we had embarked on the ship in Puerto Madryn, we had started the cruise down to the Falkland Islands. After our first night on board we awoke to pretty calm conditions, and a few of us went out on the decks to watch for some seabirds and whales.

As the day went on, the sea got even smoother, so much so that it could be called a flat calm, or even a millpond!! We then realised that the ship had slowed right down, and we wondered what was happening. We started to suspect that something was wrong.

However, while the ship was almost at the standstill we did get some lovely passing Black-browed Albatrosses, White-chinned Petrel and Giant Petrels. The first two mentioned also gave me a lovely reflecting photo each.

Black-browed Albatross.

White-chinned Petrel.

Giant Petrel.

We also saw our first Penguins, a few small groups of Magellanic Penguin, well away from land.

Magellanic Penguins enjoying the calm.

Eventually we had an announcement over the tannoy, that we should all head for the lounge for an update. Unfortunately, one of the guests had fallen ill and we had to get them to a hospital, and we would have to head back to Comodoro Rivadavia, the nearest port with a hospital. Obviously, we were all a bit disappointed with this news, but understood the situation and the urgency.

On the way back we had some other good sightings out on the deck, including a close whale, believed to be another Southern Right Whale, and a much larger albatross, the Southern Royal Albatross.

Southern Right Whale.

Southern Royal Albatross.

After leaving the poor person that fell ill in Argentina, we were quickly heading back to sea, and aiming again for the Falkland Islands. On a plus side, the delay did mean that we would miss some stormy weather. In fact that became the story of our trip, hearing that some ships were having to take shelter, while we kept arriving just after bad weather, or leaving before some arrived.

I think every day throughout the whole trip that we were at sea, we saw Cape Petrels and Black-browed Albatrosses. The Cape Petrels were a favourite of mine, and I spent many hours trying, and failing much of the time, to get some nice photos. Also known as the Pintado Petrel, they did look smart as they flew around the ship, occasionally landing briefly on the water when they saw what they thought was food.

Cape Petrel.

Another bird that was a regular companion was the Slender-billed Prion. As we moved further south, they became Antarctic Prions. We could have seen another 4 species of Prion, but they all look very similar, and as they are very fast flyers it is almost impossible to be sure once we were further south.

Slender-billed Prion.

After a couple of days at sea, we were pleased to be approaching the Falkland Islands. A fabulous place with some wonderful wildlife. This will be the next post.

Puerto Madryn.

 Following the night at Buenos Aires, we flew down to Puerto Madryn where we had 3 nights before the cruise started.

After a comfortable night, the lady that owned the apartment we were staying in, drove us out to Punta Loma, a nature reserve that had a beach with a colony of South American Sea Lions. We had decided we would walk back from there, but as she drove us out to the site, it seemed a heck of a walk back. However, we did it, despite it taking around 7 hours!!

Around the bay where the Sea Lions were, there were some lovely views, birds and the odd animal around. These included Chimango Caracara, Rock Shags, Giant Petrels, Lizards, Rufous-collared Sparrow and several unidentified birds.

American Sea Lions at Punta Loma.

The weather was very warm on the walk, and of course, because we were on a trip to Antarctica, we hadn't actually packed much for hot weather. However, we just about got away with our clothing.

As we did the slow walk back we were surprised how many Rufous-collared Sparrows there were. A delightful species.

Rufous-collared Sparrow.

We also saw a small group of Long-tailed Meadowlark. The males of which were very attractive.

Long-tailed Meadowlark.

We also saw several butterflies, but these kept on just flying by. All we could see was that they were orange in colour. However, eventually we found a couple that were nectaring on some vegetation at the back of the beach, and they turned out to be American Painted Lady, or that is what we thought, until my friend Dave Harris told me that he thought it was actually a Western Painted Lady, which having looked on line, this is what the butterfly appears to be. So, many thanks to Dave for the correction!! We also saw a couple of whites that were probably all Peak White. Finally a small female blue butterfly was seen egg laying. As yet I still haven't managed to identify this butterfly. I didn't take the macro gear on the trip, so was only able to photograph the butterflies with the zoom lens , which wasn't really ideal.

Western Painted Lady.

Peak White.

Unidentified 'Blue' butterfly.

Once back to the apartment, we were both too tired to go out for a meal, so we made do with a takeaway pizza. After we watched an amazing storm arrive, which flooded the roads outside. Almost a monsoon!!

The following day we spent some time on the beach, photographing a few birds there. Once again, it was a hot day, and a heat haze on the beach made photography difficult. Lots of Southern Plover and a really nice Black-necked Stilt were feeding on the sand.

Black-necked Stilt.

We then decided to head along the beach and have lunch in one of the beach restaurants. One of the most memorable moments then happened as we were munching away on our pasta, when Lisa spotted a whale out in the bay. We saw it breach 3 times before the tail fluke showed as it dived. It was not even that far out in the bay. It was a Southern Right Whale, and despite continuing to watch for the following walk along the beach, we didn't see it again.

Southern Right Whale in the bay. (A good view must have been had from the small boat)!!

The walk along the beach was excellent with some great views of  Chilean Flamingo's, Magellanic Oystercatchers, a Great Kiskadee and a couple of flocks of Baird's Sandpiper.

Chilean Flamingo's.

Magellanic Oystercatcher.

Great Kiskadee.

Baird's Sandpiper.

We had also had the welcome sight by now of our home for the next 3 weeks, as the ship had turned up, and was moored on the pier. The following day we would be going aboard.

Before then though, we had one final morning in Puerto Madryn. Lisa fancied trying a small park a few blocks in from where we were staying. While here I just chilled out for a while whilst she walked around photographing some of the birds. After a while we both got quite hot, so we headed back to the beach, and headed to the same beach restaurant where we had seen the whale the day before. Needless to say, no whales were seen this time. We had by then though seen a delightful Austral negrito, a small bird similar in behaviour to a Wheatear. This bird was feeding near the top of the beach, and gave us some great views.

Austral negrito.

Time soon ticked away to 4 o'clock, the time to embark on the ship. An extremely warm and friendly welcome from both crew and fellow passengers, and we very soon had set sail out of the bay, heading for the Falkland Islands.

The M/V Plancius. Our home for the next 20 days.

20 Days to look forward to!!

Buenos Aires.

 If someone had suggested in August, that I was about to head off to Antarctica, for a 4 week trip, I would have thought they were mad. Antarctica had never been on my agenda, and not a place I had ever thought of going, despite Matt telling me several times that I should go there. Matt was there in December 2016.

It all started when Lisa, Matt and I took Jean out for her birthday. Matt was telling Lisa that he was shortly going to Madagascar, a trip he should have done in 2020, when it was cancelled due to the covid lockdown. Lisa told Matt that she had booked to go to Antarctica in 2020 and had also had to cancel, and she feared she would now never get there. Later on, when Matt had got home, he found a really good offer for an Antarctica trip through Bird Quest, and run by Oceanwide. Basically the trip was being offered with a 50% discount and was to depart from Puerto Madryn in Argentina in around 6 weeks time. When Matt sent the text with some details I thought it was safe to show Lisa, as there was no way she could take the time off her work. However, when she saw the dates, she realised that 3 of the weeks were her mid term break, so she would only actually lose one working week.

She then tried to convince me to join her. We both very nearly talked each other out of going, but in the end, even I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss.

Flying out to Buenos Aires on an overnight flight on the 13th October, we had one night here before moving on the following day to Puerto Madryn, where we would join the ship for the epic adventure 3 days later. This would give us a chance to look for wildlife, and a chance to relax before we set sail.

Whilst we were in Buenos Aires we did get to a large green park, to look for some Argentina birdlife, before going out for a great meal in the city. The lovely hotel also had a spa that we had the private use of for an hour, so we were well chilled out before heading out to the restaurant, although we did get soaked as it was heavy rain all evening.

Earlier, in the afternoon though, the weather was very pleasant and we did see many lovely birds in the park, although most escaped the camera. Some birds were very approachable and a few pleasing photos were taken.

White-browed Mockingbird.

White-browed Mockingbird.

The spectacular Red-headed Cardinal.

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper.

My next post will be from the short stay in Puerto Madryn.

Pied Wheatear.

 Having just returned from the longest trip I've ever had, I was busy this week recovering and sorting far too many photos. I hadn't been home long when Matt called to say he would be popping round to say hello, as he was currently up Seaford Head watching a female Pied Wheatear!!

This was a bird I had never expected to ever see, but as the light was now failing, and I was too tired to head straight out again, I waited for him at home. In fact I had virtually forgotten about the bird over the next few days, and I assumed it had moved on.

This was not the case, and after going for a few walks locally, which included a surprise sighting of a ringtail Hen Harrier hunting on top of the downland, I had a text on Thursday from Matt asking if I had seen the Wheatear yet. For such a rare bird to be so local, at that point I decided I really should at least go and see it, after all, it was only the 2nd ever record of a Pied Wheatear in Sussex.

I arrived at the site in poor light, but did see the bird reasonably quickly, so at least I could now tell Matt I had seen the bird. After getting home, the light improved enormously, so after lunch I decided to go back to the bird. This time I included a long walk from home to get there, after all, I had put on a bit of excess weight following the trip!!

The problem now was, the sun was in front of where I was watching the bird, which wasn't exactly ideal. It was great though, seeing Paul and Malcolm there, so the time passed by as we waited for the sun to move round a bit. We were also entertained by some Black Redstarts, including one very tame female. A couple of poor shots were taken of the Wheatear, but not quite what I was hoping for.

Female Pied Wheatear.

Female Black Redstart

Black Redstart watching a fly.

The following day, I was meeting up with David, and as he hadn't yet seen the bird, he was keen to go and see it, so yet again, I was back in position hoping to improve on my photos of it. The forecast was for sunshine, but that didn't materialise. Probably though, that helped as it wasn't really bright in front of us. The bird once again showed several times, along with a couple of the Black Redstarts. A few shots were once again taken of both species, but I was still hoping for the Wheatear to show in a better position. Eventually it did, but by then the sun had gone behind thicker clouds and had got very low in the sky. However, there was a marked improvement in the images from the previous day, and I was reasonably happy with the day, spent again in good company, with both David and Gary.

Female Black Redstart.

Female Pied Wheatear.

My following posts will be from my very long trip. It is going to be very difficult choosing which images to post, as there are so many!!

 

Red-veined Darter.

 It's been said many times for sure, always have your camera with you, just in case you find something really good!!

Some of us never learn of course. So on Tuesday, the weather was not particularly promising, and I just fancied a walk without the weight of the camera gear. I was walking along the valley on my patch, when I spotted 3 butterflies sitting next to each other. A Speckled Wood, Peacock and a Small Copper. That would make a nice photo I thought. I took the phone out of the pocket to at least get a record shot, when the Speckled Wood, followed by the Small Copper took off. Oh well, not a big issue. 2 steps further on though it all became a bit more serious. There were quite a few Common Darter dragonflies patrolling around and I saw one just in front of me, this one however looked a lot fresher, so I quickly looked through the binoculars and saw it had blue eyes. Wow, straight away I realised I had the rare Red-veined Darter. The phone came back out again, this time to try and get at least a record shot of the dragonfly to prove what I had found. Of course, the phone would only focus behind the insect, but you could just make out the blue eyes. I didn't even have my glasses with me that would have helped to see that the image was terrible, but such is life. However, the dragonfly had vanished anyway, and after a search I gave up and carried on with my walk.

The following day, I decided that I might just as well head back to see if the insect was hanging around. I knew it was a very long shot, particularly as the weather was still a bit poor for dragonflies. This time I did have the camera. As soon as I arrived I spotted the dragonfly again. It was clearly the same one as it had a nasty bend in the abdomen. I managed 6 quick photos before it vanished again and couldn't be found again, but at least I had some half decent photos of it now. I could also now see that it was a teneral (immature) male.

Male teneral Red-veined Darter.

I thought that would be the end of the story, but I then had a message from Polly, a local dragonfly enthusiast, asking if I could help her to see it, so the following day, I once again headed up to the valley. Polly was already there, but not quite in the right spot. We then walked a tiny bit further and while we were chatting, she spotted the dragonfly, once again very close to the spot where I had first seen him. Once again the weather was not that warm, although when the sun came out it did warm up quickly, but the dragonfly flew a short distance a few times. One time we saw it just before the sun went in, and after a couple of minutes it was clear the temperature had got too cold for it to fly. This gave us the chance to take many more photos. 

Above, probably my best image of the dragonfly. It even hides the bent abdomen.

Male teneral Red-veined Darter.

After Polly left, James arrived to see it, but not long before he arrived I saw the dragonfly fly away a little way, and that was the last time I saw it, despite searching with James for an hour or so!!

The big question is, was it British bred, or has it migrated over from the continent. There have been very few records this year for the species in the UK and the nearest known site where they breed is over the far end of Kent at Dungeness and Sandwich. They did used to breed for a few years at West Rise Marsh at the back of Eastbourne, but I don't believe they have been seen there now for several years. This was the only place that I've seen them before in the UK although they are quite common in many parts of southern Europe.

On the 2 sessions I had with the camera, I did see a few other things of interest to photograph. This included a Knot Grass larva right where the dragonfly was.

Knot Grass larva.

I also found a new species for me a little further along the valley. This was a parasitic fly called an Ectophasia crassipennis. This species was first seen on the British mainland in 2019, so is a new arrival. It has apparently spread far and wide, and although far from common, there have now been 60 records in Sussex. It certainly is a rather nice looking fly, although not if you are a shield-bug!!

Ectophasia crassipennis.

I also came across a rather nice Common Lizard which allowed a very close approach.

Common Lizard.

Will I always have my camera with me in the future? Well, probably not, because I do enjoy a casual walk at times!!

3rd Brood Wall Brown.

 This year has not been a particularly good year for butterflies, with the cool and damp spring affecting most species. Locally, the Silver-spotted Skipper and Dark Green Fritillaries have been the species that have been affected the most, but Adonis Blue have also been well under par.

The species that I study the most, the Wall Brown, has done a little better, although even these have not been as numerous as most years. I have been hoping that the 3rd brood would do a little bit better, as the larval food plant is grass, and with there being no shortage of that this year, the butterflies should flourish. Certainly, as the 3rd brood started the numbers of Wall Brown in their traditional 3rd brood sites were looking promising, but numbers elsewhere were not so good, however, in the past week numbers have grown, and despite poor butterfly watching weather, I have seen well into double figures of the species several times now. I have also witnessed several butterflies egg laying, which is very encouraging.

On one walk locally, after already seeing a mating pair of Wall Brown, I saw a female Wall Brown fly out of a culvert that had been dug a couple of years ago to take away flood water from a footpath. This had left a scrape where sparse grasses grows and the roots are exposed. This is ideal for the Wall Brown as the female often lays her eggs on the exposed roots of grasses. I guessed when I saw her fly off that she was on an egg laying mission, and as soon as I looked through the close focussing binoculars I saw a Wall Brown egg. On closer inspection I saw another one.

Mating Wall Brown.

After finding the eggs, I have walked past the same spot twice more this week, and each time I have added more eggs to the count. In that same spot I have now found 9 Wall Brown eggs, which is by far the most I have seen in one spot. I also found 2 more in other locations.

The culvert where the eggs are.

Two Wall Brown eggs.

Surprisingly, I have also this week seen 3 aged Adonis Blue. Maybe they didn't have such a bad year after all and many emerged between my visits?

Another species that I now study is the Lace Border. A rare moth that now breeds locally, and I suspect has a 3rd brood, despite all the books saying it only has 2 broods. Each year I have seen evidence that my sites have 3rd broods, perhaps due to the 2 sites having been started by continental migration? After the 2nd brood fizzled out towards the middle of August, there was for the 3rd year running a sudden increase in numbers in late August to mid September, with 20 seen on one count at the beginning of last week.

Lace Border.