Brown Skua and Snow Petrel.

 As our time on South Georgia was coming to an end, it was time to ponder what had been such a magical experience.

As well as the enormous numbers of King Penguins, we had also had several lovely encounters with the Gentoo Penguins. A species we would be seeing many more of as we went around parts of Antarctica. We had a lovely moment watching a mating pair of Gentoo at Godthul. Unlike most birds, that just mate in a very quick hop on, hop off kind of thing, the penguins took their time, and during mating, lots of neck pecking went on. A lovely gentle moment for them, and also us just watching them.

Mating Gentoo Penguins.

During most landings we saw plenty of Brown Skua. These are very similar to the Great Skua, or Bonxie, as they are often known, from around Britain and most of the northern hemisphere. Here, the Brown Skua was quite approachable, and at times extremely tolerant of humans.

A Pair of Brown Skua.

The Brown Skua.

Another bird that we had seen very large numbers of, was the Giant Petrel. These birds are massive, and feed on any dead animal that they come across. With their 'straw bill' they are able to detect any decaying animal from many miles away.

Giant Petrel.

As we left South Georgia, we headed well into the Drygalski Fjord. This is an eight mile cruise along the Fjord with amazing scenery, and spectacular glaciers, some of which were thawing during our visit, sending large lumps of ice thundering into the sea below. This was also a superb area for the gorgeous Snow Petrels. We had already seen several Snow Petrels over the past few days, but in the Fjord, the Petrels are known to nest, so we had several groups of them flying quite near the ship, which gave us our best photographic opportunities. We also had a close fly-by of a South Georgia Shag.

South Georgia Shag.

The stunning Snow Petrel in the Drygalski Fjord, with it's blue water from the melting glaciers and floating ice as a wonderful backdrop to the birds.

Next stop, Elephant Island in Antarctica.