Meeting The King.

 Of all the wonderful wildlife on South Georgia, the most well known has to be the King Penguin. The largest colonies on the planet of this splendid penguin are on South Georgia, with the largest of all being on St. Andrews Bay.

South Georgia has around half of all the King Penguins in the World with an estimated 450.000 pairs, of which St. Andrews Bay has around 150.000 pairs, as well as lots of chicks!!

We were lucky to get 6 actual landings on South Georgia, as well as 3 zodiac cruises, so we had plenty of opportunities to enjoy the King Penguins, and the other wildlife on the islands.

There was a little disappointment when we arrived at Salisbury Plain as the swell on the sea was too much to land on the zodiacs, but this was soon forgotten as we landed nearby at Fortuna Bay.

Salisbury Plain from the ship. King Penguins can be seen all along the shore and on the slopes.

King Penguin at Fortuna Bay.

These Penguins are great characters, walking around in small groups.

This pair looked both ways several times before walking along the shore.

One of the many chicks.

Lisa looking down on the colony.

Five King Penguin Chicks hoping dinner is on the way!!

Other landings we had on South Georgia were at Stromness, Grytviken, Godthul, St. Andrews Bay and Gold Harbour. Once again, the King Penguins stole the show, although there were many other delights that will be on another post.

Looking Smart.

This youngster had a proper hair style!!

Some of the very large colony at St. Andrews Bay.

Looking down on this massive colony was so special. We came away feeling extremely privileged that we were able to enjoy this spectacle.

Heading for South Georgia.

 After a visit to Port Stanley, on the Falkland Islands, an interesting place with lots of history, it was back to sea to head to one of the greatest places for wildlife on the planet. South Georgia.

On the way Lisa and I spent many hours on the deck, looking out for seabirds, whales and dolphins. We had a few lovely encounters with Peale's Dolphins, although they were mainly playing under the bow of the ship, so difficult to see in any detail. However, occasionally one or two would swim out and play in the bow-wave. We did have many whale encounters, but these were generally seeing the blow sprays in the distance.

Peale's Dolphin.

We were very lucky to encounter many species of Petrel on the way. This included the Atlantic Petrel and the rare White-headed Petrel. This was possibly the rarest bird we managed to see. Blue Petrel were seen most days we were at sea as well as the Giant Petrel. We also saw several examples of leucistic Giant Petrels. We also started to see different species of albatross, with adult and immature Grey-headed Albatross being my favourite, although the Light-mantled Sooty Albatross were also very special, although the best views of these were in pretty poor lighting conditions. Several times during the 2nd day at sea we had groups of 9 Atlantic Petrel. It may have been the same group coming back throughout the day, but we still saw many of these hard to see birds. Unfortunately, the closest encounters happened later on when the skies had darkened, so the better pictures were earlier in the day.

Atlantic Petrel.

White-headed Petrel.

Blue Petrel.

Black-bellied Storm Petrel.

Leucistic Giant Petrel.

Grey-headed Albatross.

Light-mantled Sooty Albatross.

On the 3rd morning we started the approach to South Georgia with stunning scenery and a few small icebergs. As we were at the back of the ship we didn't see the first of the much larger icebergs until it was passing by. It was an amazing blue colour, and then to our surprise and delight, we saw several Chinstrap Penguins sitting on top of the iceberg. How the birds got there is a bit of a mystery, but it made the iceberg look even more stunning.

Blue Iceberg complete with a group of Chinstrap Penguins.

As we went past the iceberg it gradually fell behind us giving us some great views, eventually becoming just a distant view.

Blue Iceberg complete with the Chinstrap Penguins, Giant Petrel and Black-browed Albatross flying.

With lots of snow on the land we were also treated to many great views.

South Georgia land, an Iceberg and a Grey-headed Albatross.

Another Grey-headed Albatross and land.

The next post will be of the some of the wildlife we saw on South Georgia.

Albatross.

 Our visit to the Falkland Islands coincided with the nesting season of the Black-browed Albatross, which nest in large numbers on the Falklands.

After photographing the Southern Rockhopper Penguins at North Harbour, I walked further around the cliffs to see the Black-browed Albatrosses using the thermals, as they kept flying alongside the cliffs and over the sea. On the way, there were also nesting birds and some pair bonding going on.

Pair Bonding Black-browed Albatrosses.

Black-browed Albatross on nest.

Black-browed Albatross coming in to land.

Brakes on!!

When it came to the flying birds, the scene was just spectacular, so much so, that after spending 10 minutes or so photographing them, I put the camera away and just enjoyed watching them soar away through the binoculars. It ended up being one of the highlights of the whole trip!!

Black-browed Albatrosses using the thermals.

I took many photos and it was very difficult choosing them for the blog.

New Island on the Falkland Islands. Penguins!!!!

 At last we reached the Falkland Islands, and on the first day here we had two excellent landings on New Island, at Coffin's Harbour and North Harbour. 

Both landings involved a bit of walking, but after 2-3 days at sea, this was actually very welcome. We also had plenty of time at both landings, and as it happened, this was the case at all landings during the whole trip.

The main stars at both landings at New Island were the fabulous Southern Rockhopper Penguins and the Falklands variety of Imperial Shag. The shags actually turned out to be my personal favourites, with their fabulous blue eyes. We also had some stunning flying Black-browed Albatrosses. The albatrosses will be the subject of the next post, as there were so many other spectacular sightings here.

The Imperial Shag were in the middle of nest building, and setting up territories. They looked absolutely stunning as they sat on rocks as they perched on them looking out to sea amongst all the Rockhopper Penguins.

Close-up on the Imperial Shag.

Imperial Shag carrying nesting material. Even showing the blue eye through the material.

Imperial Shag surveying the area.

The Southern Rockhopper Penguins were also preparing to nest, and setting up territory. What was very obvious straight away, was how amazing it was that these flightless birds had managed to get right to the top of the sea cliffs, it really was unbelievable how they manage to do this. It would be difficult for a mountaineer to climb these cliffs, with ropes etc, but these amazing penguins do it by hopping up!! They also have to do it after each fishing trip, to feed their chicks, once they hatch.

Southern Rockhopper Penguin.

Southern Rockhopper looking like a super cool dude.

The Gentoo Penguins were slightly ahead of the Rockhopper in their breeding, as a few of the penguins actually already had eggs. The Gentoo was the most widely spread penguin on our trip, and we saw them in many locations. 

Gentoo Penguin with a muddy bill used for his nesting.

Gentoo Penguin with egg.

Gentoo Penguins returned from a fishing trip.

The Magellanic Penguins had been seen on the way to the Falklands in the middle of the ocean. Here it was lovely catching up with them on the beach. Unlike the Rockhoppers, both the Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins had an easier walk to their nesting areas. The Magellanic nesting in burrows well away from the sea, and the Gentoo also on the higher ground, but above ground.

Magellanic Penguin.

Magellanic Penguins about to go fishing.

Upland Geese were seen in good numbers in the areas on both our landings on New Island. The yellow behind the goose is Gorse, that early settlers introduced from Britain. It has certainly taken hold extremely well and is now having to be cleared in some areas.

Upland Goose.

A less frequently seen goose was the Ruddy-headed Goose. However, it was the first goose we saw when we landed on the beach in the zodiacs. 

Ruddy-headed Goose.

We had already seen Dolphin Gulls before we had left Argentina, but not in a particularly good position for photography. But here we had several nicely posed individuals, and when two stood together it was a fabulous opportunity.

Dolphin Gulls.

Striated Caracara's were extremely approachable, and were totally unbothered by human presence. There were also good numbers of them around the penguin colonies. Obviously they were hoping for a very easy lunch.

Striated Caracara

Striated Caracara close-up.