6 Dec 25 - Antarctica 25 - A Scenic Overview Of The Weddell Sea

The wind and sea currents hadn't changed and opened up any routes to allow us to head closer to the Snow Hill Island Emperor Penguin colony. So, we were still milling around the Northern Weddell Sea and Antarctic Sound area. On a positive note, Pippa gave us an early six AM wake up call to say that we had good weather and we would shortly be resuming flying. I was in the last group of passengers to fly and I headed off for an early breakfast, so I was ready for our call to prepare to fly about half eight.

Waiting to be call: Given we were flying in Antarctica, then we had to prepare for emergencies, so plenty of warm weather clothing, the insulated wellies and our life jackets. I was down to fly with Rob, my cabin mate and Andy (middle)

Preparing to take off

Take off: When I worked for Ferranti in the late 80s on Type 42 Destroyer software, one of my colleagues got to fly out to the ship he was joining. Sadly, I never had the opportunity to fly on or off any of the ships I worked on. Finally, I got to fly off & onto a ship

Not the usual view of Ortelius that I was used to

I'm doing my best Michelin Man impression

Andy seemed happy with our flight

We quickly moved away from the ship

Heading past one of the large icebergs

Flying past one of the large icebergs

There were some good-looking views of the large icebergs from the helicopter

We dropped in height around some of the large icebergs

Looking down on one of the gaps between the icebergs

Our pilot dropped in height to fly between these two large icebergs

My side of the iceberg as we flew between two large icebergs: I wouldn't want to get this close to an iceberg in a zodiac, in case a large lump dropped off it and created a sudden large wave

Each of the helicopters touched down in turn on one of the large icebergs

We headed back towards the ship after about twenty minutes

Lining up with the back of the ship

Touch down after a fun helicopter flight

After the flights had completed, we headed off towards Brown Bluff to see if it was possible to land at this nice Penguin colony, which I visited on my previous trip to Antarctica. Unfortunately, when we got closer, the Expedition team discovered there was too much sea ice to allow us to land there. This was a pity as the site is home to both a Gentoo Penguin and an Adelie Penguin colony. The ship switched to Plan B, which was to head back towards the Petrel base and lay on a zodiac cruise in the afternoon. This proved to be a good move as we had an exciting sighting along the way. I will cover that in the next Blog Post.

5 Dec 25 - Antarctica 25 - Unfinished Business

One of the target species I was keen to see on my first visit to Antarctica in Jan 23 was Antarctic Petrel. Frustratingly, we failed to see one, despite several good Birders on the ship. When I was sorting my photos, I found several photos of an Antarctic Petrel flying past the Plancius, while I was photographing a giant iceberg. To have evidence of having one fly past me without realising it, was even more frustrating.

Antarctic Petrel: Not a great photo, but it's clearly an Antarctic Petrel that was photographed between South Georgia and Elephant Island (25 Jan 23)

Not surprisingly, it was the second highest avian target species I was looking to see on my second Antarctica cruise, behind Emperor Penguin of course. I had been pleased to see two Antarctic Petrels in the Drake Passage on 2 Dec and a further two raced past the ship two days later in the Antarctic Sound. But I hadn't managed to get any photographs on either occasion. Finally, while I was on the bridge, another two appeared in front of the bridge windows, before turning back towards the back of the bridge. I headed straight out of the port bridge door and found them hanging in the ship's slipstream just above the top deck. At last, I managed to get some decent photos in the few minutes they enjoyed playing in the slipstream. Then just as quickly as they appeared, they decided to move on. They were the last Antarctic Petrels I saw.

Antarctic Petrel: They breed around Antarctic islets, coasts & mountains up to two hundred miles inland. Outside of the breeding season they range throughout the Southern Oceans, but generally close to the ice

Antarctic Petrel: They often seem to fly quickly past ships, but that isn't surprising if they have a long overland journey to their breeding sites when they reach Antarctica

Antarctic Petrel

Antarctic Petrel: It was good to have finally put this omission to bed

Antarctic Petrel: They have this distinctive white band of the trailing edge of the wing

Antarctic Petrel: As they moved off, I managed to get both in the same photo

28 Mar 26 - Signs Of Spring Part 7 - March Early Spider Orchids

This morning I popped out to the nearby Dancing Ledge area to look for the local Puffins. A handful of this lovely species have returned, but the odds of them successfully breeding are low. The National Trust have been monitoring the last few individuals for a couple of years now with cameras and they haven't seen strong evidence of chicks, beyond the odd Puffin sighting of them carrying food. If these last pairs were breeding, then they would regularly be seen carrying food back to their nest site. There hasn't been evidence of predation from the cameras and I wonder if the problem is these individuals are just too old to be able to breed successfully. Unfortunately, I didn't see any Puffins. But I did see a dozen Early Spider Orchids as I walked to the coast. They were stunted, as they haven't had the chance to grow their full stalk. This year is the first time I've seen them in March, with my first Early Spider Orchid five days earlier. It's another sign that spring is here.

Early Spider Orchid: In the next few weeks, there will be hundreds of Early Spider Orchids along the Purbeck coastline

Another sign of Spring was seeing two lone Swallows arriving while I was looking for the Puffins. In a couple of weeks, my local Swallows will be back on territory for the Summer. They normally arrive just before mid-April.

Early Spider Orchid: Early Spider Orchids are harbingers of Spring and it is great to see them locally each year

17 Mar 26 - Signs Of Spring Part 6 - Spring Shieldbugs

This Spring, I saw an earliest ever Shieldbug for my Swanage garden on 17 March.

Sloe Bug

7 Spot Ladybird: This 7 Spot Ladybird was on the same Honeysuckle. This wasn't my first individual of the year, as I had seen my first at the start of March at Slepe Heath

I found another two species of Shieldbugs in the next few days at St Aldhelms.

Boat Bug: This is a common species around the Coastwatch building, but it was good to find these Boat Bugs at another location (20 Mar 26)

Boat Bug: A mating pair (20 Mar 26)

The Boat Bugs were still present two days later, when there were also a couple of Brassica Bugs enjoying the sun.

Brassica Bug: (22 Mar 26)

10 Mar 26 - Signs Of Spring Part 5 - Black Oil Beetle

Another sign of Spring was finding this Black Oil Beetle on a recent visit to St Aldhelms. This is a species I've seen locally on a few occasions along the Purbeck coastline and in my Swanage garden during the first covid lockdown, but one I typically expect to see in April. So, an early March Black Oil Beetle wasn't something I was expecting to see. Thanks to Phil Saunders and Steve Morrison for saving me the hassle of trying to figure out which species of Oil Beetle this was.

Black Oil Beetle: The parallel-sided pronotum indicates it's a Black Oil Beetle. I saw another four on 21 Mar 26 which was an impressive count, seeing as how I've not seen more than one in a day before

There is also one of the Whiplash Rove Beetles to the left of the Black Oil Beetle. However, the photo isn't good enough to identify the species. It could be Littoral Whiplash Rove Beetle (Paederus littoralis) which has black mandibles or the very similar Paederus riparius which has yellow mandibles. Both species have been recorded on the Purbeck coastline and so trying to figure it out based on range isn't possible.

5 Dec 25 - Antarctica 25 - Worth Getting Up Early

I had set my alarm for another early start at 04:30. It was well after first light, but having seen an Emperor Penguin, I had allowed myself a lie-in. After a quick cuppa tea, I headed out to find I was the first passenger on the top deck. We were in an area of open water which was just the other side of Rosamel Island. This wasn't surprising given the amount of ice in the Antarctic Sound and the Northern Weddell Sea.

Rosamel Island looked gorgeous in the early morning light

We were in a two mile long area of open water: We were slow cruising around the area

About 05:30, I spotted an Emperor Penguin in the open water. It wasn't close, but it was clearly an Emperor Penguin. Frustratingly, it dived after about forty-five seconds and I failed to relocate it again. It's a shame there weren't others who had got up early, as a few extra pairs of eyes might have helped refind it. Still it was great to have found my own Emperor Penguin.

There were some serious icebergs around

The early morning light provided some atmospheric photos as we moved around the open water

About an hour after seeing the Emperor Penguin, I spotted a pod of four Orca hunting along the edge of the pack ice. They weren't close, but they were surfacing fairly regularly. I was still the only passenger on the top deck, but a small group of Chinese passengers were on the next deck below mine. Fortunately, one spoke reasonable English and he was able to tell his fellow travellers what I had seen. They were pleased to see the Orca. The Orca disappeared after about ten minutes. I suspected they had dived under the ice, before coming up in the edge of the next area of open water.

Orca Type B (Large): I already knew they were Orca based upon my initial views through the bins. On this photo it would have been a bit harder to identify. However, the options are limited to Orca or an Antarctic Minke Whale, once you have ruled out one of the larger Whales. It's unlikely the seas adjacent to Antarctica will be deep enough for a Beaked Whale and there are no Dolphin species around the Antarctic Peninsula

Orca Type B (Large): There is no doubt about the identification when the large male dorsal fin appeared

Orca Type B (Large): This individual appears to have a large white horizontal patch at the front of the body which would indicate it's likely to be a Type B (Large) Orca

The Orca Type B (Large) are also known as Pack Ice Orca. They are large compared to some of the other Orca Ecotypes. Their eye patch is very large and oriented parallel to the body axis. They are more grey-and-white in colouration with a darker grey dorsal cape and pale grey sides. However, after some time in Antarctic waters, they often develop a dirty yellowish appearance caused by a coating of diatoms. It is believed that they undertake rapid, round trip migrations to the tropics, but they spends most of the year in Antarctic waters. The diatoms die off in the warmer waters and the Orca lose their yellowish colouration. They can work as a team to knock Seals off small ice floes, with Weddell Seals being their preferred food. However, they are capable of catching the larger and more powerful Leopard Seals, but there is a higher risk that a Leopard Seal could inflict damage to them before they killed it.

Orca Type B (Large): Finding an Orca pod has been something on my To Do list for a few years, so that was good to have achieved it. I just need to find some in the UK or European waters now

It had been an excellent start to the morning and well worth the early alarm. I went to celebrate when the call to breakfast finally came.

Orca Type B (Large): Soon after this last photo they disappeared

After breakfast, the ship started to push its way through the leads, to see if we could find a way further South. We managed to get a few miles further South, but not enough that would give us any realistic chance of getting close to Snow Hill Island. As we had good visibility and we were unable to get much further South due to the amount of ice, the helicopter pilots, Pippa and the Captain decided that about ten in the morning, the ship would start scenic helicopter flights. The plan for the scenic flights was slightly different to the plan had we been able to visit the Emperor Penguin colony. We would take only twelve passengers in a flight of the three helicopters, which would allow everybody to have a window seat for the twenty minute flight. We had been divided into groups and all the four berth cabin passengers were in the final group to fly. I didn't mind being in the last group, as I wanted to keep looking given the ship hadn't moved more than a few miles from where I had seen the Emperor Penguin and the Orcas. It would have been a different feeling had it been a flight to the Emperor Penguin colony.

We had to push through these patches of broken ice to get to the next area of open water

As we moved around the open water, there was plenty of ice to scan. There was a reasonable selection of interesting subjects to photograph.

An impressive iceberg

Southern Giant Petrel: To identify the two Giant Petrels from each other, you have to see if the bill tip is pastel green or pastel red, which at a distant looks like a pale bill tip or dark tip in Northern Giant Petrel

Southern Giant Petrel: There is clearly no confusion over the identify of this individual

Southern Giant Petrel: It's not often I get photos of this species that are this good

Southern Giant Petrel: About one percent of the Southern Giant Petrels are immediately recognised without having to check the bill tip colouration, as they are the white morph. Northern Giant Petrels do not have a corresponding white morph

Snow Petrel was one of the Seabirds I was most keen to see on my previous Antarctica trip. We saw the first in the Drygalski Fjord in South Georgia and then a few most days in the Drake Passage and Antarctica on my first visit. Similarly, we saw a few as we crossed the Drake Passage and in the Antarctic Sound. But they are a hard species to get a good photo, as I've never seen them very close to the ship.

Snow Petrel: They are a gorgeous Seabird

Snow Petrel: This is the nominate nivea subspecies which breeds on the Antarctic Peninsula & Antarctic islands (except in the Ross Sea region), as well as, South Georgia & Bouvet Island

Snow Petrel: The other subspecies occurs in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica

Snow Petrel: Not as close, but better lit

Snow Petrel

Snow Petrel

Snow Petrel: A final overhead photo

Weddell Seal: I saw three Weddell Seals during the day

Weddell Seal: A different individual

Weddell Seal: Another view of the same individual

Unfortunately, the ship had only managed to fly about a third of the flights, before low cloud grounded flying at lunchtime. There was another window in the afternoon, when the visibility improved to allow more flights to depart, before finally more low cloud grounded the flights for the rest of the day. Personally, it wasn't a big problem for me that I didn't get called for my flight, as I didn't think that we would get an ice-free window to allow us to head South towards Snow Hill Island. Therefore, I reckoned there would be plenty of time on the following day for the remaining scenic flights to leave.

One of the helicopters heading off for the next scenic flight

It had been a good day, even if we hadn't managed to get any significantly further South during the day. However, with the amount of pack ice between us and Snow Hill Island, we really needed the sea currents and wind to move a lot of the drifting ice to give us a chance to getting clear water to our South. There was one more good Bird seen during the day and I've reserved that for the next Blog Post.