The first full day at sea from Argentina to the Falklands was fun. Firstly, there is the buzz of being back at sea in the Southern Oceans, but also getting used to the motion of the ship. Having spent seven weeks on the Plancius in Spring 2018 travelling from Ushuaia to Holland, then I was happy that the bridge wings were where I wanted to spend most of my time while I was on deck. They generally provided a reasonable amount of shelter from the elements and they provide a good view of the sea. The lower decks are too low down, have little to hold on in the choppy seas, lack shelter and were often too wet in the Southern Oceans. On my first trip on the crossing to South Georgia, I had spent the first few days on one of the rear decks. This wasn't too bad for Seabirds following the wake, but wasn't great for Cetaceans. After a week of so into the trip, I switched to the bridge wings.
Black-browed Albatross: A species most UK Birders will now recognise after the prolonged visit for two summers at Bempton Cliffs in 2021 & 2022
Seawatching from ships in the Southern Ocean is often a compromise where you want to be on the side which is out of the wind, but also the side with the decent light. Sometimes, the reality is it is only possible to achieve one of these two aims. However, on this first day at sea, it was possible to find both shelter & some good light for photography.
Black-browed Albatross: This is the nominate melanophris subspecies which breeds from the islands of South Chile, the Falklands, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands, Crozet, Heard & Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island & New Zealand's Antipodes & Snares Islands
Black-browed Albatross: Clements recognises a second subspecies, impavida, which breeds on New Zealand's Campbell & the adjacent Jeanette Marie Islands. IOC splits this as Campbell Albatross which will be an armchair Tick when I move to IOC taxonomy
Black-browed Albatross: Black-browed Albatrosses have black eyes, whereas Campbell Albatrosses have pale eyes from their second year onwards, a smudgy facial pattern and on average, have thicker black underwing margins, albeit there is overlap in this pattern
Black-browed Albatross: Finally, the Black-browed Albatross sat on the sea ahead of us, but we soon reached it. The black eye is clearly visible in this & some of the other photos
Black-browed Albatross: Albatrosses are the ultimate Seabird for their ability to travel effortless over many miles at sea. However, they are ungainly when trying to take off
Southern Royal Albatross: Southern Royal Albatrosses can be separated from the similar looking Northern Royal Albatross by the narrow white leading edge to the wings
Southern Royal Albatross: This is the nominate epomophora subspecies of Royal Albatross according to Clements. The other subspecies is Northern Royal Albatross which IOC split and is another future armchair Tick
Southern Royal Albatross: Southern Royal Albatrosses breed on the Campbell & Auckland islands and Northern Royal Albatross breed on Chatham Islands & New Zealand's South Island. Both Royal Albatrosses range throughout the Southern Oceans
Southern Royal Albatross: This is an immature & I think it's a 1st year individual. Adult Southern Royal Albatrosses have a white band on the inner secondary coverts which narrows as it reaches the bend in the wing: this area remains black in Northern Royal Albatrosses
Southern Royal Albatross: It tried to sit on the water in front of the Plancius, but it quick had to take to the air again
Northern Giant Petrel: A pale morph of Northern Giant Petrel showing the dull red tip to the bill
Cape Petrel: This is the nominate capensis subspecies which breeds on the circumpolar Subantarctic islands, except for the New Zealand Subantarctic islands, & ranges throughout the Southern Oceans
Cape Petrel: They really are a stunning-looking Seabird
Great Shearwater: This familiar species to UK Birders breeds on Tristan da Cunha's Gough, Nightingale & Inaccessible Islands. There are also a few pairs breeding on Kidney Island in the Falklands
Slender-billed Prion: Prions are one of the trickiest groups of Seabirds in the Southern Oceans. It's helpful to have a good idea of their breeding islands as a starting point to identifying them at sea
Slender-billed Prion: Slender-billed Prions breed on the Falklands; Noir Island, off South Chile, as well as, Crozet & Kerguelen Islands. The other Prion species which breeds on the Falklands is Fairy Prion
Slender-billed Prion: Slender-billed Prion have the poorest contrasting dark M pattern on the upperwing of any of the Prion species. They also have a narrow dark tip to the tail
Slender-billed Prion: Again showing the poor dark M pattern on the upperwing and the narrow dark tip to the tail
Slender-billed Prion: Slender-billed Prions have a steep forehead which this photo shows well
Slender-billed Prion: Another individual. Slender-billed Prions have a dark eyestripe which is typically narrower than the white eyebrow
Slender-billed Prion: Another individual
I didn't photograph any Fairy Prions during the day. So here is a Fairy Prion taken on my previous visit to South Georgia in Apr 18 for comparison.
Fairy Prion: This out of focus Fairy Prion shows the stronger M pattern on the upperwing and the more extensive black on the tail band. It was photographed between Ushuaia & South Georgia (1 Apr 18)
Fairy Prion: Not the best of angles for this Fairy Prion, but the stronger M pattern on the upperwing and the more extensive black on the tail band are still visible. It was photographed between Ushuaia & South Georgia (1 Apr 18)
The seas didn't look too bad for the Southern Ocean
Our first sighting of the Falklands
I was looking forward to being able to land in a new UK dependency: the Falklands. We had two landings in West Falkland planned for the following day: Carcass Island and West Point.
