17 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Arriving Into Port Stanley, Falklands

I was up early as we were still sailing around the coast North of Port Stanley on our way into the capital of the Falklands. There was a constant movement of Sooty Shearwaters past the Plancius, but few were close. This wasn't unexpected, given about one hundred thousand pairs breed on the nearby Kidney Island.

Sooty Shearwater: This Shearwater which is familiar to many British Birders, breeds on the temperate & Subantarctic Islands from South Chile & the Falklands to South Australia & Tasmania, Macquarie & the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands

Early morning sailing along the coast towards Port Stanley

At one point, a couple of Blackish Oystercatchers flew out to check us out & kept circling around the ship. This was unexpected, given we were a few miles offshore. They provided some opportunities for some nice photographs.

Blackish Oystercatcher: This monotypic species occurs from North Peru to Tierra del Fuego & the Falklands. Some winter in Uruguay

Blackish Oystercatcher

Brown Skua: This is the nominate antarcticus subspecies which breeds on the Falklands & South East Argentina and winters off the South East of South America

Brown Skua

As we entered the outer bays leading to Port Stanley we encountered feeding parties of Imperial Shags. I was on the lookout for a pod of Commerson's Dolphins, which are an inshore Dolphin & the Falklands are a hotspot for this species: but sadly, we didn't see any.

There were a number of sandy beaches as we entered the channel to Port Stanley

Imperial Shag: This is the albiventer subspecies which is endemic to the Falklands. The nominate subspecies occurs on the islands & coasts of South Chile & Argentina

The Cape Pembroke Lighthouse

As we turned into the final approach to Port Stanley, we could see the Lady Elizabeth at the end of the bay. As I kid, I visited the SS Great Britain in Bristol and revisited it about twenty years ago. It is a superb ship to visit. It had been left abandoned near Port Stanley until it was rescued, returned to the UK, renovated and now forms a magnificent museum to both the ship and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Sadly, the Lady Elizabeth, which was launched thirty six years after the SS Great Britain, wasn't as famous. She was launched in 1879. In 1912, she was transporting lumber from Vancouver to Mozambique, when she encountered severe weather and was damaged just off Cape Horn. She limped into Port Stanley for repairs, but hit a rock as she approached Port Stanley and started to sink. Ultimately, she was declared unseaworthy and left as a coal hulk. In 1936, she broke her moorings and was washed to her current position. It has been suggested to try making her into a museum in the Falklands, but those ideas haven't come to anything.

The Lady Elizabeth: It's sad seeing a historic ship slowly falling to bits

Modern Fishing Boats: The Falklands licence fishing boats to fish in Falkland waters and this provides good money for the Falkland government

As we approached our anchoring point in the channel near Port Stanley, there were several groups of Steamerducks. Checking the photos confirmed that all of them have the really short wings which confirmed they were the endemic Falkland Steamerducks.

Falkland Steamerduck: Male

Falkland Steamerduck: Female

Port Stanley

Port Stanley

I think this is Sapper Hill: If so, it was the last hill that needed clearing by the Marines and Welsh Guards before Port Stanley could be captured in the Falklands campaign

The sign confirms we are now officially in the Falkland Islands

We were finally anchored, the passports had been checked and we were able to board the zodiacs to have a few hours around Port Stanley. More of that in the next Blog Post.

16 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - A Welcome On Carcass Island's Beach

The plan for the day was for two landings in West Falkland: Carcass Island and West Point Island. Plans from the previous evening in the Southern Ocean are always subject to last minute change due to the weather, but the weather was fine and our two landings proceeded without any problems.

Carcass Island and West Point are located in the North of West Falkland

The first landing was on Carcass Island, which was named after HMS Carcass which first mapped the island in 1766. It is just over six by one and a half miles in size and is mainly low duneland and grassland, with a couple of low hills which reach to 220 metres. It is a privately owned island and is run as a sheep farm. However, as Cats and Rats never reached the island, it has retained a good selection of Birds. Because of its good wildlife, the island is visited every two or three days by expedition ships during the tourist season.

A close up of Carcass and West Point Islands

Carcass Island: We landed on Dyke Beach. Although it was only two and a half miles to the settlement with the added attraction of tea, coffee and homemade cakes, it took us the majority of the morning to get there: as there were so many subjects wanting to be photographed

Sailing into Port Pattison Bay at Carcass Island

It was a calm sea for our first zodiac landing

We had a mile and a half ride in the zodiacs to cross the bay

There were plenty of Steamerducks in the bay as we sailed in and the zodiacs were unloaded. There are two species of Steamerducks in the Falklands: the flightless Falkland Steamerduck and Flying Steamerduck.

Falkland Steamerduck: All the ones I photographed had the short wings indicating they were the flightless Falkland Steamerducks. I didn't see any Flying Steamerducks when I checked my photos

Falkland Steamerduck: This monotypic species is endemic to the Falklands

Falkland Steamerduck: Female and Male. They are a large Duck with very small wings and clearly they have lost the power of flight

Falkland Steamerduck: Male and Female

Falkland Steamerduck: Male

Crested Duck: This is the nominate specularioides subspecies which occurs from central Chile & Argentina to Tierra del Fuego & the Falklands

The beach was reminiscent of the beaches of the Scottish Western Isles

Kelp Goose: Male. This is the malvinarum subspecies which is restricted to the Falklands. The nominate subspecies occurs in coastal South Argentina & Chile to Tierra del Fuego

Kelp Goose: Male

Kelp Goose: Female. The sexes are very easy to tell apart

Upland Goose: Male. This is the leucoptera subspecies which is restricted to the Falklands. The nominate subspecies occurs in South Chile & Argentina and winters North to central Chile & North Argentina

Upland Goose: Female

Blackish Oystercatcher: This monotypic species occurs from North Peru to Tierra del Fuego & the Falklands. Some winter in Uruguay

Magellanic Oystercatcher: This is another monotypic species which occurs from South central Chile & Argentina to the Cape Horn Archipelago & the Falklands

The first thing we are meant to do on landing is to take off & stow the lifejackets. But this was hard to do when we were greeting on the beach by the endemic Cobb's Wren and endemic subspecies of Blackish Cincloides. My life jacket was eventually stowed after I had finished photographing them. We hadn't left the beach and we had already seen the two Falkland endemic species for the islands: Falkland Steamerducks and Cobb's Wren. There were still three other Falkland specialities to see: Ruddy-headed Goose, Striated Caracara & White-bridled Finch. It's possible to see all three species in the deep South of Chile. Additionally, it is possible to see Ruddy-headed Goose around Rio Grande in Argentina: but I couldn't find any when I visited before boarding the Plancius.

Cobb's Wren: This was the second Falklands endemic seen & I hadn't even left the beach

Cobb's Wren: Carcass Island looks to be one of the best sites in the Falklands to see Cobb's Wren according to eBird. But that may be down to the frequency that expedition ships visit

Cobb's Wren

Blackish Cinclodes: This is the nominate antarcticus subspecies which is endemic to the Falklands and it is known as Tussacbird by the locals

Blackish Cinclodes: The maculirostris subspecies occurs in Tierra del Fuego & the Cape Horn Archipelago. It can be seen from the small boats in the Beagle Channel. It is blacker with a yellow bill with a dark upper mandible

Blackish Cinclodes: Perhaps this is a fresh juvenile as its knackered like the beach individual, albeit feeding daily on the beach is going to create a fair bit of wear to the feathers

There were still a few more endemics to see & I'll cover them in the next Blog Posts.

18 Mar 18 - Chile: First Impressions Of Chiloe Island

It had been a late arrival into Santiago the previous evening & it was a pre-dawn alarm call to get breakfast at the Hostal Sol y Luna near the airport. The owner then dropped me back at the airport for my mid-morning flight. After five hours of flying, including a stop en route, I arrived at Puerto Montt. This is the nearest city to my next destination of Chiloe Island. I quickly collected the hire car which was a one-way drop into Santiago airport on 24 Mar. It was an hour of easy driving on the dual carriageway to Pargua which is the ferry point across to Chiloe Island. The only thing that slowed me down were a few toll booths on the road. Toll booths are a regular feature on the motorway-standard roads in Chile & the tolls quickly mounted up on a long journey.

The roads were good & quiet

The ferry to Chiloe Island at Pargua: Within a few minutes I was boarding for the thirty minute crossing

The ferry was a reasonable size & there are three or four ferries leaving every hour

The other ferry company

Looking back at Pargua on the mainland

The equally small ferry slipway on Chiloe Island at Pargua

I was Birding from the raised part of the ferry on the crossing. It is a wide channel & not too far from the open sea, so there is always the chance of Seabirds. Very occasionally, Birders have seen the newly described (2013) Pincoya Storm-petrel from the ferry, although March didn't look a likely time of year from eBird. Not surprisingly, I didn't see any on this calm crossing. There were a few Magellanic Penguins, Sooty Shearwaters, Imperial Cormorants & Peruvian Penguins on the crossing.

South American Sealion: Three of the eight I saw on the crossing

House Sparrow: An introduced species that seems to survive in many countries outside of its natural range

It was a thirty minute to the Northern town of Ancud where I was staying. I quickly found my self-catering accommodation, the Casa Damasco Chiloe Guesthouse, for the next two nights. A quick look around the town confirmed most of the cafes were shut as it was a Sunday, so I tried one of the hotels for some food, as I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Chiloe Island is a large & pleasant place to visit. There seems to be plenty of places to stay on the island & it has a sleepy laid-back lifestyle that is reminiscent of the islands on the Scottish West coast. It was my favourite part of Chile & I could easily have spent a few more days exploring the island.

Dark-bellied Cinclodes: There were a couple of in the small hotel car park. They have a strong white eyebrow, strong white streaking continuing down the breast, consistent colouration across the middle of the belly, more uniform flanks & longer bill. The very similar-looking Grey-flanked Cinclodes has a paler belly, less streaking on the breast, a thinner white eyebrow & which is browner in front of the eye, a thinner, shorter bill & is a smaller Cinclodes. I've struggled writing this Post on the identification of these two similar Cinclodes, partly as I don't think I saw Grey-flanked Cinclodes on my trip (I would welcome any comments on my identifications)

Dark-bellied Cinclodes: Another photo which I think was also taken at the hotel with the Canon 7D hence the better colouration tones (20 Mar 18)

Dark-bellied Cinclodes: Another at Punihuil Penguin colony

There was still some light to get out Birding as sunset wasn't until 20:15 (sunrise isn't till 08:00). I headed off for the beach by the Punihuil Penguin colony. There is a small colony of Magellanic Penguins on the rocky islands off the beach, but I was more interested in the chance of seeing Marine Otters here. I didn't see any Marine Otters, but there was a reasonable selection of coastal Birds to keep me interested.

The beach at Punihuil Penguin colony

The beach at Punihuil Penguin colony

The beach at Punihuil Penguin colony: One of the ribs going out to the Magellanic Penguin colony. There are a couple of Magellanic Penguins on the rocky island

Kelp Goose: The black male & white female

Kelp Goose: Male

Kelp Goose: Female

Flightless Steamerduck: I've found identification of lone Steamerducks where both Flying Steamerduck & Flightless Steamerducks occur can be tricky for those newly arrived in their range. The bill looks bulky & deep-based indicating Flightless Steamerduck

Flightless Steamerduck: Identification is made easier when you can see a pair as they are similar in Flightless Steamerducks & a noticeably darker grey colouration in females of Flying Steamerducks. Female Steamerducks also have a green bill with a dull orange base. The other key feature is the wing length which looks very short

Flightless Steamerduck: Just in case there was any doubt about whether this individual could fly

Flightless Steamerduck

Southern Lapwing

Blackish Oystercatcher

Kelp Gull: Adult

After a good look around the bay from the beach, I decided against a trip out on one of the ribs. I was keen to spend the rest of the light driving back along the dirt road heading West from the Magellanic Penguin colony, rather than the main road. I had read that one of the other Birders had bumped into Slender-billed Parakeets along this route. I had no joy on the Slender-billed Parakeet front, but I did see my first Bicoloured Hawk.

Fire-eyed Diucon

Austral Thrush

It had been a good start to my time on Chiloe Island.