31 Jan 23 - The Antarctica Trip - Entering The Outer Part Of The Beagle Channel

Our final day at sea and the seas had moderated compared to the previous couple of days. However, many of the passengers who had disappeared two days earlier in the rough seas and Force Eight gale around the South Shetland Islands, were slow to return to view. Around breakfast time we were still South East of Tierra del Fuego, but by late morning we could see the Chilean coast.

Grey Phalarope: This Grey Phalarope well out to sea from the Tierra del Fuego coastline wasn't on my expected species to see on the trip list. They Winter all along the full length of the South American Pacific coast, but there are a few eBird records that have occurred off the Tierra del Fuego & Falklands coast

Southern Giant Petrel: No real surprise that we started to see Southern Giant Petrels given they are a common species in the Beagle Channel

The Southern-most part of Chilean Tierra del Fuego: The outermost part of the Beagle Channel can be seen in the right hand side of the photo

A closer view of the Southern-most part of Chilean Tierra del Fuego

The Argentinian Tierra del Fuego coast

By early afternoon, we could see the outer part of the Beagle Channel. The seas continued to moderate now we were closer to land, until finally the water became calm in the Beagle Channel. But it was to take the rest of the afternoon and early evening until we were in sight of the port of Ushuaia. There was a good selection of Whales, as we entered the very outer part of the Beagle Channel.

Antarctic Minke Whale: The distinctive thin dorsal fin of an Antarctic Minke Whale. Unfortunately, this was the only photo I managed to take of this individual

Antarctic Minke Whale: More of the body of a second, and more distant, Antarctic Minke Whale

Antarctic Minke Whale: The uncropped photo showing how distant the second Antarctic Minke Whale was from the Plancius. It is just visible in the middle of this photo and close to the coastline

Sei Whale: A Sei Whale also put in a brief appearance, showing its distinctive crooked dorsal fin

The real Whale stars were a couple of Fin Whales which put on a good show as they kept resurfacing closer to the Plancius. It's a pity the other two species seen weren't as close.

Fin Whale: The first Fin Whale on the surface with its blow still visible

Fin Whales: A second individual popped up

Fin Whale: The first individual

Fin Whale: A close up showing the classic dorsal fin shape of the first individual

Fin Whales: A close up of the more angular and irregularly-shaped dorsal fin of the second individual, as the second individual appears and starts to blow

Fin Whales: Showing the full height of the blow

Fin Whales: A good view of the head ridge and the blow-hole

Fin Whales

Fin Whale: Close up of the left-hand individual with the classic dorsal fin shape

Fin Whale: Close up of the right-hand individual showing the unusual dorsal fin shape, which, if this individual was seen on its own could suggest to be a Sei Whale

Fin Whale: A final view of the individual with the classic dorsal fin

There were also some Birds in the outer part of the Beagle Channel.

Southern Giant Petrel

Imperial Shag: As we passed the Chilean parts of Tierra del Fuego we started to see the first parties of Imperial Shags

Imperial Shag

Black-browed Albatross: Unfortunately, this flock of Black-browed Albatrosses were sitting on the water in the direction we started to pass into the outer Beagle Channel

We still had a few hours to travel along the Beagle Channel and I will save that for the final Blog Post.

My Birding cabin mate, Steve Preddy: Catching up on lost sleep after the Whales, whilst ensuring he was ready if there was a final interesting shout from the top deck

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 - The Original Punk

The last Blog Post focused on the Black-browed Albatross colony on West Point Island: which contains about two thousand pairs. Additionally, there are around five hundred pairs of Rockhopper Penguins in the colony.

Rockhopper Penguin: This is the nominate chrysocome subspecies which occurs on the Cape Horn Archipelago & the Falklands. There is a second subspecies which occurs on the Kerguelen Islands & New Zealand's Subantarctic Islands

Rockhopper Penguin: Like the Magellanic Penguins and Gentoo Penguins on Carcass Island, they do a lot of sitting around and waiting when they are in the colony, after they have fed their youngsters

Tristan Penguin: The closely related Tristan Penguin is now split from Rockhopper Penguin & it occurs on Gough Island, the Tristan da Cunha Islands, St Paul & Amsterdam islands. This is also called Moseley's Rockhopper Penguin. They are slightly larger than Rockhopper Penguins with a larger and denser yellow crest. Gough Island (10 Apr 18)

Rockhopper Penguin: The raised nests of the Black-browed Albatrosses are perfect to stop the two species getting too close to each other as the Rockhopper Penguins walk through the colony

Rockhopper Penguin: The original Punk

Rockhopper Penguin: Juveniles. A pair will normally have two chicks

I'm a big Penguin fan, so I won't apologise for a few more Rockhopper Penguin photos.

Rockhopper Penguin

Rockhopper Penguin

Rockhopper Penguin

Rockhopper Penguin

We saw a few Long-tailed Meadowlarks on the walk back to the settlement.

Long-tailed Meadowlark: Adult

Long-tailed Meadowlark: Adult

Long-tailed Meadowlark: Sometimes I managed to take a really nice photograph

All too soon we were back at the settlement & catching the zodiacs back to the Plancius.

The Settlement Beach: Like the historic farms in Tierra del Fuego, the farm buildings are wooden

At least we had a jetty to board the zodiac from

There was still time for some seawatching as we sailed for Port Stanley before dinner.

Southern Giant Petrel: The pale green tip is hard to see. However, it is clearly not the dark dull red tip of a Northern Giant Petrel

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

South American Tern: They breed along the coasts & islands of Southern South America & the Falklands

One of the good things about visiting Antarctica in Jan, is there are still over two hours of good birding light after dinner to allow some more Cetacean & seawatching. We were away from the coast by the time we had eaten. There were usually a few hardy souls joining me on deck in the late evenings. We didn't see anything surprising on the Seabird side that evening, but two Sei Whales and another three unidentified Fin or Sei Whales were nice to see.

Sei Whale: The large size and prominent dorsal fin limits the options to either a Fin Whale or a Sei Whale. The shape of the dorsal fin confirms this is a Sei Whale

Sei Whale: The obvious kink in the Dorsal Fin confirms this is a Sei Whale: it would be a gentle constant curve in a Fin Whale

Sei Whale: This photo was taken three minutes later when it resurfaced. A second individual had just blown before going under

I went to bed with the alarm set for an early start to get some seawatching in as we approached our landing in Port Stanley.