Caracara and Albatross
By Blog.Admin
2 Dec 2009We reached Steeple Jason in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) at 2 PM yesterday. The spring sunshine was intense and the wind strong. Great weather for watching Black-browed Albatross glide and dive-bombing caracara.We transferred ashore in Zodiacs. The hike to the albatross colony was about 1.5 km from the shore. To get there we had to negotiate a patch of tussock that had been carved by the wind into strange creatures with macabre faces. Once across the tussock field, we were on the opposite shore to our landing site, on the edge of a Gentoo Penguin colony. The strong winds were whipping their shoreline into a frenzy of white caps that crashed against the rocky shore. We stopped to watch the antics of the birds as they marched up a hill, or sat on eggs, or just bickered among themselves.
From the colony we walked up hill following a trail marked by flags placed by the Expedition Team. En route a caracara - a raptor with claws and a hooked beak - sat still on a tussock lump as if posing for photographs. When the bird had enough, it took flight and proceeded to dive bomb anyone in its way. No one was injured, not even the bird.
I reached the edge of the albatross colony, and sat down on a soft bit of moss to watch a group interact. Taking off, landing, clacking beaks, bowing, or just setting on a lump of tussock. After awhile, I negotiated another ridge for a breath-taking view of the largest Black-browed albatross colony on Earth. Thousands of birds rested on nest as far as the eye could see.
On our return to the landing site, we had to stop. A caracara was taking a dust bath in the middle of the path. We kept back the regulation 15 feet and watched in fascination. When we had retraced our steps as far as the penguin colony, we stopped again.
A lone red flag that had been planted by the Expedition Team was being attacked by a caracara. The flag pole bent, the caracara clinging to the flag would drop to the ground. Eventually reinforcements arrived. Four of them took turns trying to capture the flag.
We are off to New Island this morning. More albatross and rockhopper penguins, as well as elevenses at a local camp.
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Hi Kathleen,
Unfortunately, we do not have travelers blogging from the ship on that voyage.
Hopefully they will share their stories and photographs with us when they return!
Sincerely,
Kristina Smith
Online Marketing Executive
your trip sounds wonderful, I am looking for someone who is on the Epic Antarctica do you know if there is a blog for this expedition??? They left on the 3rd of 4th of December,
Thank you for your help,