We arrived at the Falklands early in the morning, on the western edge of the islands ready for our first visit to one of the subantarctic islands. The island of choice was New Island, on which we visited two different areas but both with a different assortment of seabirds. The winds were strong but the skies were largely cloudless meaning it was quire pleasant conditions to be outside in, at least once the bumpy zodiac rides, necessary to reach the islands, had been completed.
The first area we visited was in the centre of the island. The main attractions was the seabird colony above the cliffs on the west side, with impressive numbers of King Shags, Black-browed Albatross and the highlights being the Southern Rockhopper Penguins. It was great to see the penguins jumping along the rocks and trying to get out of what was very stormy seas. In addition, in one of the Rockhopper Penguins nesting areas there was also our first Macaroni Penguin of the trip, and although it did not show close it was still nice to see in comparison to the smaller Rockhoppers. There were also our first Snowy Sheathbills of the trip, but they were always distant. Less distant were our first Brown Skuas, which showed very nicely as they picked off eggs from careless nesting birds.
Away from the seabirds there were a few terrestrial species to track down here. The first of these was the Blackish Cinclodes, the Falkland race affectionately known as the Tussockbird. They were apparently not common on this island but one did make a couple of appearances near the seabird colony. Straited Caracara and Ruddy Headed Goose were two more new species for me today, but that were expected on the Falklands, as well as a couple of Falkland Steamer Ducks in our landing bay.
After lunch we headed round to an area on the north side of the island. Our journey across on the Zodiacs saw us encounter a few Peale’s Dolphins, but they did not show well. In the bay round the north area of our trails we had better more continued views of these dolphins, but thye never seemed to want to breach making identification a long process.
The main seabirds here were another colony of Black-browed Albatross, with three species of Penguin; Gentoo being the most common, followed by Magellanic and then a few Southern Rockhoppers thrown in to the Albatross colony. Most of our time was spent with the Gentoo Penguins as there was a constant conveyorbelt os birds coming and going from the sea to the colony. It was good to see them porpoising as they approached the beach as well as another group sheltering their small chicks in the windy conditions.
Other good birds here included more and better views of Snowy Sheathbill, Brown Skua and Falkland Steamer Duck. Striated Caracara was also extremely confiding here, with one dozy individual being extremely approachable as it sheltered below a small rocky outcrop. There were no new birds here, but since the only Kelp Geese I had seen before were distant, the group feeding at close quarters on the beach were much appreciated.
We returned to the ship at 18:00 and after dinner spent the evening oin the deck enjoying the stunning evening light. The boat trip as we rounded the island was very bumpy, and there were some spectacular crashes as the ship plowed through the waves. The seabird action was however, quite limited with only the same species as yesterday seen. At 21:00 I headed inside to write my notes and then went to bed.
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