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Birds of a feather
One of my favorite bird photos shows two courting Browed Albatrosses in a remote Falkland Island.
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Ushuaia, A last farewell
We disembarked from our home for the past two weeks at 9AM, after breakfast. We had a long goodbye yesterday, turning in our boots and group velcro patches, having a goodbye meeting with the Explorer Crew and then another with the Captain and the onboard photographer played an outstanding video compiling the trip highlights. Now…
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A Bad Picture Leads to A Record Find!
Thanks for the follow-up of Lancy Chen, I have found a new record bird for the Falklands! After the spectacular visit to the Rockhopper/Albatross rookery on Westpoint Island, our hosts treated us to an array of cookies, cakes and beverages. After having my full of these wonderful treats my eye wandered to nearby birds. There…
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How Blue is Your Petrel?
The little Blue Petrel and its cousin, the Slim-billed Prion, have been confounding me all week! They’re small, flit to and fro, and stay just above the waves. All these qualities make these birds frustrating to photograph as getting good focus is a major challenge. Early this morning, under less chilly conditions and on a…
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Surfing Penguins!
Plan B has been working and today was no exception. We arrived early at Saunders Island, which is just to the East of Westpoint Island and is the fourth largest island of the archipelago. We had a view of a beach in front of us and the promise of King, Chinstrap, Gentoo and Magellan Penguins…
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Westpoint Island: the Rockhopper Penguins & the black-browed albatrosses
I caught the sunrise this morning as we threaded our way through the Falkland Archipelago. There were the occasional Black Browed (BB) Albatrosses to go along with the many Imperial Shags (Cormorants) flying by the ship.. We didn’t spot any dolphins or whales and soon were turning into Westpoint Bay and another beautiful view! This…
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Quaint Stanley
Stanley, the Capital of the Falklands, is a strange town. It has had two notable lives, the first starting in the 1700’s as a whaling and Antarctica expedition hub and then forty years ago, a war with Argentina. The Museum, in town, gives about half of its coverage to ancient times and the other half…
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A royal approach to the Falklands
A bright early morning sky greeted me today and so did several albatrosses. The ever-present Black-browed Albatrosses had the company of the Light-mantled ones as well as the tiny Antarctic Prions which are impossible to photograph well. After breakfast, I was informed that Royal and Wandering Albatrosses had been spotted, so I raced for the…
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Whales Unlimited!
This was supposed to be a quiet transit day of our trip. Rising at 5:30, I saw very little as visibility was limited, but the seas were relatively calm. I decided to go back to bed and see if the day would improve. After a satisfying breakfast, we got a call over the ship PA…
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Frozen Water Walking!
What a day! The Roald Amundsen has now sidled up to the ice field and after some investigation, the gangplank was lowered. The Expedition Crew went onto the ice and started drilling holes in it. Apparently they found it solid and thick, so off we go on an Ice Walk! We had fifteen minutes on…