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Antarctica 2015 TR ! ! The0Falklands,0South0 Georgia,0and0Antarctica0 February050–024,020150 Report'by'Andrew'Spencer' www.tropicalbirding.com00 +134093515305140 [email protected] One!of!the!great!things!about!birds!is!that!looking!for!them!brings!you!to!the!great!places! on!earth.!!If!there’s!a!pristine!forest,!an!untrampled!grassland,!a!remote!mountain!range,! chances!are!birders!have!a!good!reason!to!go!there.!!And!nowhere!epitomizes!that!ideal! more!than!Antarctica.!!One!of!the!last!great!wildernesses!on!the!planet,!the!wildlife! spectacle!there!is!matched!only!by!the!sheer!beauty!of!the!terrain!and!the!remoteness!from! the!rest!of!humanity.!!Sure,!you!won’t!see!many!species!on!a!trip!to!Antarctica,!but!what! you!do!see!will!be! burned!into!your! memory!unlike!any! other!travel! experience.! ! On!this!trip!we!not! only!visited!the! Antarctic!Peninsula,! we!also!called!in!at! several!subB Antarctic!islands! that!were!every!bit! as!impressive!as!the! ice!continent.!!The! crown!jewel!of! these!was!clearly! South!Georgia,!with! its!rugged,!towering! peaks!covered!in!! enormous!glaciers,!and!plethora!of!wildlife!everywhere!you!turned.!!Any!one!of!our! destinations!alone!would!have!made!an!unforgettable!trip,!but!taken!together!I!don’t!think! it!would!be!exaggeration!to!call!it!the!trip!of!a!lifetime!! ! Any!trip!to!the!polar!regions!is!highly!dependent!on!the!weather.!!Wind!and!sea!conditions! can!mean!the!difference!between!a!problemBfree!voyage!to!one!where!you!never!get!off!the! boat.!!The!Antarctic!area!is!especially!famous!for!bad!weather!–!high!winds!and!rough!seas! –!but!we!for!the!most!part!lucked!out,!making!all!of!our!scheduled!landings!in!the!Falklands,! all!but!one!on!the!notoriously!difficult!South!Georgia,!and!all!in!the!Peninsular!area.!!Our! first!two!long!sea!crossings!(between!the!Falklands!and!South!Georgia,!and!across!the! Scotia!Sea)!were!both!blessed!by!relatively!calm!seas,!while!the!notorious!Drake!Passage! started!out!rough!as!expected,!but!then!calmed!for!the!majority!of!the!crossing.!!On!the!flip! side,!strong!northerly!winds!just!before!our!crossing!to!South!Georgia!are!likely!the!reason! for!large!numbers!of!certain!pelagic!species,!and!a!few!unexpected!rarities.! ! Most!trips!to!Antarctica!leave!from!the!southern!tip!of!Argentina!in!Ushuaia.!!The!Ushuaia! area!has!some!good!birding!(and!gorgeous!forest!)!just!outside!of!town,!and!to!take! advantage!of!that!we!arranged!to!meet!the!day!before!boarding!our!ship!and!see!what!we! could!find.!!On!the!way!to!Tierra!del!Fuego!NP!we!found!some!Black3faced0Ibis!among!the! www.tropicalbirding.com00 +134093515305140 [email protected] multitude!of!Southern0Lapwings,!but!saw!little!else!before!making!it!into!the!forested! park.!!! ! In!the!dense!Nothofagus!forests!we!found!a!different!suite!of!birds.!!Noisy!Thorn3tailed0 Rayaditos!were!the!common!flock!leader!(and!made!up!the!majority!of!said!flocks),!but!we! also!found!both!Gray3headed0and!Patagonian0Sierra3Finches,!many!White3crested0 Elaenias,!and!Austral0Thrushes.!!In!the!more!open,!grassy!areas!there!were!good!numbers! of!Upland0Geese,!mostly!of!the!barred!form,!as!well!as!both!Buff3winged!and!the!rarer! Gray3flanked0Cinclodes.!!One!marshy!area!produced!a!very!close,!but!shy,!South0 American0Snipe.! ! Down!by!the!coast,!where!the!forest!started!thinning!out,!we!encountered!good!numbers!of! Black3chinned0Siskins,!many!of!which!were!down!low!eating!seeds!off!of!flowering! composite!flowers.!!In!the!same!area!a!raucous!voice!had!us!looking!at!our!only!Austral0 Parakeets!of!the!trip,!an!exceptionally!cooperative!bird!that!perched!in!the!open!for!us.!!In! the!waters!of!a!protected!bay!off!the!Beagle!Channel!we!found!many!Flightless0Steamer3 Ducks.!!These!large,!almost!gooseBlike!ducks!are!characteristic!of!the!southern!cone,!and! we!spent!a!good!deal!of!time!watching!them!display!and!“steam”!across!the!water,!as!well! as!take!care!of!many!young!in!tow!and!aggressively!chase!competitors.!!Some!careful! searching!found!their!smaller!cousin,!Flying0Steamer3Duck,!a!pair!with!three!chicks! hanging!close! to!shore.!! Several!wary! Kelp0Geese0 moved! through!the! same!area,! though!a!bit!of! cautious! stalking!got!us! close!enough! for!excellent! views!and! photos.! ! Returning!to!a! more!forested! trail,!we!spent! a!good!deal!of! effort!(alas,!in! vain)! searching!for! Magellanic!Woodpecker.!!Our!efforts!weren’t!entirely!unrewarded,!though,!and!we!had! superb!views!of!one!of!the!most!cooperative!tapaculos!I’ve!had!the!pleasure!of!seeing,!a! young!Magellanic0Tapaculo.!!A!nearby!highBpitched!whistle!alerted!me!to!the!presence!of! a!Patagonian0Tyrant,!and!some!careful!searching!soon!had!us!looking!at!this!uncommon! www.tropicalbirding.com00 +134093515305140 [email protected] species.!!A!rapidly!moving!flock!was!mostly!Rayadito,!but!again!a!distinctive!call!gave!us!the! nuthatchBlike!White3throated0Treerunner.! ! Abandoning!the!forest,!we!returned!to!the!visitor’s!center!area,!and!checked!the!river.!!Here! we!had!our!only!Black3necked0Swans!of!the!tour,!a!pair!with!two!old!cygnets.!!The! highlight,!though,!was!being!able!to!watch!a!pair!of!Great0Grebes!repeatedly!feed!their! young!chicks,!which!were!hiding!on!the!back!of!one!of!them.! ! Leaving!the!National!Park!behind,!we!returned!to!town,!and!the!made!our!way!down!to!the! shoreline.!!The!gravel!beaches!here,!while!not!as!productive!as!mudflats!further!north,! were!still!quite!birdy.!!Our!first!stop!gave!us!many!Dolphin0Gulls,!a!few!flyby!Chilean0 Skuas,!a!noisy!Blackish0Oystercatcher,!and!finally!a!wonderfully!diverse!(for!Tierra!del! Fuego)!flock!of!shorebirds!that!included!Surfbird,!Baird’s0Sandpiper,!and!two!Rufous3 chested0Dotterels.! ! A!nearby!sandspit!had!many!more!Dolphin0Gulls,!and!our!only!Chiloe0Wigeon0of!the!trip.!! It!also!contained!a!few!more!Baird’s0Sandpiper,!and!the!largest!congregation!of!Kelp0 Geese!I!had!ever!seen!–!30B40!birds.! ! We!spent!most!of!the!next!day!preparing!for!our!cruise!–!we!were!set!to!board!the!ship!in! the!afternoon,!so!there!was!one!final!morning!to!relax!before!heading!out.!!The!process!of! boarding!couldn’t!have!been!smoother,!and!the!very!professional!One!Ocean!staff!made! everything!easy!and!painless.!!The!mandatory!lifeboat!drills!were!conducted,!and!we!were! on!our!way!!!By!the!time!the!boat!started!moving!we!only!had!a!couple!of!hours!to!watch! the!Beagle!Channel!stream!by,!but!they!were!a!birdy!couple!of!hours!!!Many!Imperial0and!a! few!Magellanic0Cormorants!flew!by!the!boat,!as!well!as!good!numbers!of!Chilean0Skuas,! South0American0Terns,!and!our!first!Albatrosses!–!Black3browed0Albatross.00As!it!got! www.tropicalbirding.com00 +134093515305140 [email protected] dark!we!gazed!into!the!best!sunset!of!the!whole!trip!as!Argentina!(and!Chile!)!faded!into! darkness,!and!looked!forward!to!the!many!new!birds!to!come.! ! Awaking!the!next!morning!to!the! open!ocean,!it!quickly!became! apparent!how!rich!the!waters!were!!! Hordes!of!birds!were!following!the! ship!from!the!getBgo,!and!standing!on! the!stern!gave!us!repeated,!close! views!of!a!good!mix!of!pelagic!species! large!and!small.!!By!numbers!the!most! common!were!Slender3billed0Prions! and!White3chinned0Petrels,!but!we! had!lesser!numbers!of!Sooty0 Shearwaters,0Southern0Giant3 Petrels,0and!Black3browed0 Albatrosses.!!These!main! components!of!our!faithful!followers! were!joined!now!and!then!by!the!bird!giants!of!the!ocean!–!both!“Southern”0and! “Northern”0Royal0Albatrosses,!and!a!few!Wandering0Albatross.!!It’s!hard!to!appreciate! how!massive!these!birds!really!are!until!you!see!them!next!to!their!smaller!BlackBbrowed! cousins!–!the!great!albatrosses!make!the!“mollymawks”!look!like!gulls!! ! Picking!through!the!flocks!both!kept!us!entertained!and!produced!a!few!less!common! species.!!Perhaps!the!rarest!was!our!only!Fairy0Prion!of!the!tour!(this!species!is!an! uncommon!to!rare!breeder!in!the!area),!along!with!our!only!Cape0Petrel0until!later!in!the! trip.!!A!single!Gray3backed0Storm3Petrel!joined!the!much!more!abundant!Wilson’s!in! making!a!quick! swing!by!the! boat,!and!good! numbers!of! Great0 Shearwaters! put!in!an! appearance!as! well.! ! After!our!day!at! sea,!it!was!landB ho!!!We!had!two! days!scheduled! to!visit!various! points!in!the! Falkland! Islands,!and! much!depended! www.tropicalbirding.com00 +134093515305140 [email protected] on!the!weather.!!Luckily!we!arrived!to!calm!seas!and!clear!skies!!!Our!first!port!of!call!was! West!Point!Island!in!the!West!Falklands.!!Like!many!remote!islands,!much!of!the!Falklands! has!suffered!from!introduced!rats,!and!West!Point!was!no!exception.!!While!this!affected! the!variety!of!passerines!on!the!island,!the!large!specialties!were!all!still!present,!in! numbers.!!Our!first!endemic!didn’t!even!wait!for!us!to!land,!with!large!numbers!of! Falklands0Steamer3Ducks!“steamed”!right!by!our!boat!as!we!arrived.!!Smaller!numbers!of! South0American0 Terns!and!our!first! Brown0(Falklands)0 Skuas!also!flew! over!the!harbor! (with!many!of!the! skuas!deciding!that! chasing!the!terns! was!good!sport!).! ! On!land!our!first! birds!were!the!local! subspecies!of!a!few! more!widespread! birds!–!Austral0 Thrush,0Long3 tailed0Meadowlark! (with!a!shocking!red! breast!for!those! used!to!yellow! meadowlarks!),!and! Black3chinned0 Siskin.!!Some!remarkably!tame!Kelp0Geese!haunted!the!shoreline,!while!oodles!of!Upland0 Geese0moved!along!the!grassy!slopes.!!Their!rarer!doppelganger!cousins,!Ruddy3headed0 Goose!was!also!present,!albeit!in!much!smaller!numbers.!!Quite!unlike!mainland!South! America,!where!the!bird!can!be!quite!local!and!extremely!shy,!the!ones!on!the!Falklands!
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