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February 7, 2000 |
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snipe in the grass and shells on the beach |
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Position: Sea Lion Island, Falklands Bleaker Island, Falklands Today's Bird Sightings: Mammal Sightings: Today's Reading: The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin
Copyright © 2000, Janet I. Egan |
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The long hikers and the short hikers diverged and I stayed with the short hikers because of that silly blister on my foot - never get your socks wet when you encounter boot-sucking mud in South Georgia. Anyway, the short hikers had plenty to see on the beach. In one intertidal area there were kelp geese and flightless steamer-ducks and the best sighting of the day striated caracara perched nearby - the handsomest caracara so far. Upland geese were everywhere. 
Near the rockhoppers - about 200 yards away - there were
a couple of thousand imperial shags (cormorants) on their
nests and with large downy chicks. Dolphin gulls hovered
overhead. There were hundreds of rockhopper penguins in
among Back on board, Victor gave his “Birds and Happiness” talk, a personal reflection on how a deep appreciation for birds has dramatically changed peoples lives. He spoke of the same insight I had about birding being a Zen-like state of mindfulness. Then Captain Peter "Centimeter" Skog recounted some of his favorite moments of the trip: Devil Island, playing with the iceberg, the waterfall, and the storm. Yes, he actually listed the storm as one of his favorite parts of the journey. I guess he likes a challenge. |
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We
arrived in The Falklands this morning around 7:00ish. I'm
suddenly realizing the trip is almost over. Our first
landing of the day is at Sea Lion Island. On the broad beach
where we landed we were greeted by several two-banded
plovers and blackish cinclodes (also called the tussock
bird) right on the beach - plus a few elephant seals. We saw
and heard Magellanic
oystercatchers as we walked along the beach.
We
were able to approach two South American snipe resting in
the grass and view them pretty closely without scaring them.
The taxonomy of this snipe is not exactly well-established.
Some authors regard it as a subspecies of the common snipe
and others treat it as a separate species. To
further complicate it there are two forms, both of which
occur in the Falklands, which are sometimes treated as
separate species (Magellan and Paraguayan snipe). This
matters a lot to the twitchers but I'm calling it a snipe in
the grass. Well, a South American snipe in the grass...
We
hiked across a flat, barren plain littered with sheep bones,
to a lodge where we were offered tea and sweets, and people
could shop for souvenirs. Along the way we encountered
Magellanic penguins, who breed
in burrows in the ground, and looked totally silly and
unpenguinlike walking amidst the grass. It just struck me as
funny to look up and see this penguin standing in dry brown
grass.
The
weather was warm and beautiful on Sea Lion Island and I
started to have fantasies of coming back with Nancy for a
week-long holiday at the lodge. Then it was back to the ship
for a late lunch and the two hour trip to Bleaker
Island.
This was our last Zodiac landing of the trip. We're supposed
to leave our life jackets in the lobby when we return to the
ship. Bleaker Island is a picture perfect 
place
with blue water and pale sandy beaches. It looked especially
inviting in the brilliant sun. It was kind of windy though.
With that stupid blister on my toe still throbbing I chose
to take the "Bleaker bus service" to a colony of rockhopper
penguins. It's a Land Rover owned by one of the few locals
on this island. Ther's a sizeable crack in the windshield.
When asked about it, the driver replied: "Skua done that,
yes." I can believe it. Skuas are powerful mean birds. One
was going after one of the able-bodied seamen on the beach
with the Zodiacs.
On
the way to the rock hopper colony we passed Magellanic
penguins with their nearly full grown chicks gathered in
tight crèches. It was downright weird to see a
penguin peeking up out of a burrow like a groundhog.
the tussock-grass at their nest sites with chicks. They're
fun to watch. Y'know, all the birds here seem to be black
and white: black and white shags, black and white penguins,
black and white gulls... A lone Magellanic penguin kept
parading back and forth across the shag colony as if looking
for others of his kind. Maybe he was confused by the color
scheme.