After being dropped off at the port entrnce by Marcelo I made my way through immigration to the quayside and down towards the Plancius which was to be my home for the next few weeks. My luggage had already been taken from the drop off point to my cabin and I joined an excited group of 90 passengers waiting to be checked in and embark on our voyage. All the Oceanwide Expedition guides were waiting to greet us as we came up the gangway. It was my first meeting with Regis Perdriat, a French birder and seabird expert, who, on spotting me with camera and binoculars slung around my neck, asked whether I was a birder!
After being shown to my cabin I unpacked before going into the lounge area where we were introduced ot the guides and crew who undertook compulsory lifeboat drill with us followed by a briefing as to our proposed voyage. Expedition leader, Eduardo, said he'd been discussing the weather forecast with the captain, Ernesto, and it was pretty shocking. As a result plan B was already in operation and instead of taking a clockwise voyage visiting The Falklands and then South Georgia first we were doing the journey in reverse and heading straight down to the Antarctic Peninsula! So began our introduction to Edu's plans A,B & C.........
A quick dinner on board in the superb restaurant and I was up on the bridge deck wildlife spotting as we sailed down the Beagle Channel as darkness fell. Within a very short space of time I'd seen Magellanic Penguin & Diving Petrel, Black-browed Albatross and Fin Whale!
Over the next few days I spent most of my time on the bridge. I was surprisingly the only 'serious' birder on board and was generally on my own. I took to getting up around 5 am and skipping breakfast to spend more time looking for new birds. A list was pinned up in the lounge where the daily sightings were recorded and after the first couple of days Regis told me to put my own sightings up as he trusted my sightings. Anything I wasn't sure of I tried to photograph and get his confirmation.
Black-browed Albatross
As we sailed further south we started seeing more icebergs and different species of birds. Cape petrels and Giant petrels were with us most of the journey as were the Antarctic Prions, Blue Petrels and Wilsons Petrels but I also picked out our first Light-mantled, Southern Royal, Grey-headed and Wandering Albatross during the three day trip down to our first point of call - the South Shetland Islands
Blue Petrel
Blue Petrel
Blue Petrel
Cape Petrel
Northern Giant Petrels
Southern Royal Albatross
We also started seeing more icebergs as we sailed south and some were a spectacular blue. Apparently this indicated old ice that has been very compressed and is so dense it only allows light from the blue end of the spectrum to pass through
Cape Petrels around an iceberg
Above & below - Light - mantled Albatross
Above & below - Wandering Albatross
White-chinned petrel
Wilsons Petrel
Above & below: Antarctic Prions
Black-bellied Storm Petrel
As we forged our way further south we started seeing more whales. The majority were Humpbacks but we did see Fin & Sei Whales on this part of the journey. A message from the bridge that whales had been spotted usually resulted in a mass exodus of passengers from the lounge on to the outer decks. I was really surprised at how few people spent time on deck looking for wildlife and then how surprised they were at what I'd seen. The captain opened the bridge at 08.00 every morning but I'd become a permanent fixture on the bridge wings and he'd let me come up as soon as I was up and dressed. The only time the bridge was closed was if there was a pilot on board or the officers were trying to navigate a tricky piece of sea.
More icebergs meant I got the oppurtunity to see a real Antarctic specialist and a species I'd always wanted to see. Snow Petrel! I was lucky enough to see a good number of these amazing birds. Strangely I only saw one Antarctic Petrel and that was through my cabin window early one morning.
Above & below : Snow Petrel
Excitement was building on board as, after not seeing land for several days we were within striking distance of our first landfall and zodiac landings on South Shetland where we'd also encounter our first penguin colonies.
Before I travelled to Argentina I'd contacted Marcelo de Cruz of Magellanic Nature Tours (see here ) for a guided tour around some of the best birding sites in the Tierra Del Fuego National Park . Marcelo is a great guy and has been guiding for many years and came highly recommended by several friends who'd used his services.
Marcelo was busy the first day I arrived in Ushuaia but he arranged to meet me at my hotel the day I was due to board the Plancius, drop my luggage off at 8 am at the collection point and get me back to the quay to board the Plancius at 4pm.
What a great day. Snow overnight meant a lot of the birds had come down from the high tops to feed in the snowless lower pastures and I was soon ticking off new species so fast my brain couldn't keep up. Of course everyone who visits the area wants to see two of the specialities - Magellanic Woodpecker (the biggest woodpecker in the world), Andean Condor and Great Grebe. I was no exception and Marcelo knew where a pair of grebes were breeding.
Number 1 target on the list and what an impressive bird. The next target, the woodpecker, was a bit more elusive. Marcelo knew of a nest but the young had fledged so the resident pair were a bit more wide ranging. Their territories can be huge so it was just a case of walking and listening in different areas. There was still lots to see and Marcelo is knowledgeable in all forms of wildlife not just birds. When he knew I was interested to see as much as possible he took time to point out the various orchids and different tree species whilst we still continued wracking up an impressive list of birds including Thorn-tailed Rayadito, White-crested Elaenia, Austral Parrot, White-throated Treerunner, Tufted-tit Tyrant, Buff-winged and Grey-flanked Cinclodes.
White-throated Treerunner
White - crested Elaenia
Thorntailed Rayadito
Grey-flanked Cinclodes
Buff-winged Cinclodes
Tufted-tit Tyrant
Eventually I heard a soft tap, tap, tap coming from an area of dense woodland. Marcelo disappeared into the forest and quickly beckoned me over to look upwards where a female Magellanic Woodpecker was partially hidden against a tree trunk.
Marcelo wandered off and soon beckoned me over again where he'd found the male in a nearby tree. What a fantastic looking bird. We watched these magnificent woodpeckers for about 40 minutes before heading off in search of new species.
By now the weather had cleared and the sun was out over the nearby mountain ridges so we stopped for a lunch of chicken, beef and cheese empanada's to scan the ridges for Andean Condor. Almost on cue two appeared and we had great scope views of thus huge raptor though Marcelo's' 'scope! We'd seen many Patagonian Sierra Finches throughout the morning and one joined us for lunch!
Marcelo said he was waiting for a friend and I soon found out who he meant when a Crested Caracara flew in and helped itself to a piece of Marcelo's proffered empanada. So close I couldn't get the whole bird in the camera viewfinder.
Crested Caracara taken with mobile phone!
We just had time to visit a few more areas for Flightless Steamer Duck and Black-necked Swan before heading back to Ushuaia for a bit of wader action before heading back to the quay and getting my first glimpse of the mv Plancius that was to be my home for the next 19 days.
Flightless Steamer Ducks
Black-necked Swan
A great day out in the National Park with great company. Now I was ready to board my ship for the next phase of my trip.
Leaving the heat and dustiness of Buenos Aries I crossed the city to the domestic airport and caught my flight to Ushauai - a three and a half hour flight down to the very tip of South America where this southern most town (often called the end of the world) lies alongside the Beagle Channel. This is where I'd be picking up the ship but I had a couple of days birding ahead of me so after dumping my bags I went for little exploration. I'd been told there was a small nature reserve at the edge of town so I headed there. The weather was pretty miserable with heavy rain making birding hard so I went back to my hotel and had an early night.
Ushuaia is a strange place. Lots of large cruise ships dock here so theres lots of tourist shops yet the place is very run down. According to all the signs everywhere Ushuaia is the capital of the Falklands (Las Malvinas) and there are memorials to the Falklands war everywhere. Mainly proclaiming the British illegally invaded and took back the Falklands from the rightful ownership of the Argentinians and the fact that the brave Argentinian forces were overwhelmed and out numbered. I know a lot of the history surrounding the Falklands war and had friends who fought there and it didn't make me feel comfortable
Next day was hardly better weather wise and during the night the Sapphire Princess cruise ship had docked with Allan Conlin and Peter Sutton on board. Al is guest lecturer aboard the ship and we arranged to meet just after breakfast at the local reserve. Unbelievably we live 20 miles apart and I hadn't seen him for quite a long time so meeting him at 'the end of the world' was quite a surreal experience.
The reserve is tidal and separated from the main channel by a with very few passerines although I did pick up a Dark-bellied Cinclodes foraging among the kelp on the foreshore.
Dark-bellied Cinclodes
Walking along the seafront to get to the reserve also added Dolphin Gull, Turkey Vulture and my first Southern Giant Petrel of the trip. Dolphin Gulls are visually stunning but like all gulls that frequent seaside towns they're not adverse to scavenging a bit of your lunch! There was also a very photogenic pair of Kelp Geese alongside the wrecked ship in the photo above.
Southern Giant Petrel
Kelp Geese
Turkey Vulture
The reserve itself is a tidal flood basin surrounded by rough grassland. There are viewing platforms and information boards explaining what birds you and is a good location for a few hours mooch checking out the wildfowl and a few waders - including Magellanic Snipe and Southern Lapwing. ( I also had Bairds Sandpiper, Blackish Oysterctcher, Magellanic Oystercatcher and White-rumped Sandpiper here later in the day when the tide had dropped).
Southern Lapwing
Magellanic Snipe
It wasn't very species rich but the wildfowl were very photogenic and I saw birdds here in the wild that I'd only ever seen in wildfowl collections back home!
Night Heron
Chiloe Wigeon
Chimango Caracara
Crested Ducks
Red Shoveler
South American Tern
Upland Goose
Yellow -billed Pintail.
With the weather closing in there was just time for a quick touristy type photo with the Ushuaia tow nsign before Al and Pete departed for their floating palace whilst I made my way back tp othe hotel to dry out before venturing put again later in the afternoon. After dinner in the hotel I had an early night as the following day was going to be a busy one. I'd arranged a guide to show me some oof the birds in the nearby Tierra Del Fuego national park where I'd hoped to see some of the specialities including Magellanic Woodpecker and Great Grebe. He was then dropping me off at the docks to get aboard the mv Plancius for the start of my Antarctic odyssey proper.
Patch list (walking distance from house): 136. Garganey
What this blogs about.
This is my blog about birding on the Wirral, in Cheshire and beyond. Its basically an online diary of my sightings and trips. It'll be updated regularly to include photographs of birds (and other wildlife) I've photographed both in the UK and abroad. Why a blog? It's a way of keeping memories of good birds. good trips and interesting ringing sessions for me to look back on when I get to old to be bothered going out in the cold and wet anymore!!#
All photo's are taken by me unless specified and I retain the copyright. Photos shall not be used for any other purpose without express permission.
Moved to Cheshire in 1983 and settled there after marrying in 1986. I've been birding since I was 7 or 8 - it was that long ago I can't remember!
My formative years were spent in Suffolk and birds became a passion in my teens. Started twitching when still at school but began seriously whilst at University in the late 70's and early 80's. I am old enough to remember Nancy's cafe!
Took a bit of a break due to other committment but now able enjoy getting out birding both locally and for long distance twitches and trips.
Married to my beautiful wife Janet since 1986 and have two grown-up children and 4 gorgeous grandchildren.
Trained as a ringer firstly in the 1970's but let it lapse after leaving University in 1982. Re-trained again a few years ago and now a regular with Hilbre Bird observatory and SCAN ringing group.
I first became interested in photography whilst still at school and used an old Zenith SLR with a Tamron 300 mm lens. I've rediscovered my earlier interest and have graduated to digital - much easier to use for an amateur like me!
