Yes, we should have been in the Falkland Islands ticking Falkland Steamer-Ducks, visiting the penguin colony at Volunteer Point etc etc. But our captain in his infinite wisdom decided the weather was too rough to dock, even without consulting the port authorities in Port Stanley. So he informed us that we would sail towards our next port of call at Puerto Madryn very slowly. Anyway, what can you do apart from carry on sea-watching and it did prove to be rather productive with a count of 55+ Soft-plumaged Petrels today.
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| Soft-plumaged Petrel |
In August 1988 as a 20 year old manic twitcher I was sea-watching at Porthgwarra when Peter Harrison uttered those immortal words “SOFT-PLUMAGED PETREL” and this was, at that time, possibly my most exciting moment as a birder. Subsequently this Pterodroma complex has been split into several species and I’ve been fortunate to see Desertas Petrel & Zino’s Petrel over the past few years. And so Soft-plumaged Petrel remained a mythical being for me as it inhabited the far away South Atlantic Ocean. That was until today when this species was our constant companion all day as we sailed north towards the Argentinian coast.
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| Slender-billed Prion |
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| Subantarctic Shearwater |
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| Peale's Dolphin |
Other keynote species from today were a single Subantarctic Shearwater that just Dan and I saw, 1 probable and 1 confirmed Blue Petrel, 8 Slender-billed Prions, and some extremely acrobatic Peale's Dolphins.
Todays count:
3 Southern Royal Albatross
12 Great Shearwater
1 Subantarctic Shearwater
1 Blue Petrel
55 Soft-plumaged Petrel
15 Southern Giant Petrel
8 Slender-billed Prion
3 Brown Skua
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