We spent a full day around this huge colony of Black-browed Albatross on Steeple Jason on the Falkland Islands. The colony stretches for 5 kilometers along the coast and is some 200m wide. It contains about 100,000 breeding pairs. We got to see the full spectrum of...
We saw Rockhopper Penguins at several sites we visited in the Falkland Islands. This group were filmed on Saunders Island. It was remarkable watching them deal comfortably with the heavy surf. Whilst at times ungainly on land, however they have no trouble hopping up...
It was very windy at Bempton Cliffs, East Yorkshire! The Gannets took full advantage and were soaring and wheeling in the breeze. These magnificent birds are highly social and nest in large colonies on steep, rocky cliffs. With a wing span of up to 1.8m they are...
Sailing north from Antarctica to New Zealand, our final port of call was Campbell Island, the second largest of New Zealand’s sub Antarctic Islands and the most southerly. Like many of these islands, it is the remnant of 6-11 million year old volcano. The birds and...
We arrived in the early morning getting our first glimpse of Ross Island and Mount Terror and soon after the ice shelf could be seen. This was named “The barrier” by the early Antarctic explorers since it represented an impenetrable barrier to their progress. The ice...
Numerous Adelie Penguins occupied the ice floes: everyone’s idea of the archetypal penguin. After sailing south from Macquarie Island for four days, we arrived off Cape Adare early in the morning. The sea was calm and the sun was shining. The ship was surrounded by...
After sailing south from Macquarie Island for four days, we arrived off Cape Adare early in the morning. The sea was calm and the sun was shining. The ship was surrounded by ice bergs glistening in the bright sunshine. The peaks of Antarctica were visible ahead of us....
Sailing south from The Auckland Islands we were heading to one of the jewels of the Subantarctic Islands: Macquarie Island. Australia’s Macquarie Island is home to a wealth of wildlife which is now flourishing since the eradication of induced species like rabbits,...
Sailing south from The Auckland Islands we were heading to one of the jewels of the Sub Antarctic Islands: Macquarie Island. Australia’s Macquarie Island is home to a wealth of wildlife which is now flourishing since the eradication of induced species like rabbits,...
We had sailed from Bluff on the south coast of New Zealand’s South Island heading towards the Subantarctic Islands. Enderby Island is one of the northerly islands of the Auckland Islands. This archipelago was formed from two volcanoes and the remains of the calderas...
We had sailed from Bluff on the south coast of New Zealand’s South Island heading towards the Sub Antarctic Islands. Enderby Island is one of the northerly islands of the Auckland Islands. This archipelago was formed from two volcanoes and the remains of the calderas...
The Antarctic Petrel is often gregarious and will form large flocks. They are often seen near the pack ice and icebergs. They have a wing span of abut 1m and weigh 675g. Performs distinctive stiff winged glides.
Gibson’s Albatross weigh up to 11kg and a wing span approaching 3m. There is a huge scientific debate about the genetic relationships between all the Great Albatrosses. In any case they are very difficult to identify!!
These birds have a wig span of 3-3.5m and weigh in at a impressive 6-10kg. They stand 1-1.2m tall. Whilst Enderby Island has a small breeding population, it is Campbell Island that has the majority of breeding pairs: perhaps up to 8600 pairs. They form life-long pair...
This unmistakable, pigeon sized bird has distinctive markings. A very manoeuvrable flyer has stiff and shallow wing beats followed by short glides. They are well known to follow ships.
The vast majority of these birds breed on the Auckland Islands but they will disperse into the Southern Ocean towards the west coast of South America. They are easily confused with the Shy Albatross and young Savin’s Albatross. It ahs a wing span of 2.2-2.5m and...
One of the small albatrosses, breeding is mostly restricted to Campbell Island but they disperse widely in the non-breeding season. They have a wing span of around 2m and weigh in at up to 3.8kg. They are very similar to the Black-browed Albatross. Remarkably little...
These stocky little birds have a wingspan of about 75-95cm and are very similar to the Lesser Snow Petrel. That feed mostly on fish, crustacea and cephalopods by surface diving, surface seizing and contact dipping. They are monogamous and form long-term pair-bonds.
Salvin’s Albatross are medium-sized albatross. They weigh in at 3.3-4.4 kg and have a wing span of about 2.5m.
With a weight of up to 5kg and a wingspan of 1.5-2m Northern Giant Petrels are albatross-sized birds. They can be either predators or scavengers. This bird can be solitary of found in small groups. It is monogamous and forms longterm pair-bonds