South Georgia Update

Elephant Seal Battles and Bird Displays
by Dewi Edwards
    

Our days here at King Edward Point (K.E.P.) revolve around work which starts at 7:00am and finishes at 6:00pm, six days a week with Sundays off to do as we like with our time. Most people use this time off to get out & about into the hills walking, skiing or, in my case, to find out what the local wildlife is doing. Our work here this season involves demolition of obsolete buildings & the refurbishment of Discovery House and Larsen House. Our main priority upon arrival was to fit a new kitchen in Larsen House prior to the arrival of the main workforce and at present we are ahead of schedule with all works due to the unseasonably mild weather over the past month and a half. We have experienced many warm & sunny days, with few days of rain, snow & high winds in between.

So, what of the wildlife? During my first week here, we were visited by an Adelie Penguin which came ashore at Grytviken, the abandoned whaling station across the bay from K.E.P. I was unable to get over to see the bird when I first heard the news and it had left by the following day. Being only the eighth record of this species for South Georgia, I was keen to see the bird. After several attempts at finding it, I finally caught up with it when it came ashore briefly a few evenings later.

On the beach in front of the base, elephant seals were pupping all month with over 60 pups on the point and many more on nearby beaches. The big bulls have been active in defending their harems and territories, with several fights between closely matched individuals lasting up to a half hour or more. Usually a hopeful bull will roar out a challenge from a few feet offshore to which the beachmaster will respond with roaring of his own. Most of these challenges end there and then as the bulls can weigh each other up by the tone or intensity of the response. If a challenger believes he has a chance to take over a territory he will come ashore to do battle. Most of the fights will only last a minute or so, but when well matched individuals meet, the fights can be bloody and violent. The bulls rear up at each other and seemingly take turns in biting lumps of skin and blubber from the opponent's neck or face before one or the other decides that enough is enough and escapes into the sea. Some of these fights carried on in the water which would turn red with blood and often the local Cape Petrels would fly over to feed on pieces of flesh that had been torn away during the battle. Following a fight, the victorious bull would roar out his warning to all other hopeful bulls in the area before returning to his harem. As the bulls can weigh over three & a half tonnes and reach up to seventeen feet in length, this is quite an impressive sight to observe.

On the avian front the first eggs were noted on the 18th October and belonged to a pair of Antarctic Terns which were nesting on a patch of scree near Gull Lake. These terns defend their nesting territories from all comers and are fearless of people, who are often driven away with repeated pecks to the top of the head!

Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses were busy all month displaying and nest building. Their displays must rank as one of the 'must see' sights of the natural world. When pairing up or rekindling pair bonding, the birds fly together in front of their chosen nesting cliffs and match each other's movements in an aerial ballet of perfect synchrony. This formation flying usually involves the nesting pair, but sometimes they may be joined by an unmated bird or the pair from an adjoining nest. They also perform displays on the nest ledges, which involve a series of head movements, preening the sides of their breast feathers, tail twisting and bowing, which are all a precursor to a beautifully haunting call where the head and beak are thrown
back in a sky call. The first eggs of this species were noted on the 4th of November with four pairs having laid at the Horse Head site.

Gentoo Penguins were also on eggs at Myviken, with up to 70 pairs noted, down in number from previous years. Their eggs are due to hatch in early December provided they do not fall prey to the local Antarctic Skua (South Polar Skua) population.

Other species busy breeding at the moment are South Georgia Pintail and Speckled Teal, the only ducks on the island. Their nests are virtually impossible to find, hidden away beneath clumps of tussock grass. The adults invariably land some distance away and creep through the undergrowth before entering the nest. Small flocks of pintail feed in the shallows, but the teal only appear singly or in pairs at this time of year. The two species are closely related and can be difficult to identify until you get your eye in, the teal being overlooked more than often.

White-chinned Petrels call from their breeding burrows on the hill behind the base at night. The old whalers called them "Shoemakers" due to their calls sounding like cobblers' sewing machines! Although chiefly nocturnal when coming ashore, several birds can be seen flying over the waves farther out in the bay.

Blue-eyed Shags are also numerous here, with many birds fishing in the bays daily or gathered in small groups on shoreline rocks to dry out and rest between feeding forays.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be offered a trip out on the Leeds Castle, a naval vessel on a routine visit to South Georgia. We sailed South from Cumberland Bay to Royal bay where we landed at Maltke harbour amongst elephant seals and King Penguins. The kings were ashore moulting in large numbers with some birds having completed their moult and looking gorgeous in their new attire. A large breeding colony could be seen in front of the impressive Ross Glacier across the bay, but unfortunately we did not land here and I had to be content with distant views through binoculars.

Also seen here were a herd of about 70 reindeer, who were very shy and headed into the hills at our approach. One female remained in the area and seemed reluctant to leave. Closer inspection revealed a newborn fawn hidden amongst the rocks! Its mother was obviously worried about our arrival so we left them in peace.

As we set off to return to the ship we were treated to a spectacular display of Lenticular clouds over the mountains and a castellated iceberg floating by. The bay was rounded perfectly with a spell of seabird watching from the deck of the ship as we sailed back to K.E.P. with Black-browed Albatrosses following in our wake, Antarctic Prions wheeling in their hundreds off the port side, rafts of White-chinned Petrels sitting on the water, Black-bellied Storm-Petrels skipping over the waves and topped off by a grey backed storm-petrel close to the ship, a rare and difficult species to see. Back at 'home', fur seal bulls are now ashore and setting up territories prior to the arrival of the cows who will be ashore to pup any day now. The majority of the pups are born during the first week of December, with early and late pups born a week either side of this time.

As I write this, a huge gathering of Giant Petrels of both Northern and Southern species are busily gorging themselves on a dead elephant seal bull less than 10 yards from my window. One bird is virtually pure white and whilst feeding has a gory hood of red blood! These birds act as the vultures of this region and their squabbling to assert dominance over the carcass can be amusing to watch as the birds posture and strut with wings outstretched and tails raised high. Antarctic Skuas and Kelp Gulls are also part of this throng with Cape Petrels and Wilson's Storm-Petrels also feeding a few yards offshore. All in all an eventful month of which I've been privileged to witness some amazing sights. I can't wait for the next one and the arrival of chicks and fur seal pups.

Wings Over Dutchess, January 2002

 

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