South Georgia Update

Antarctica's "Kids"
…and a South Georgia Rare Bird Alert!
 
by Dewi Edwards
    

Another month has flown by, and with so much happening, it's difficult to know where to begin. Fur seal pups were being born on the beaches during the first week of December. On one of my walks I came upon a pup of 3 - 4 days old which had become entangled in some discarded wire. The breeding bulls are very teritorial and will charge aggresively if disturbed, so I had to be wary whilst I untangled the pup and set it free. Its mother also charged, but being smaller than the males, she was less of a problem and soon settled down to suckle her pup as I backed away.

Several 'white' fur seals have been seen in the area. These individuals are not albinos, but an uncommon colour phase to the norm. Around 1 in 700 pups are born this way and their colour is a stunning creamy yellow with chocolate brown fur on their fore flippers. There are also good numbers of immature fur seals in the bay and these are great fun to observe as they chase each other through the water, porpoising along at high speed or playing 'king of the castle' on one of the many offshore rocks. These younger animals are invariably bulls and will often charge out of the water at you in an apparent act of bravado on their part. If you run away, they will chase you eagerly, but if you stand your ground, they stop and pretend that you are no longer there by looking the other way or scratching an itch with their claws as if nothing had happened!

A visiting tourist ship, the Endeavour, called in mid month and offered to take us out on a day trip to Fortuna Bay and Stromness Whaling Station. They were going to hike the final leg of Sir Ernest Shackleton's epic journey across South Georgia and this gave us the opportunity to get away from the base for a day for a change of scenery. Once on board the ship, I was offered the chance to go ashore near to the King Penguin colony on the opposite side of the bay to the start of the hike. It meant missing out on the walk, but a chance to see some wildlife was not to be missed! We were put ashore on a sandy beach and found a pair of magnificent buck reindeer with full antlers busy feeding a hundred yards from the beach. They were very tame and allowed us to approach closely, cameras clicking! With time ashore here limited, I was unable to visit the penguin colony and had to be content with distant views through binoculars of the adults and chicks. The chicks were the same height as the adults, but heavier and in their chocolate brown coats of downy feathers and were gathered in large groups or creches. Back on the beach, small groups of adult Kings were gathered and some were bathing in one of the many streams of glacial meltwater that were flowing down to the sea. We were then witness to the harsher side of nature when a group of Giant Petrels and skuas were seen to be attacking an adult King Penguin that had injured itself. The King had a wound on its flank and the petrels were aiming for this spot with their huge beaks. The king was desperately trying to get to the safety of the sea, but was being harrassed mercilessly. At one point, one of the petrels had its whole beak inside the gaping wound. The King reached the water's edge and headed out into deeper water , closely followed by the petrels and skuas. It finally made its escape from the pursuing birds only to be taken by a bull fur seal from underneath!

A large heron flew over the bay on the 18th which I suspect to be a White-necked Heron (Cocoi Heron, Ardea cocoi), which is a South American species and a potential 'first' for South Georgia, and a Kerguelen Petrel was in the bay two days later.

Antarctic Tern chicks have now fledged and chase their parents noisily begging for food, and chicks of both Antarctic Skuas (South Polar Skuas, Stercorarius Maccormicki) and South Georgia Pintail (Yellow-billed Pintail, Anas georgica) have hatched.

On the 1st of January I spent the day birding to make a start to my year list. By midday I had notched up a grand total of 15 species, with little chance of adding anything new. After a brief stop for lunch, I headed along the coast and had stopped to take photos of a 'white' fur seal when a commotion offshore caught my attention. I looked up to see an Antarctic Skua mobbing an immature male Peregrine of the cassini race (normally found in Argentina and the Falklands)! The bird was watched for several minutes as it flew into the bay and also stooped at a passing tern before flying out of sight. It was then seen on the next three days in various parts of the bay, but has not been noted since. As far as I am aware, this is only the third record of the species for the island. Later in the evening I added Common Diving-Petrel to my list, bringing the total for the day to 17 species.

The 4th of January saw the first Light-mantled Sooty Albatross chick to hatch out and there are now six chicks over at horse head. Several immature birds have arrived and are practicing their display flights which are nowhere near as dramatic as the adults, requiring a little more practice before they achieve masterclass status!

We spent Sunday January 13 out filming for a Welsh natural history programme due out this summer. Whilst on a break, I found a third summer dolphin gull amongst the kelp gulls, feeding on a glut of dead krill that has drifted into the bay. The krill presumably die due to low salinity of seawater, but this is speculation, not fact. From the same spot, I noted a speckled teal amongst the pintails, feeding along the shoreline, giving us good comparisons between the two species. The following day a macaroni penguin made a brief appearance on the shore in front of Larsen House, and a chinstrap penguin also came ashore later in the day.

So that's about all from sunny South Georgia. I'm off South to Signy Island in the South Orkneys and keeping my fingers crossed for the first whales of this trip.

Wings Over Dutchess, January 2002

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