Falkland Islands’ Sabbatical

WILDLIFE - FAUNA



The wildlife that visitors go to see is mainly that of the penguins. There are five species resident in the Islands and they are shown here. Other creatures are the seal family and various birds. There is an abundance of wildlife and, due to the lack of human contact, they are relatively tame. Anyway, here is my gallery of the locals.

Penguins

1. King Penguins
King Penguin Colony at Volunteer Point
The King Penguins are unusual in that their breeding cycle is over a year and so chicks can be found in various stages of maturity. The brown fluffy 'Busbylike' ones are the chicks. As their down disappears, they develop the orange markings distinctive of the chocolate bars and of the breed. They are extremely inquisitive and comical and it was nothing for them to venture up to have a real close look at the watcher! I would say they are my favourites.






Adult King Penguins







                                                                                   King penguins strutting their stuff






2. Macaroni Penguins
                                                                                                                                                     Macaroni Penguins
Of the penguins in the Falklands, these are the rarest, though that is not the case worldwide.







3. Rockhopper Penguins
Rockhopper Penguins
As their name suggests, these penguins hop up rocks. They are actually able to scale seemingly impossible severe rock faces, directly out of the sea, to their cliff top nests. Their trails, over the years, have been scratched into the rocks.







4. Gentoo Penguins
Gentoo penguin and chick













                                                                                                                                                              Gentoo Penguin calling



                                                                           Newly hatched Gentoo chicks


5. Magellanic Penguins
Magellanic penguins                               Magellanic Penguins taking a dip
These penguins are also known as Jackass penguins as their call sounds like the bray of a donkey. They are also the only Falklands penguin to build their nests in burrows underground.







Some other birdlife

Young Striated Caracara
These birds are extremely tame and can be a nuisance. This particular one came within a couple of feet of me eyeing up the camera bag to see what it could take! Anything left lying around will be taken. They feed mainly on carrion and small animals.











                                                                                                                                                         Black-Crowned Night Heron
                                                                                                                                         They feed on small fish and invertebrates.













King Cormorant
Another fish feeder.













                                                                                                                                                                                             Skua
Not pleasant birds! They are numerous during the penguin breeding season keeping a watchful eye out for eggs and small chicks which they take. Being opportunists, I was nearly ‘had’ by one while eating sandwiches - and they have sharp beaks.












Kelp Goose family
A family with young chicks being led out by Mum. Dad is the all white bird. The chicks are not fed by the parents but taken to the food source - seaweed - to feed themselves.








                                                                                                                                                 Upland Goose family
This is a breed of geese specific to the Falkland Islands. They nest in dense grass and eat insects and vegetation. The male has the white head.







Dolphin Gulls on nests
I had to wade through a cold lagoon to reach an island full of breeding gulls. Ever watchful, they were surprisingly calm allowing us to go close up for these photos.




                                                                       Newly Hatched Dolphin Gull


Sea life

Seal pups
These photos were taken on Sea Lion Island which is a superb nature site. The island has a lodge for visitors with the wildlife (penguins, gulls, small wren-like birds, elephant seals, sea lions and, occasionally, a pod of killer whales) being the attraction. As there are no ground predators, such as cats or rats, the small birds are numerous.


                                                                               Seal pups play fighting


                                                                      Dead Pilot Whales
This was a sad sight. There were 85 Pilot Whale carcasses, including young. They had come ashore on Elephant Beach in the north west of East Falkland during the Christmas / New Year break and, when eventually found, were beyond help. Scientists had been to remove the stomachs from as many as they could to carry out a study on what they eat, as they apparently rarely see these creatures. It was a site of mass feasting by gulls and other carrion birds. As you can see, with me standing by them, they are quite a size.

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Copyright ©Peter Ormond 2004