IN THE WAKE OF DRAKE

Don`t call me Ishmael,setting sail from Ushuaia on a sunny early evening on the adventure of a lifetime,I had two main aims,to see an albatross and to walk with penguins.It didn`t take long to see my first albatross a very smart Black Browed in the Beagle Channel.I went to bed happy.Leaving the channel and entering the notorious Drakes Passage things became more interesting as the ship began to roll with the swell and bunk sliding became a new sport.However we soon found our sea legs and appetites were undiminished as the Plancius crew fed us very well, though some ate more than others!

MY FIRST BLACK BROWED ALBATROSS

In the morning birdwatching from the after deck became the norm and we were joined by giant petrels,white chinned petrels ,cape petrels,and the first wandering albatross,a wondrous beast with a wingspan of up to 3.6m or 12 ft in old money.

GIANT PETREL there are two of these northern and southern, the colour of the bill tip is the only sure way of separating them;-reddish northern, greenish southern.

GIANT PETREL

 BLACK BROWED ALBATROSS

 WANDERING ALBATROSS

WANDERING ALBATROSS

ROYAL ALBATROSS-probably a four year old southern.?

ROYAL ALBATROSS

WANDERING ALBATROSS

BLACK BELLIED STORM PETREL

WANDERING ALBATROSS-another four year old.

CAPE PETREL

 BLUE PETREL

 BLUE PETREL

BLUE PETREL

 CAPE PETREL

GREY HEADED ALBATROSS

GREY HEADED ALBATROSS

CAPE PETRELS became more numerous as we went south with flocks of 20/30 birds following the ship earning their alternative name of cape pigeon.

BLACK BELLIED STORM PETREL

BLACK BROWED ALBATROSS

 THE FIRST WHALES

FIN WHALE

FIN WHALE showing prominent dorsal fin which gives it its name.

CAPE PETRELS  aka PINTADO kept arriving as we neared the South Shetlands.

SOUTHERN FULMAR

ANTARTIC PRION

 CHIN STRAP PENGUINS

BLUE PETREL

After two days at sea the South Shetland Islands were a welcome sight and the appropriately named SMITHS ISLAND was splendid in the early evening sunshine,tomorrow its penguins and ice berghs all the way.

SMITHS ISLAND

MORE SHADES OF GREY,BLACK AND WHITE TOO.

Thought I had better get up to date,ain`t it funny how time slips right on away.
Been out a few times despite the grim weather,Reculver,North Foreland and Pegwell with Barry Woolhouse was uneventful in the main,except for ze banter wiv Phil at Pigswill Bay.

 RECULVER STONECHAT

 FULMAR PETRELS AT NORTH FORELAND

 LAPWINGS KNOT AND A REDSHANK AT PEGWELL
The wind at a gloomy Dungeness was not conducive to standing around outside for long,but I did catch up with the Black Throated Divers and a female Goosander on New Diggings,a Great Egret on A.R.C. and a female Smew was just outside Hansons for a short time.

 GREAT WHITE EGRET

GOOSANDER

 BLACK THROATED DIVER

 BLACK THROATED DIVER

 BLACK THROATED DIVER

 RED HEAD SMEW

RED HEAD SMEW
Back to Dover and the harbour where guillemot and razorbill numbers are rising and a grey seal has joined the commoners,the first sighting on wednesday afternoon.

 GREY SEAL-note the straight muzzle and forehead.

A FLOTILLA OF AUKS-RAZORBILL is tail end charlie.
Today a grey seal popped up so I took some more pics,on inspection this was a second animal with different markings.

GREY SEAL,this one has a reddish muzzle and less mottling on the face.
Also of note today was a juvenile eider,whether it is the same bird that has come back is uncertain,but it is hanging out in the same place,so it may well be.

DISTANT JUV MALE EIDER
There now follows a series of guillemot pics,these are of a bird in summer plumage :-

You can wake up now the guillemot has gone.
To end with I can`t remember which day it was but the sun came out briefly and the Little Gull turned up again also briefly.

LITTLE GULL

And finally

A SUN BLESSED TURNSTONE. DOESN`T IT MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!