Crossing the Drake Passage.

 

Day 1:

Finally, the 14^th March arrived! The big day, when we board our ship the Hondius to take us to the Antarctic! Up early in the hotel & packing! With all our stuff, this takes some time.

Then we drove into town & birded the nature reserve close to the port. It was an overcast & thoroughly miserable morning, as it was raining heavily, which later turned to sleet. We got soaked!

 

However, the birding was quite good. Both Upland & Kelp Geese were present, as were 95 Crested Duck;  24 Red Shoveler; 4 Chiloe Wigeon; 25 Yellow-billed Pintail; 28 Yellow-billed teal; 75 Southern Lapwing; 105 Brown-hooded Gull; 90 Dolphin Gull; 6 Kelp Gull; 1 Southern Giant Petrel; 7 Imperial Cormorant; 1 Ringed Kingfisher & 2 Dark-faced Ground-Tyrants.

 

We then dropped the rental car off at the airport & caught a taxi back into town to board the ship at 4pm. Our cabin was nice & well equipped, so once more unpacking, this time we wouldn’t have to pack again for 45 more nights! Hurrah! Then mandatory briefings, so it was late when we could do birding on deck & the weather was poor.

 

As we sailed down the Beagle Channel we saw around 180 Black-browed Albatross; 70+ Southern Giant Petrel; 2 Northern Giant Petrel; 290 Sooty Shearwater; 45 Chilean Skua. Best of all was a Fuegian Wilson’s Storm Petrel, just before dark which was new for me.

 

Both Delana & I had a fitful first night’s sleep. It always takes a while to get used to sleeping on a ship, particularly when we hit the open ocean just before midnight!

 

Day 2:

 

I was up on deck early on 15^th March. Delana felt a little lethargic, so didn’t join me. 3 Wandering Albatross ; 1 Black-browed & a Grey-headed Albatross were noted. Another Fuegian Wilson’s was briefly seen, as was at least 33 Soft-plumaged Petrels. Later in the morning I saw 2 more Wandering & 5 Black-browed Albatross; the first Black-bellied Storm Petrel; a Southern Fulmar & at least 40+ Soft-plumaged Petrels. Prions started to appear but too far for specific identification.

 

Delana wasn’t feeling too well, so I went out on deck late afternoon: 1 Grey-headed Albatross; 10 Black-browed Albatross; 4 Southern Giant Petrel; 50+ Soft-plumaged Petrel; 1 White-chinned Petrel; 2 Common Diving Petrel; 5 Slender-billed prion & 60+ Prion sp. Probably all Slender-billed.

 

Delana was feeling a little better in the evening, so we enjoyed a nice dinner, followed by a movie. Tomorrow is another sea day, as we head relentlessly south towards our ice bound destination.

 

Day 3:

 

A pre-breakfast sea-watch produced both Grey-headed & Black-browed Albatrosses; 9 Black-bellied Storm-Petrels; a surprising Sooty Shearwater & 2 Common Diving Petrels. Later on in the morning produced 4 Kerguelen Petrels; 9 Soft-Plumaged Petrels; a Slender-billed Prion & Wilson’s Storm Petrel.

 

As we got closer to Elephant Island the diversity increased & we saw our first Chinstrap Penguins; Light-mantled Sooty Albatross; 2 Grey-headed & 4 Black-browed Albatross; 3 Southern & a Northern Giant Petrel; 2 White-chinned petrel;5 Southern Fulmar; 2 Cape Petrel; 6 Kerguelen Petrel; 16 Soft-Plumaged Petrel; 4 Slender-billed Prion & 15 Antarctic Prion. 3 Wilson’s & 11 Black-bellied Storm Petrels + a Subantarctic Skua, which will probably be the first of many.