Monday 4 April 2016

Antarctic Cruise the last part

Leaving the Falkland Islands behind us, we were heading for our last port of call which would be Montevideo in Uruguay This would mean another two days at sea, but those two days were quite productive -  Soft-plumaged Petrel and Antlantic Petrel were noted.  Humpback Whales were seen along with two other cetaceans  which Sue found -both being quite rare! Unfortunately they were both in the same area, and I only got an image of one of them -the Long-finned Pilot Whale (I think), the other was Southern Right Whale Dolphin (seeing one of these is a 'red letter' day apparently!) and it's another one that Sue can grip me off about. It was the last we saw of the Wandering Albatross as we traveled further north but still lots of Black-browed, though,  and we started to see some Sooty Shearwaters too It was a good two days spent at sea, and on the 27th we would wake up in Montevideo

                                                               Hump Back Whale
                                                               Hump Back Whale
                                                            Long-finned Pilot Whale
                                                             Wandering Albatross

In Montevideo we had arranged to meet up with a guide we had found on birdingpal;  his name was Lionel, an Australian now living in Uruguay with his wife Silvia, who was also a very good birder. We spent about four hours with them at a little wetland site, and even had a picnic by the river. Birds were a bit sparse but we managed to see Bare-faced Ibis, Rufous-sided Crake, Wren-like Rushbird Spectacled Tyrant and Hooded Siskin, plus a lot we had seen already in Buenos Aires - but all the same, it was  a great few hours. They then took us for a quick guided tour around the city, before dropping us back at the port where we had a little look around the market before we went back to the ship for our final night.
                                                             Rufous-sided Crake
                                                              Wren-like Rushbird
                                                                    Rufous Hornero
                                                                 The Hornero's Nest

Whilst waiting for the ship to depart back to Buenos Aries my last lifer was noted - a White-necked Heron put in an appearance on one of the board walks
White-necked Heron

I thought this was an interesting sign - not one you see every day whilst out birding!! It is, of course from the Falklands - and the mines are still there, being cleared by specialist teams 

The image below is of the Southern Right Whale Dolphins we were lucky enough to see.
This smashing image was taken by Mark Hefter (New York)


This cruise was a trip of a lifetime, and if you are lucky enough to get the chance to go to Antarctica,  I would definitely recommend you take it!!
Hope you've enjoyed reading about our adventures, and as always, thanks for stopping by.

4 comments:

  1. Nice Humpback and Long -finned PW. Southern Right Whale Dolphin-Drool!! Probably the most beautiful creature on the planet!

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  2. A great set of posts mate, lots of great images and superb write up......

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