14th December
It's grey and wet outside so I'm sat in
drinking mug after mug of tea. It's almost like being back on Bird
Island. No, I can't fool myself. I'm finally back home after over two
weeks of travel.
My final day in Stanley was terrific.
After a morning stroll into town the weather cleared up and I headed
out for a walk toward Gypsy Cove. As I headed toward the coast it got
warmer and sunnier, until I was more worried about getting burnt than
rained on.
 |
| The Lady Elizabeth, still fairly intact but kinda rusty. |
Heading round past a variety of wrecks,
some historic some not so much, I crossed over a headland and saw the
vast expanses of white sand. Delightful as it looks though it's all
out of bounds. Although it has been cleared of mines there remains a
danger that those on the beach could have been washed out and could
return at any time. The little bay at Gypsy Cove looked beautiful,
with pristine beach and amazing sea, but I was quite happy with the
lack of access as it enabled a group of Magellanic Penguins to relax
their undisturbed.
 |
| The stunning Gypsy Cove. |
 |
| Yeah, I probably won't be going to play in the dunes then. |
 |
| Magellanic Penguins enjoying the sun. |
With the large penguin group resting on
the sand and several joining a few Gentoos in the shallows, there
were still a few up near the path heading for their burrows where
they will be incubating eggs out of the glare of the sun. For a long
time I was the only human there and as I sat and ate my lunch of a
fresh apple and some salad (still enjoying the novelty of crunchy
green rather than soggy brown lettuce) I thought about the
differences between these penguins and the ones I've been studying.
 |
| Unlike the Gentoos and Macaronis I'm studying, the Magellanics nest in burrows. |
 |
Enjoying the shade of a burrow. I don't normally photograph birds like this (I've seen far too many photographers shoving lenses down the burrows of stressed puffins) but this one, taken with a long lens, was sat there for ages seemingly enjoying being out of the hot sun.
|
Although fairly calm today, these ones
had had to learn to deal with people and many more dangerous land
predators while the BI ones have the odd skua or geep to fear. They
duck nervously down their burrows while those in my study areas have
to barge their way into the colony past a crowd of snapping beaks.
 |
| Snipe hiding in the grass. |
 |
| Two-banded Plover. |
Heading back I felt happy that I'd seen
a few beaches and a few birds and I was looking forward to being back
home. Before that though I had a whole day of flying to get through –
a 5.30am start then a seven hour followed by a nine hour flight. This
was broken up by an hour in 'the cage' at Ascension Island. That was
great though – over 20C at night, sitting out in t-shirt and
shorts, eating an ice cream in the dark. I was tempted to try and leg
it off into the night and try and stay there awhile.
Eventually we got back to the UK.
Under-slept and over-full of cheese toasties I was met by my parents
and driven home for a cup of tea in the grey and wet north west. It's
nice to be back and I'm trying not to think of all the excitement I'm
missing on Bird Island.
 |
| This is something I've not had on Bird Island - crunchy, fresh veg and bursting cherry tomatoes. |
Jerry.
