We were so fortunate with our weather. The worst was Cape Horn, but that is Cape Horn weather – another group saw it on a calm quiet day, which does happen, but is rare. I think Magellan saw it calm which is why he called the Pacific Ocean – Pacific – because it was so calm.
Anyway, we were warned that if the normal winds were blowing, then we wouldn’t stop at Magdalena Island near Puenta Arenas. Once again, luck was with us.
We had already seen penguins swimming around the boat, but to see them on land is different. These are the Magellanic Penguins, not to big, but like all penguins – so cute!
It isn’t a huge colony, like in Antarctica, but a very healthy thriving one. With a light house of course. Don’t want ships crashing here.
One standing outside his burrow. Or maybe it’s a she, I don’t know.
How’s this for lovebirds?? We were told that penguins aren’t monogamous. Each year they will return to their burrow, if both return, they will mate again. If the female doesn’t come back, a new female will inspect the home and if she finds it satisfactory, she will move in. If the male hasn’t maintained the burrow, then the female will look elsewhere.
It takes three years for the juveniles to mature. When they do, they molt, all those soft feathers come off and then there is that sleek look.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu-QJQlHWGS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
I’m sorry this only embeds as a link! I need to learn more about wordpress, I was trying to embed the video of the marching penguin, and it is only a like. so please, take a look it is fun to see.
March of the penguins! Their knees are inside their bellies, which is why they waddle. They are really formed for spending most of their life in the water.
This is where they are headed, well, next to the obnoxious gulls.
There were plenty of gulls and some other bird. They co-exist as well as steal eggs. The cycle of life.
I keep, mentioning how much I love my Sony A7III. I wasn’t that close to the penguin, this is after a big crop of the image. And yet, the detail! You can see how the feathers are, trapping oil and air, which makes them buoyant as well as keeps them warm. The eyes are suited for being under water, so they rarely open them on land, the light is too bright.
Ok, so he sort of winked at me.
Oh, you’re taking my picture? Let me pose and puff out my chest!
All by myself….
Yeah, me too. I love the texture of the feathers, also, the shape of the wing. Can’t fly but sure can swim very well.
Along with penguins we saw a lot of orange breasted tourists…
Here we are, waiting for the zodiac to go back on board for the last time. One of the most important items I brought on this trip was waterproof pants. I had a pair of water resistant ones. At the last minute I went to REI and bought waterproof ones. Smart move, although they weren’t cheap, it would have been more expensive to buy them on board. Many people had to do that. The zodiacs were wet, without waterproof pants I would have frozen otherwise. Even with all that gear – I was soaked and freezing on Cape Horn, but everywhere else, all the gear kept me nice and warm, not and easy thing for me.
I promised other birds, sure this is just a gull, flying over Ushuaia.
Grey goose, the southern counterpart to the Canada Goose.
Look at me!! From much later in the trip, back in the tropics. Some kind of Jay. We had a few birders in the group, but I can’t remember the name. To be honest, I don’t care to, sometimes just seeing the birds was enough without knowing all the details.
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Leah