Sunday, January 25, 2009 - Magellanic Penguins, Magdalena Island, Chile

This group of very determined Magellanic Penguin individuals arrive to their breeding grounds at Magdalena Island, in the Straits of Magellan, southern Chile. After been extensively offshore in pursuit of schooling fish ans squid, they come ashore in order to feed their almost full-grown chicks. During January the activity is simply hectic at this colony, which seemigly is increasing in the last decade. There are preliminary census of nearly 70,000 breeding pairs at this locality, one of the most important sites for the species in Chile. © Photo taken on January 18, 2009 by Claudio F. Vidal, Fantástico Sur Expeditions.