Went and spent some time this morning watching and photographing the Two Banded Plover flock that is at Stanley airport, again there were 6 White Rumped Sandpipers in amongst the flock.

Part of the flock that has the White Rumped Sandpipers in

One of the six White Rumped Sandpiper

Colour ringed adult female

Went birding around the local sites this morning in bright sunshine with no wind, started at Gypsy Cove where there were plenty of birds on show including Black Chinned Siskin, Dark Faced Ground Tyrant, Falkland Thrush & Grass Wren

On Yorke Bay pond there were 7 Silver Teal, 4 Speckled Teal, a pair of White Tufted Grebe and a single male Chiloe Wigeon.

Then down to Cape Pembroke lighthouse where there were very few birds about apart from a couple Tussucbirds, a large group of Gentoo Penguins offshore and a couple of Black Crowned Night Heron. On the way back from Cape Penbroke came across a very late Cattle Egret.

Around Stanley airport the Two Banded Plover flock has increased to about 150 birds with 3 White Rumped Sandpiper still present. Quite a few Black Throated Finches feeding on seeds in amongst the stones.

At the back of Surf Bay beach a group of Turkey Vultures were feeding on a dead Upland Goose the group included a tagged bird.

Took the below image today of a young Red Backed Hawk, it allowed me to sit within 3m of it.

Got a call this afternoon from a friend to say that he had seen a young Black Browed Albatross on some heath land some distance from the sea.

I went out and collected the bird and released it on the beach near Stanley, it looked in good condition apart from a slightly drooped wing. When released it swam strongly out to sea as there was no wind to aid takeoff.

Spent the day birding with visiting Royal Navy birder Steve Copsey, after some heavy snow overnight and heavy snow showers in the morning things did not look promising for a good day.

We started off at Gypsy Cove where we had a couple of Black Chinned Siskins, Long Tailed Meadowlark and a juvenile Red Backed Hawk. We then headed for Cape Pembroke as the sun was now shining in between snow showers, on the way saw a male Red Backed Hawk feeding on a Black Throated Finch.

At Cape Pembroke there were lots of birds on show including several Tussacbirds, Dark Faced Ground Tyrant, Grass Wren, Falkland Thrush, Black Crowned Night Heron, Snowy Sheathbill. At sea large numbers of Antarctic Fulmars were flying past the point along with a single Sooty Shearwater and a couple of Rockhopper Penguins on the sea being harassed by Kelp Gulls.

On the beach on the south side we found a small flock of Rufous Chested Dotterels along with Magellanic Oystercatcher, Falkland Steamer Duck, Patagonian Crested Duck and a few more Tussacbirds.

At Penguin walk we saw Ruddy Headed Goose and very large flock of 300+ Black Throated Finch. Then onto Stanley Harbour where we added Blackish Oystercatcher & Two Banded Plover to the day list.

After some lunch we headed back to East Cove to drop off Steve to his ship stopping on the way to see if the Cinnamon Teal was still there, unfortunately there was no sign of it but still plenty to see on the pond including 77 Black Necked Swans and a flock of 20 White Tufted Grebes along with Speckled & Silver Teals, Chiloe Wigeon, Yellow Billed Pintail, Silvery Grebe & Falkland Pipit

At East Cove we found a superb dark phased male Red Backed Hawk on one of the telephone poles.

We saw a total of 37 species for the day.

Went down to East Cove this afternoon to pick up Royal Navy birder Steve Copsey, on the way back to Stanley we decided to check out a couple of the ponds on the East Cove Road.

On one on the unnamed ponds we could see a large number of Black Necked Swans, so we decided to have a walk around to the far side to check out numbers.

After about twenty minutes of walking Steve found the below male Cinnamon Teal, a bird that he had failed to see when stationed here for six months back in 2006.

Other birds on the pond included Speckled Teal, Chiloe Wigeon, 35 Yellow Billed Pintail, 15+ Silver Teal, 50+ Black Necked Swans & 10+ White Tufted Grebe.

The below pictures were taken by Steve Copsey in a severe south westerly blizzard and are dedicated to Mark “Flasher” Cutts who also failed to connect with this species when stationed here.

Went down to Cape Pembroke this afternoon for a couple of hours birding, not much around due to the strong South Westerly winds with heavy hale showers.

At the Lighthouse saw a few birds including a couple of Tussuc Birds, Long Tailed Meadow Lark, Dark Faced Ground Tyrants also offshore there were a couple of Sei Whales feeding.

On the way home came across the below Peregrine Falcon that had just finished eating a Slender Billed Prion.

The remains of a Slender Billed Prion

House Sparrows first arrived in the Falkland Island onboard whaling ships from Montevideo, Uruguay in 1919.

They can be seen in large numbers in Stanley but also in other settlement on both East & West Falklands and some of the outer Islands.

Today I found the below young White Winged Coot at Cape Dolphin on the main pond.

White Winged Coots breed in the Falklands on Saunders Island in very small numbers this could be from that population.

Many thanks to Mark Pearman for the help in the ID

Went out to Cape Dolphin today for a days birding, saw lots of good birds including 8 Southern Caracara’s and 6 different Red Backed Hawk including a nice juvenile bird.

The Gentoo Penguin colony at the Cape is just about finished their annual moult.

 Saw lots of large flocks of Rufous Chested Dotterels that look as though they are getting ready to start their migration North. 

Around the edge of the pond there were small groups of Ruddy Headed & Upland Geese. On the pond there were large numbers of Speckled Teal with small numbers of Black Necked Swan & White Tufted Grebe including a family group.

I also found a Coot species that I will do a separate post on.

Went out to Berkeley Sound this afternoon and saw lots of

Sei Whales, there were at least 15 different individuals animals.

One pod of 5 feeding animals let the launch approach very close.  

There are still a few Cattle egrets around at the moment including the below bird that I photographed in a paddock by my house.

Saw another Chilean Swallow this morning that was found by Micky Reeves yesterday evening not long after he saw the bird that I had found.

This bird was hawking insects over a beach with lots of rotten kelp.

Other birds seen this morning included 4 Tussucbirds, Peregrine Falcon, Red Backed Hawk & pair of Southern Caracara.

Found the below Chilean Swallow this evening down at Moody Brook, It was very confiding and often perched very close to me.

Chilean Swallows are regular migrants to the Falkland Island both in the Spring and Autumn in small parties but sometimes in large flocks of 30 - 50 birds, they have nested once in the Falklands in 1983.

Went down to Cape Pembroke this evening hoping to see some Pterodroma petrels as the wind is blowing 35knots from the North East.

It did not take long for the first Atlantic Petrels to show followed soon after by a second & third bird, Then a Soft Plumaged Petrel showed very close inshore followed by 2 more Atlantic Petrels.

March – May is a good time of the year to see both of these Petrels from shore if there is a good Easterly wind blowing.

Spot the Atlantic Petrel...........yes there is one in the picture

Yesterday I saw my first Cattle Egrets of the year and today saw two flocks of 5 & 7 on the outskirts of Stanley.

On the way out to Rincon Grande farm this morning saw 4 different Red Backed Hawks, I managed to get some photographs of two of them.

Intermediate phased Female                                                                   

 Dark phased Juvenile                                                  

Later on in the afternoon down at Cape Pembroke lighthouse I saw 6 Tussuc Birds the most that I have recorded at this site.

Between the 25^th – 28^th February & 2^nd 5^th March I was onboard Corinthian ll as the local guide for the Falklands part of there cruises.

During the visit they called at New Island, West Point Island, Carcass Island and Saunders Island I joined them for the last 3 Islands

Below are some of the images taken during the trip.

This years fledged Dolphin Gulls              

Grass Wren & Cobb's Wren in Wild Celery                   

6 of 20+ Grass Wrens in 1 group                   

Female Falkland Steamer - Duck                 

Magellanic & Blackish Oystercatcher              

Very Pale Ruddy Headed Goose               

Moulting Magellanic Penguins          

The small King Penguin Colony on Saunders Island there are 3 pairs with chicks and 3 pairs still incubating eggs

Rockhopper just finished it's moult

Turkey Vultures on West Point Island

Adult pair of Striated Caracara

Corinthian ll anchored off Saunders Island with the greeting party ready onshore

A small part of the Black Browed Albatross colony on Saunders Island.

Southern Elephant Seal & Souther Sea -Lion on the beach at Carcass Island

1 of 10+ Sei Whale seen between Carcass Island & West Point Island

On Carcass Island on 2^nd March while I was waiting to cross over to West Point Island to board MV  Corinthian ll to be the local guide, I found the below White Crested Elaenia.

White Crested Elaenia are rare vagrants to the Falkland Islands but a large number (15+) arrived at Carcass, West Point & New Island around April last year.

I also saw a White Crested Elaenia on Carcass Island last November that had been seen regularly since the arrival last year.

I would be very interested to know the age of this bird, I suspect that it is a first year bird but can anybody confirm?

I was at Carcass Island on 25^th February home to a large population of Cobb’s Wrens.

There seemed to be a lot of birds with white feathering in their plumage below are 3 of the 7 birds that I noted this in

A normal plumaged bird

A bird with a small amount of white feathers under the bill

A bird with a white central tail feather and greater covert feather also white feathering around the face.

A bird with 2 white primaries and single tertial feather also white feathering around face.

I had a call from one of the local shipping agency’s the other day to say that there was a bird on one of their cruise ships that was heading to the Falkland Islands.

It had flown into the superstructure and had been picked up by a passenger and taken to the ships Doctor where they cared for it and put it into a made up cage.

Well today the Star Princess turned up with its feathered passenger and it turned out to be a Ringed Warbling – Finch Poospiza torquata it remained on the vessel and will be released at the next port which is Ushuaia, a long way out of its range but a better option than releasing it in the Falkland Islands

Saw a total of 10 Hudsonian Godwits today on the rocky beach at Kelp Point.

9 of the birds were still in winter plumage but 1 bird had started its moult into breeding plumage.

Today at the beach at Pleasant Roads we could see large numbers of Southern Giant Petrels on the sea and also on the beach obviously feeding on some thing that had been washed up on the beach.

When we got near we could see that it was a small whale species that they and Kelp Gulls were feeding on. Most of the whale was covered in sand so we dug the tail out and put a rope around it and towed the whale to the back of the beach so it was not completly covered in the next couple of days. 

It turned out to be an Andrew's Beaked Whale.

Also seen feeding on it was a tagged Turkey Vulture number 12

It is about 4m long and the tooth is 20cm from the tip of the beak, we will be going back to take more measurements in the next few days as well as material for DNA analysis.

Below are some of the picture I took if anybody has any idea or known someone who might know what species it could be could you please email me. (Now ID as a Andrew's Beaked Whale, thanks for the many emails)

Went to check on the Coscoroba Swans today at Pleasant Roads Pond and Kelp Point Pond. Saw a total of 13 adult birds and 11 cygnets

On Pleasant Roads Pond there were 9 adult birds but no sign of any cygnets.

On Kelp Point Pond there was a single pair and on the sea by the pond there was the pair with 11 cygnets, their 6 plus the stolen 5 from the other breeding pair.

Adult pair with their 6 cygnets.

The stolen 5 larger cygnets are now flying.

Today I had a call from the local vets to say that they had been handed a bird that they believed to be a Diving Petrel, I went around to find that it was a Georgian Diving Petrel only the fourth record for the Falkland Islands, two of which were found dead.

Below are some shots that I took at my home before it was released at dusk down by the open ocean.

Shot showing sky blue legs and feet.

Above shot showing white tipped scapulars and secondaires which are diagnostic features of this species

Close up shot showing white tipped scapulars and secondaires.

Went down to the bottom of Stanley Harbour this morning to have a look at the King Penguin that has been on the rocky beach to find that it has been joined by a second bird overnight.

The second bird is slightly smaller than the first

The below King Penguin has turned up at the bottom of Stanley Harbour very near my house.

It looks like it is just starting a moult so will be around for a while.

Spent some time this evening at Yorke Bay pond with the family of White Tufted Grebe, they are very tame now and come up very close to me to see what I am doing.

I watched the adult birds collecting grubs and small moths from the bank of the pond and feeding them to their chick.

The chick is growing very fast and its head pattern has changed a lot over the last 10 days

Saw a total of 10 Hudsonian Godwits today at Whale Point in two flocks.

First group 

Second group

Went out to Kelp Point area this morning to kick off the new years birding.

The pair of Coscoroba Swans that failed earlier in the spring on Pleasant Roads pond have got 5 very young cygnets. This is the third pair to breed this year in the Falkland Islands and only the sixth time ever in the Falkland Islands.

Other birds on the pond were Yellow Billed Pintail, Flying Steamer Duck, White Tufted Grebe, Silvery Grebe and Black Necked Swan.

On Kelp Point Pond there were 5 adult Coscoroba Swans but not sign of any cygnets, also lots of Chiloe Wigeon with young and Speckled Teal.

I found another pair of Coscoroba Swans on the beach with all 11 cygnets; they seem to have stolen the cygnets from the other breeding pair and are raising them as their own.

Lots of Falkland Steamer Ducks with young about also a few Patagonian Crested Ducks.

On the green by the pond a Falkland Skua is sitting on an egg.

I saw a total of 44 species of birds today including 10 Hudsonian Godwits (Separate entry)

I also saw today Southern Elephant Seal including several tagged animals, 1 large bull Southern Sea-Lion, Peale’s Dolphin, Commerson’s Dolphin & Queen of Falkland Fritillary.

Went to Yorke Bay pond this afternoon for the first time for some time and was very pleased to see that the pair of White Tufted Grebe do have a chick.

Adult with young on its back

I spent a lot of time watching the adults birds diving and bringing the chick back small larvae.