This evening I found 4 Pectoral Sandpipers on one of the last remnants of fresh water on Cape Pembroke peninsula. As no Pectoral Sandpipers have been seen on Cape Pembroke for over three weeks it is very hard to tell whether they are new birds or some of the Pectoral Sandpipers that were roaming around Cape Pembroke in the later part of last year.

This afternoon I went out to the south coast to where the waste products from the abattoir. They have just started their season so I was hoping that Giant Petrel numbers would be starting to build up. I estimate that there are already about 300 birds hanging around & feeding on the waste. They were mainly Southern but I did see at least 6 different Northern Giant Petrels.

Above and below are 2 of the Northern Giant Petrels that were seen today.

Later into the production season Giant Petrel numbers can increase to over a 1000 birds.

Yesterday after work I went down to Cape Pembroke lighthouse to meet up with a visiting birder called Trevor Williams for a bit of a seawatch. There were thousands of Sooty Shearwaters coming up from the south with large numbers of Black Browed Albatrosses. We had a couple of White Chinned Petrels before I picked up the first lifer for Trevor in the form of an adult Northern Giant Petrel, soon after I picked up his second lifer of the evening in the form of a Great Shearwater. We had another Northern Giant Petrel and 4+ more Great Shearwaters before I had to return to work.

On the rocky beach at the point I saw the below odd looking Magellanic Penguin.

This morning I had to give Customs clearance to a fishing vessel that was calling into Stanley to get its fishing licence from the Falkland Islands Government. I noticed that it had a Bay Winged Cowbird in a cage on the bridge, I asked the captain about the bird and he told me that it had flown into the bridge while they were steaming towards the Falklands about 24 hours out of Montevideo, Uruguay. They had an old canary cage onboard so decided to keep it rather than watch it go to a watery grave.

Straight after work this afternoon I went to Gypsy Cove for a look around. On Yorke bay beach there was an adult moulting King Penguin. On the slope at Gypsy Cove there were quite a few pairs of Magellanic Penguins with two chicks.

In the gorse there were a few fledgling Black Chinned Siskin, they seemed to have had a good breeding season as I saw two pairs with 3 fledglings each.

I went down to Cape Pembroke lighthouse this evening for a bit of a seawatch and to see if anything else was about. At sea there were large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters coming around the point from the south, I also saw 7 Great Shearwaters but they were all moving from the north. Also seen were Black Browed Albatross, Southern Giant Petrel & White Chinned Petrel. Along the beaches at the point there were a few birds about including Dark Faced Ground Tyrant, Long Tailed Meadowlark, Tussucbird, Grass Wren & a pair Falkland Thrushes feeding three large chicks in a nest.

On the way back home I came across a juvenile Peregrine Falcon with a fresh kill (Prion Sp) that it would have caught far out at sea.

There have been a few King Penguins around the Stanley area in the last few day so this evening I went out to see if I could see any. There was no sign of the one that was near the Lady Elizabeth but the one at Moody Brook was still about.

Straight after work today I headed down to Cape Pembroke lighthouse to have another look at the Yellow Winged Blackbird that I had found yesterday evening. I relocated it in much the same area as it was yesterday, I settled down to have a good look at this new bird for the Falkland Islands.

After about 10 minutes I saw a swallow hawking over the Tussac grass at the end of the point and was really pleased to see it was a Cliff Swallow another very rare vagrant to the Falkland Islands.

I went down to Cape Pembroke lighthouse this evening to have a look around and do a bit of a seawatch. I was walking along the north side when I saw a small dark bird fly up and over to the south side. I did not see it for very long but my initial thoughts were that it was certainly something unusual and possible a Cowbird species. I could not relocate it on the south side which was very exposed to the wind and so I made my way back over to the north side where I saw the bird again briefly before I had a good view of it in flight and could see that it was a Yellow Winged Blackbird. This is the first record of Yellow Winged Blackbird in the Falkland Islands. It eventually settled down and I managed to get some images.

This morning I set off at 4am to head towards the frying pan on the MPA road in the hope of seeing a Chilean Flamingo that had been report on one of the ponds to the north of the road. After walking 2 miles over very rough ground to completely the wrong pond I finally saw it in the correct location. It has been 16 years since I last saw a Chilean Flamingo in the Falkland Islands that bird was on Pebble Island. There have been several records since that bird but never in a place where I have had the opportunity to see them. What a great start to 2012.