I have had over the years some fantastic sea watches off Cape Pembroke lighthouse but this afternoon I had a once in a life time sea watch. When I got to the point there were massive flocks of birds feeding just off the rocks.

They were mainly Black Browed Albatross with King Cormorants & Kelp Gulls mixed in amongst them. In one of the flocks of Albatross there was an adult Grey Headed Albatross, I saw this or another Grey Headed Albatross a bit later flying to the South.

There was 100’s of Great Shearwaters coming around the point and heading south with 1000’s of Sooty Shearwaters and a few White Chinned Petrel heading in the opposite direction.

Other star birds seem were 2 Southern Royal Albatross, 1 Atlantic Petrel & 3 Soft Plumaged Petrels all heading south. Other seabirds seen were Cape Petrel, Southern Giant Petrel, Northern Giant Petrel, Falkland Skua, South American Tern, Brown Hooded Gull, Magellanic, Rockhopper & Gentoo Penguin.

The Black faced Ibis is still showing very well at various locations around Stanley, I have received lots of calls about the bird and appreciate every call. This must be the most watched vagrant bird ever in the Falkland Islands.

This evening I got a call from Bill & Lilian Kidd to tell me that they had a dove in their garden, I arrived and was soon watching the same Eared Dove that I saw last Thursday.

Many thanks to Bill & Lilian for the call and allowing me to go into their garden to see the bird.

Came across the below young Southern Elephant Seal this afternoon playing in a shallow pool at Cape Pembroke lighthouse. I was photographing a juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron when it came right up to me.

I got a call from Jerome Poncet the Head Gardener at Government House this afternoon telling me that there was a Dove sp on the long driveway. I went there straight after work and met up with Sonia Felton and was soon watching an Eared Dove feeding on seeds on the tarmac drive. It was incredible confiding and allowed me to approach quite close for some images.

Many thanks to Jerome & Sonia for the calls

Today while I was out birding I came across this family of Falkland Steamer Ducks. The Falkland Steamer Duck is one of only two known Falkland endemics, the other being Cobb’s Wren.

The Black faced Ibis is still showing well in the middle of Stanley on Ross Road west.

I went out to Cape Pembroke for a bit of a seawatch yesterday after work, when I got to the lighthouse there were thousands of Sooty Shearwaters passing very close to the rocks just off the point. In amongst the Sooty’s there were a few Great Shearwaters & White Chinned Petrel a single Prion sp. The below image gives some idea of the numbers involved.

This evening I finally caught up with a Black Faced Ibis that has been seen right in the middle of Stanley and Moody Brook over the last couple of days. It was very near my house when I got a call from Nick Bonner this evening. I went down and took some pictures of this incredibly confiding individual.

I went out to Kidney Island after work this afternoon for a few hours. On the beach there were about 20 Southern Sea Lions including a couple of large bulls. Over on the north coast there was a single Macaroni Penguin with a Rockhopper mate they were feeding a single hybrid chick.

The Rockhopper Penguins seemed to have had quite a good year looking at the amount of chicks that were in the colony.

On the way back in we passed thousands of Sooty Shearwaters gathering offshore, before returning to their nest burrows after dark. In amongst the Sooty Shearwaters there were at least 10 Great Shearwaters.