Birds, birds, birds!

I realise that I’ve been absolutely awful at updating the blog recently, which I apologise for. Even though we are now in the middle of winter, I’ve been pretty busy. A fair amount of things have happened in the last month and a half. I’m going to split it up into different sections, so this isn’t just one mammoth post.

The first one is going to be about the birds on the island.

 There has been even more change with the complete departure of the Grey-headed Albatross chicks. They finished just before mid winter on the 20^th June. Compared to last year they were fledging a lot later, which meant more daily trips to the colonies. It was strange going up to colony B for the last time which overlooks Big Mac penguin colony. Both were completely empty and silent; so different from the main season when the noise of the penguins can be heard over a kilometre away, and the albatross chicks are begging for food, and the adults are chattering amongst themselves. However although I was a little sad to see the place so deserted, as least the chicks that have left the island are hopefully beginning what could be a long life roaming the oceans and returning to the same colony in a few years to breed. In around three months time the adults will be back for another few busy months of chick rearing. 

Wanderer chick practicing flapping.

The only type of albatross now left on the island is the Wandering Albatrosses. The chicks are growing rapidly in size and some look almost bigger than their parents. The chicks will end up weighing more than their parents, and will lose their baby fat just before they fledge, so they can actually get off the ground! I often see the parents returning to feed the chick hearty meals of fish and squid. They get fed on average once a week, with the two parents flying potentially thousands of miles between feedings. 

Once a month everyone on base goes out and checks on all of the chicks across the island to check for failures. The last couple of months have had very few failures, this is because the chicks are now so large that the other predators (Giant Petrels/Skuas) are too small to be able to take them on (unless they are injured or sick). The main reason for failure is if one of the parents is killed by a long line fishing boat, and the other cannot usually manage to provide enough food and the chick starves. We have one chick that this has happened to named “Tiny Tim”. Since April Tim has been much smaller than the other chicks surrounding him. I’ve been expecting to find him dead every time I visit, but somehow he keeps surviving. It’s now mid July and he is still alive and has gotten a little bigger, but is very under weight for his age. It has been known for small chicks to fledge, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that Tim is going to be one of the lucky ones, and his one remaining parent keeps doing such a good job. I’ll keep you updated with how he does. 

One of the other more notable Wanderer chicks is Scruffy chick. Whilst I was doing this month’s checks on the chicks I realised that one was missing. I found the empty nest and presumed the chick had died and been dragged off as a tasty snack for a Giant Petrel. I began searching though the tussac grass to find the body when I suddenly spotted the head, which moved! As I approached I realised that the chick seemed to be below ground level, it looked very strange. When I got to the chick all I could see was its head and a little bit of its back down a deep hole in the ground. The chick was still alive but was pretty weak, it barely had the energy to try and defend itself from me.  I dug out some of the soil that had fallen onto the chick and eventually managed to get my arm underneath the chick’s breast to try and pull it out. The chick was well and truly wedged down the hole, which was full of sticky mud and it was not giving the chick up easily. After about 15 minutes I managed to heave the chick out and lay flat on my back holding the chick, both of us exhausted from the exertion. The poor chick was soaked to the skin in mud, and seemed to have a leg injury. I don’t know how long the chick had been down the hole, but it must have been quite some time, and through its struggling it had twisted its leg in a funny angle. I wasn’t sure if the leg was broken but it didn’t look good. I put the chick back on its nest where it lay flat exhausted. It was a pretty distressing experience for both of us, but at least he wasn’t going to die half buried under ground. As soon as I left the chick I saw a Giant Petrel land next to the nest. It’s amazing how quickly they can spot weakness. 

Scruffy Wanderer chick a few days after rescue.

A few days later I went back to check on the chick with Hannah. I was fully expecting to find him dead, but miraculously the chick was still alive and trying to hide underneath some tussac. Wanderer chicks generally feel safest while sitting on the nest mound, as they can see all around them, and it was the place that they were born. This chick clearly was very scared and was trying to hide under the grass. Hannah and I made some improvements to his nest, by adding pieces of grass to the nest cup and then placed him back on top. He immediately perked up and started busily rearranging his pieces of grass so they were comfy. The injured leg looked a lot better, and he was able to sit up and put weight on it. It still doesn’t look perfect but I have a lot more hope for his future. He was waggling his tail feathers and making contented noises to himself. I’ll keep going back every week to check on him and you never know he might recover. 

Adult Wandering Albatross back to feed its chick.

On the penguin front there are only Gentoo penguins around now. Not in as big numbers as in the summer months but there are often a couple of them on the beach in front of base, and bigger numbers on the breeding beaches. Unfortunately for the penguins the Leopard seals have taken a liking to the taste of them and we’ve found a couple injured on the beach. I’ve been working on my penguin calls but I’m not very good. Sometimes I can get a response, I’ll keep working on it. 

It’s not only penguins that are becoming seal snacks, in the last week we’ve found two dead Giant Petrels that have been munched. This isn’t unknown but we definitely see less of it, there isn’t a massive amount of meat and you would have thought they’d have more chance of escape being able to fly. 

In Skua news there is now only one Skua on the island- Scratchy our adopted pet Skua. All of the rest has left for South Georgia and more food, but with his broken wing Scratchy has to remain here with us. He spends his days hanging around the kitchen door, taking copious baths in the stream (we think he has OCD) and sleeping. The rest of the Skuas probably won’t be back until September ready for the seal pups being born and a ready food supply on hand. Mmm placenta! 

Scratchy ice skating.