So... many... penguins. And so... many... penguin pictures to go through!
The Idiots apologize that these episodes are so slow in coming. Life is full and they want to do a good job of presenting the stories and photographs. So... for example... for this episode – they took more than 400 photos in an hour on Martillo Island – and no one needs to sit through 400 penguin photos!
So... one more time, they hope late is better than never!
Earlier episodes included three aborted attempts to visit the penguin rookery on Isla Magdalena from Punta Arenas, Chile - including actually getting to the island on the third attempt and not being able to land or take pictures from the boat.
In one of the Valentine's episodes they posted an appetizer... a few words and 10 pictures of their day-long excursion from Ushuaia, Argentina to Martillo Island in the Drake Passage... The Idiots hope readers will enjoy seeing a few more.
The first thing that strikes a visitor is the shear number of penguins. There are tens of thousands of the smaller Magellanic penguins and a smaller colony of the mid-sized gentoo penguins. The gentoos can be identified by their bright yellow bills and feet.
Today's cameras are amazing. A little point-and-shoot camera captures so much... at such a distance. It was fun to go through and find interesting little details... like a swimming penguin with seaweed in his mouth – over 100 yards away!
They are on the beaches... they are on the hills, where the burrows are. They are everywhere! Visitors are theoretically never closer than 10 yards to the birds, but birds don't care what the signs say and sometimes following the marked trails requires slipping around a group of penguins just a few feet away.
The penguins demonstrate as little interest in visitors as the kids have in the chaperones at a high school dance. They are clearly aware that people are there – and they just don't care!
A trio of chicks - faces only a mother could love!
It is hard to ever redirect one's attention from the birds. It is almost surreal, entering their world for an hour. But if one looks up, the setting is stunning - a windswept island in the stormy Darwin Channel with the southernmost peaks of the Andes forming the backdrop.
So what do penguins do all day? Well... standing around seems to be the primary activity. There is some swimming and feeding going on – but mostly standing... or sometimes moving around seemingly aimlessly to other spots to stand around.
The Magellanic penguins build nests in burrows, protected from the wind. They return to the island from their winter migration in September and October. They lay two eggs that hatch in October after 40 days of brooding. The penguins in the pictures that are more brown than black are the 2018 hatchlings – almost all grown up and getting mature plumage for the swim north. Though they are no longer nesting, the burrows are still used. They line them with soft grasses and feathers.
Log-standing seems popular among the gentoos. They even seem to wait patiently for a turn standing on the good spot! In fact, even one of the logs has decided to look like a penguin.
Yoga seems popular...
Opera and Water Ballet are also popular.
More avian recreation...
Penguins are not the only birds on the island. The black-faced ibis...
The Idiots kept watching the whole trip to see the giant Andean Condor. The result was lots of these distant telephoto shots – of turkey vultures.
In the water, penguins are prey to seals, sea lions, and orca. But on Martillo, they are safe on the land – except...
The same preserve that protects the penguins from human encroachment also protects a Chilean skua rookery. Skua are gangsters. They large and heavy-bodied – and aggressive. They are voracious predators. They cannot attack a full-grown penguin, but they prey on the penguin chicks and eggs. Their heavy, hooked beak can pierce, break, and rend. Pretty bird... and an essential player in the “circle of life.”
It is amazing to be close enough to see to see details... like the feathers and webbed feet that allow these birds to swim in artic waters...
Two happy campers at the end of the earth!
