20.02.2025 - Indoor Meeting : Antarctica

Speaker: Steve Cale
Reporter: Sue Gale

In 2019 Steve Cale took a boat trip to Antarctica, very much inspired by the stories his grandfather used to tell him about the famous Antarctic explorers. In particular, the bird drawings and research of Wilson, one of the last men with Scott on the ill-fated expedition, stimulated the young Steve to study and to draw birds. The tour started in Southern Argentina, where some unexpected spare time allowed a visit to the Black Lagoon, a sewage works, where Steve saw Chilean Flamingos and rafts of Red Shoveler drakes. Silvery and White-tufted Grebes were on the lake in town. Next day they embarked from Puerto Madrid, heading for the Falkland Islands. Giant Petrels kept them company for the two days at sea, and as they neared the Falklands, Albatrosses began to appear - mainly the Black-browed Albatross at this point. Also the first of many species of Prions were seen – a group of birds many of us had never heard of but which featured large in this voyage.

​Landing on the Falklands they first saw Gentu Penguins and then also Magellanics which nest in burrows. Both
species are predated by Brown Skuas and Striated Caracaras, which are quick to pounce if birds leave their eggs
unattended for even the shortest time. There were Upland Geese all over the island and 4 species of Steamer
Duck – the Southern equivalent of Eider Ducks. Not many species of land birds are found here, the large Cobbs
Wrens standing out, and a few waders like the 2-banded Plover.
Onwards towards South Georgia, via the Shag Rocks, home to thousands of Shags and Cormorants but too
dangerous to land. Giant Petrels with their 6ft wingspan were joined by the much smaller Wilson’s Storm
Petrels – a prize when seen off the Scilly Isles. Along with more Prions they also saw the Atlantic Fur Seals and
their first icebergs. South Georgia is only some 800 metres long, but St Andrews Bay hosts the largest King
Penguin colony on earth. Amazing pictures of the thousands of brown young penguins huddled together
awaiting food and attention. They take 18 months to mature, so a long job for the parents. On the beach were
enormous Elephant Seals, the beach masters weighing around a ton, and some Antarctic Fur Seals which are
recovering after almost being wiped out by the fur trade. Macaroni Penguins nest here too, and the only
passerine found on the island, the South Georgia Pipit. There is a small museum showing the history of the
whaling industry, and also Shackleton’s grave. Here you are given a glass of whisky, half to drink and half to be
thrown on the grave ‘for the Captain’.
They headed for the Antarctic Peninsula, passing Elephant Island where Shackleton’s ship was trapped in the
ice for 18 months, and into the Weddell Sea. Here a fog bank lasted 2 days and forced them to move on to
Deception Island. The volcano here – Neptune’s Bellows - is not extinct so there was no landing, but further
down the Bransfield Strait they did take to the zodiacs. Here they found a Gentu Penguin colony and smaller
numbers of Chinstrap Penguins. Predators here include the Sheathbills, which scavenge around the colonies,
and Leopard Seals, some 12ft long! Blue-eyed Cormorants and Antarctic Petrels were seen, as far South as they
travelled. Heading North again across the Drake Passage the boat was surrounded by Blue Petrels and lots of
Prions. The latter kept Steve and others busy taking photos and identifying the different species. Also flying
often close to the boat were several species of Albatross, including Grey-headed, Sooty and Wandering
Albatrosses. The main ones were Snowy, Western and Southern, some of which breed in New Zealand. The
way to Ushuaia took them through the Beadle Channel, where there were Kelp Gulls and Chilean Skuas.
Here on the southern tip of South America the variety of bird species
increased again, and there were large colonies of Baird’s and White-rumped
Sandpipers, Ibises and Thorntails too. Throughout the talk Steve showed us

stunning photographs of these Antarctic seabirds, often in amazing close-
up. He stressed that often the birds flew really close to the ship, but even

so the level of skill to produce these images is remarkable.
Many thanks to Steve for a stimulating evening, as always.