24 February 2022 – Thursday – New Island, West Falklands

Anne Kolker	5:36 AM (2 hours ago)
to me

New Island is in the western Falklands. It is owned by a preservation trust. In the morning we hiked through a grassy path to visit two colonies that live along cliffs at one edge of the island. There were some adorable rockhopper penguins interspersed in the albatross colony on one cliff side. Another cliff had a large colony of rock hoppers that were more difficult to visit.

The albatross chicks are all sitting patiently on a mud and grass dried nest waiting for a parent to return to feed them. The penguins seem to be jumping up the rocks to visit.
Caracara birds swoop above along with the returning albatross parents.

Nancy was sitting and watching a baby albatross when a parent swooped down to feed the chick. Nancy got a whack on the shoulder as the big bird came down. She then continued to video the baby being fed. It is a wonderful video but too long to post.  It was quite cold and windy at the cliffs. Apparently albatross prefer windy spots.

We returned to the ship for lunch. It was supposed yo be an outdoor barbecue but the windy misty weather forced the party to be indoors. It was a typical Argentine barbecue with beef, pork, fish, vegetables, and rice. We also had some very delicious Argentinian beer.

Our afternoon adventure was a 5 mile hike across  a big stretch of the island. We were told that after we were dropped off, the ship would move to another cove to meet us. As we came above the first ridge we saw the ship moving along. It looked at first like we might have a fairly short hike, but then the ship disappeared around to a different bay. It was a long hilly trip. We encountered a truck that was traveling slowly across some rugged road ruts. There was even one road sign. Road repair was done with local rocks.  As we finally descended, we crossed a peat bog that was spongy and difficult walking. The boat and RIBS were a welcome sight. These areas are very unspoiled and remote. They are well suited to the many birds that inhabit the rocks, cliffs and burrows.