Lisa G Saw • February 26, 2025

Travelling to South Georgia

AT SEA ONCE MORE


With two more days at sea before we would reach South Georgia, there was ample opportunity to look for wildlife along the way and practice photographing flying birds...even the small ones! But, before we could fully focus on that, we had to prepare for reaching South Georgia in terms of biosecurity. All our outdoor clothing, including our boots and rucksacks had to be meticulously cleaned and then checked by a member of staff. South Georgia take their biosecurity very seriously and we would even have someone come aboard our ship in Grytviken to do random checks to make sure we weren't bringing ashore any seeds, dirt or bacteria etc that could potentially be harmful to their nature flora and fauna. All visitors to the island have to go through this process.


With that out of the way, we could get out on deck again and focus on the wildlife around us. We had more whale sightings. Some people were lucky enough to have some close encounters and see tail flukes as the whales dived down, but it was all a matter of timing. You had to be out on deck at just the right time and on the right side of the boat to see it. The birders were almost always out, keeping an eye open for interesting birds flying by, so it wasn't suprising they had the most luck with the whales too. However, I was pleased to see two Humpback Whales together. Their dorsal fin is a lot smaller than other whales.

We continued to see dolphins too. One time, when Bob and I were on the bow of the ship, we could see a small group of Peale's Dolphins swimming towards us. It was as if they intentionally wanted to ride alongside us. The weather was much better for a while and the water so much clearer. It was fabulous to see them just by the hull of the ship, beneath the surface. It was quite a reach over the edge to see them porposing, but I managed just this one semi-okay photo!

The birds were our constant companions on the voyage. Whilst we had some nice light, I was able to take a photo of a Blue Petrel flying past. Its grey feathers and pattern resemble a Prion more than the Petrels we'd being seeing. It was also quite a bit smaller (62-71cm). Unfortunately, the nice light didn't last, so I didn't get many other good photos of birds in flight. There were still plenty of Cape Petrels seen and another new species was added to our list with sightings of the Atlantic Petrels. Here you can see two flying by. Their average wingspan is 104cm.

All of these were new species for me and Bob, and we both enjoyed photographing them, though he stuck with it a bit longer than I did and has some cracking shots, which you can see on his blog. He particularly loves the Northern Fulmars, which he can see locally on the coast of East Sussex. I've also seen them in the Arctic, when I went on my first photographic holiday. Down south, it was the Southern Fulmars we saw. They're slightly bigger than their cousins with a wingspan of about 110-120cm, so these were another of the larger bird species we saw flying around the boat.

Bigger still were the Albatrosses and once again we had some lovely encounters. Although we were still seeing good numbers of Black-browed Albatross, they'd now become a bit passé and were no longer 'new'! Our attention was more focused on the other species we occasionally saw, including the mighty Southern Royal Albatross. At least one came quite a bit closer than previously, so I was really glad to have such better photos.

It's easier to appreciate the white leading edge of their wings in both these photos. Plus, check out that amazing wingspan! It's such an immense bird. Stunning!

We were also treated to a few other lovely sightings. The Light Mantled Sooty Albatross was a lovely dark coloured bird with a small arc of pale feathers just behind the eye. It's one of the smaller sized Albatross with a wingspan of only 2m!!! Yes, I know - not exactly small!!! I think this might have been the only one we saw at sea.

We also saw a handful of Grey-headed Albatross flying by (above) which are marginally bigger with a wingspan of 2.2m. It's another beauty, with its elegant eyes and distinct black bill that has yellow upper and lower ridges and a pink-orange tip. I think this one might have been my favourite of the Albatross species we saw. (You can see another photo at the bottom of this page with its wings outstretched.)


The weather on our journey was very changeable. Sometimes we'd experience a pocket of sunshine and other times the clouds and mist almost enveloped us and we could barely see any distance from the ship. The sea conditions were thankfully okay though, and we were allowed out on deck most of the time. On our last morning at sea it was quite murky looking and very poor light. But, we were treated to sightings of Antarctic Fur Seals sleeping in the water. They were just bobbing at the surface, seemingly holding flipper to tail. As soon as they heard the ship though, unlike the dolphins that swam towards us, they swam and porpoised away.

When we were approaching South Georgia we had our first sightings of Snow Petrels. They literally are all white. They weren't as small as the Prions, but not as large as the Fulmars, with a wingspan of about 75-95cm.

I noticed it was much colder the closer we were to South Georgia, though I don't think the temperature had dropped below freezing. When we started seeing icebergs float past the ship, there was a real sense of where we were. They were large. Larger than our vessel, and that's just considering the portion above water. I've read that 87% of its mass is below water.

Finally, South Georgia came into sight and although its peaks were consumed by the clouds, we could at least see and appreciate the dramatic coast.

At this point Bob and I were at the aft of the ship on the starboard side, admiring the coastline. Then suddenly someone shouted, 'Iceberg!', and we looked behind us. A really large amazing blue iceberg was alongside us, not too far away. It was the most stunningly beautiful iceberg I've ever seen. It's the kind I'd dreamed of laying eyes on and photographing. We rushed to the port side and started snapping away completely in awe. It was mesmerizing. Then, as the back portion glided past us we all saw a small group of Chinstrap Penguins on the top. Amazing! It was our first time seeing this species, so that in itself was special, but to see them on the iceberg was like the icing on the cake! A photographers dream shot!

We all were wondering how on earth they got up there and more importantly, how were they going to get down? I'm not sure I would have wanted to slide head first down the side of the iceberg into the water, even if I were a penguin!

Soon after this, someone said they'd spotted a King Penguin in the water. Suddenly, my eyes were scouring the ocean, trying to catch my first glimpse of yet another penguin species. It didn't take me long before I saw a few, then a few more, and sometimes even groups of them. Magical! The yellow-orange patch behind the head and orange on the bill make them quite distinct from the other species, let along their size - 85-95cm. They are the second largest species of penguin after the Emperor Penguins. As an aside, we wouldn't be seeing the Emperor Penguins on our trip as they breed in a different area of the Antarctic than where we were heading. Although there was always a chance we might see a lone one swimming around the waters nearer the Antarctic Peninsula, we never did.

Porpoising dolphins used to be one of my favourite wildlife spectacles, but now porpoising penguins has taken over.


The excitement was really building up as we sailed closer towards Salisbury Plain. It's home to the second largest King Penguin colony in South Georgia and one of the largest in the world. There are an estimated 60,000 pairs breeding at this site. As we approached land, we saw masses of them on the beach and on the snow covered hills. All the tiny black specks are penguins!

The brown ones are the chicks! They are dependent on the adults for 14 months before they're ready to leave the breeding site and fend for themselves. This means you can always see chicks at breeding sites at any time of year.

We were so close, and yet, we weren't able to land. Sadly, the conditions weren't safe for the Zodiacs to be used - the swell was too high - and we had to abandon the hope of seeing this colony up close. It was really disappointing. We had no idea if there would be another opportunity like it and even if there were, might the conditions prohibit us again? It was a very real possibility. Someone Bob knew who'd been to South Georgia the previous 'summer' season only had one landing on the island, though I believe Bird Flu was the main reason for this. As we were amongst the first people to be visiting the island at the start of the season, we were at least more optimistic that Bird Flu was not an issue for us. But the weather? That remained to be seen!

I was glad we were at least able to enjoy seeing them at a distance before we left the site.


Thankfully, we were distracted for a time, by the attentions of some Snowy Sheathbills that not only landed on the ship, but also on people's heads!

Although we couldn't land at Salisbury Plain, not all hope was lost. There was a chance we might be able to land at Fortuna Bay, just a little further along the coast. It was in a more sheltered position, so the chances were better. It would be lovely to see the King Penguins there, though the size of the colony was tiny in comparison, with a mere 4,000 breeding pairs. But, at that point, I would have been happy with whatever we saw.

I tried to remain optimistic and hopeful, as the ship sailed onwards. It stayed closer to the coast and it was lovely to be able to enjoy the stunning views of the snowy mountains and the glaciers below.

The day was slipping away and we knew we'd have limited time when we reached Fortuna Bay, even if we were able to land. Despite this, I was still very excited about what lay ahead over the next few days. Even if we couldn't land, I knew that going on Zodiac cruises was an option potentially and we'd still get to see lots. In fact, when I reflected on what we'd already seen, I was really happy. We were hopeful of seeing 7 different species of penguin on this trip and we'd already seen 6 of them by this point: Magellanic, Rockhopper, Gentoo, Macaroni, Chinstrap and King Penguins. The final species for us to see would be Adélie Penguins, however, they breed mostly in the Antarctic, so we'd have to wait longer to see them.





Next post in the series: Fortuna Bay


To see a smaller selection of my favourite photos from the holiday, click here.

By Lisa G Saw June 30, 2025
In the first part of this blog post - Swallowtails in Norfolk - I wrote about our first two days spent mostly at Strumpshaw Fen, where I successfully saw my first ever Swallowtail butterfly. Following this, we had two more days exploring the area. I still hoped I'd see more of this beautiful native species at some of the other reserves. DAY 3 The forecast for this day wasn't great, but at least dry. There wouldn't be much chance of any sunshine until the afternoon, when it would warm up a bit. So, we decided to head to Buxton Heath, on the other side of Norwich. Bob knew it was a good site for the Silver-studded Blue butterfly. It's a species we have in just two locations within Sussex - both of which we've been to. It's a species that thrives on heathland and can be found in good numbers in the right habitat if it's managed well - with grazing or periodic burning in patches. It turned out the forecast wasn't very accurate. When we arrived, it was already brightening up and our chance of finding roosting butterflies disappeared very quickly. However, it was lovely exploring somewhere new and aside from one other couple and a man working there, we didn't see anyone else for the three hours we were there. We left the car park and headed towards the northern corner of the heath first and in next to no time, Bob spotted one flying. I stopped and looked down and saw there was another right beside me. I used my bins to take a closer look and suddenly noticed there were ants crawling around it. Instantly, I knew this was something special. The butterfly had only just emerged. I quickly took some photos but was having real issues with my camera. I was so disappointed not to get any good photos. The butterfly is out of focus but the ant is sharp!!! Hmmm! Not what I was going for! This close relationship with ants occurs with a few of the blue species of butterfly, such as the Large Blue, Adonis Blue and Chalkhill Blue. It's the first time I've ever seen the ants in attendance of a new emerged butterfly, so I was thrilled at least to have seen it.
Swallowtail
By Lisa G Saw June 29, 2025
When Bob and I returned from Kent, having just seen the Heath Fritillary , we looked at the weather for the following week and we saw that it was looking very changeable every day, with cool windy and/or wet weather forecast. The Swallowtail butterfly ( Papilio machaon ) is our largest native species found in the UK and Bob informed me they won't be flying if the conditions aren't good. They like the warmth! Now was not a good time for our hot spell to be over! With only one more week of my break from teaching left, we had little choice but to arrange our visit for then, regardless of the weather. I booked some accommodation for us and we figured that if we went for more than a couple of days, we were bound to have at least one fairly decent opportunity to see the final species on my UK list that I'd not seen before. DAY 1 As usual for us, we set off fairly early in the morning since we had over a three-hour drive ahead of us. The plan was to stop at Weeting Heath Nature Reserve, just inside the Norfolk border, so we could break up the drive and enjoy some time out in nature. The main purpose was to see the Stone Curlew that breed at this site ( Burhinus oedicnemus ). They're a rare summer visitor to the UK and I'd not heard of this species before. They're not in any way related to the Curlew ( Numenius arquata ), which I have seen before - though they are also quite rare and endangered. Their name relates to their similar call. We sat in two different hides during the course of the late morning and early afternoon and for quite some time we didn't think we were going to get lucky and see the Stone Curlew - though we did see a couple of Curlews. At one point I nipped back to the car, and of course that was when Bob saw one! It was on the far side of the field we were overlooking, but where the ground dipped lower out of sight. He saw it just as I was returning to the hide. So, I quickly sat down and looked for it, but I didn't get a chance to properly see it. We decided to stay a bit longer, and so this time Bob left the hide to fetch our lunch, and that was when the Stone Curlew reappeared. It even flew a short distance, quite low, as it apparently had a nest nearby and it wasn't happy about the Rooks that were too close for comfort.  Don't hold your breath - the photo is pants! The bird was so far away and it was more of a record shot. However, I did enjoy watching it through my binoculars.
By Lisa G Saw June 22, 2025
When Bob and I returned from our Isle of Wight trip to see the Glanville Fritillary for the first time, I was eager for the next challenge - seeing the Heath Fritillary butterfly in Kent. However, the weather wasn't quite ideal and I had to sit tight for another week before there was a good opportunity for us to head over for the day. Thankfully, it was a Friday, which meant there would be fewer people around, which we both prefer as it's more peaceful. It was still very early in the flight season with only a few sightings having been posted on social media, and this meant we might have a good chance of seeing some fresh butterflies, which is always lovely when they look pristine and fresh. Thankfully, we both don't mind the early starts when there is a good reason for it and it wasn't too ridiculously early on this occasion! It took us just over two hours to reach East Blean Woods car park, after a few detours and delays. We arrived just after 9am and only a few other vehicles were parked there. It was still slightly cool and cloudy, which meant the butterflies wouldn't be too active yet. This was ideal for us, so we could take plenty of photos. When we began the walk, I felt fairly oprtimistic we'd see some during the day, but I was prepared that we might need to look at various different sites in the area. I didn't expect that within 5 minutes of leaving the car park and having only walked 50 metres, I would spot the first one of the day, roosting on a bracken fern in the cool shade of the woods. It was a lovely fresh specimen and a wonderful start to the day. Within moments of me spotting this one, Bob saw another one roosting nearby. Fabulous!
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