wild colonial birds
Nov. 16th, 2007 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poletopoleArrived in Punta Arenas, to all appearances a very pleasant town, but I had signed up for an early-departing excursion and had no time after for anything but the post office...
I hurried down the pier to the bus, which turned out to be two buses. Alas that I got on the nearer of the two, without checking for an empty seat on the other. My bus left 10 minutes late, as the tour guide held up a map and began lecturing us on Patagonian political geography and history, and then, after more than an hour of driving, got stuck in a muddy dirt road seven kilometers from the penguin sanctuary.
A Patagonian hare was in the area, for a moment.
DSC_2327 222670295
After perhaps twenty minutes and an attempt by a truck working nearby to pull the bus using a frayed nylon rope with the tensile strength of dental floss, the bus was somehow freed and we continued to the penguin colony. Our visit was curtailed to about an hour.
DSC_2454 222385724
The colony, now a penguin sanctuary, is located along a soothingly silent, windswept beach; the penguins' burrows are scattered over a broad area. A few years ago there were as many as 10,000 here; the numbers plunged last year to just a few thousand but no one knows why, as none of the penguins have tracking devices. According to the guide, it is thought that local food shortages have sent them elsewhere to breed, but as no one seems to have noticed an influx of thousands of Magellanic penguins elsewhere, this may be optimistic.
The penguins are most active at early mornings and evenings; they go out to fish for about eight hours at a time and spend the balance either resting on the beach or at or in their burrows with eggs or chicks. The penguins do very little, but in a very charming way, and they do not much mind being watched from behind the fences and the viewing blind. I observed that loud voices do bother them, as they would stop and look around when they heard them, but there is no silencing some people.
DSC_2338 222298068
DSC_2345 222298278
DSC_2352 222298407
DSC_2360 222298593
DSC_2374 222381999
DSC_2398 222382379
DSC_2404 222383508
DSC_2406 222383114
DSC_2409 222383765
DSC_2424 222299192
DSC_2425 222299847
DSC_2446 222300209
DSC_2501 222300420
The impulse to anthropomorphize penguins derives from their upright stance and awkwardness on land; they seem like caricatures of humanity. It is easy to read intention into slight gestures, pauses, poses.
DSC_2512 222387571
Grooming is extremely important. When not asleep or eating, the penguin grooms, spreading oil from its glands over its feathers. The oil makes it waterproof and buoyant.
There are many small songbirds singing high thin paeans in the scrub bushes that cover the ground.
Andean negrito (Lessonia rufa rufa):
DSC_2455 222385447
DSC_2429 222384624
Names to come sometime on these. The ship has no bird book (only seabirds).
DSC_2442 222384886
DSC_2465 222386444
DSC_2515 222387840
DSC_2524 222389957
They are very busy birds; there's all the singing to get done and at some point one has to get a bite to eat and find a mate. No time to stand around being photographed, thank you, good-day!
DSC_2519 222391638
I spot several male upland geese, but don't spy the females. The males are chalk-white with a distinctive pattern of white, grey, and brown; the females are a camouflage brown color that blends in well with the grass and bushes. From buses I've seen pair after pair standing together, one on guard while the other eats, but haven't managed to get a decent photo of them.
DSC_2499 222387106
DSC_2492 222386787
On the way from the park we meet a pair of nandú (by the way, these have been usually called rheas in English---the name nandú, the local name, seems to be getting preferential use). We also passed an oystercatcher, but the bus was going too fast to try for a photo.
DSC_2527 222388784
There is a coal strip mining operation nearby. We don't need to look at that. They don't burn the coal themselves here in Chile---it's too polluting. They sell it to Uruguay.
I hurried down the pier to the bus, which turned out to be two buses. Alas that I got on the nearer of the two, without checking for an empty seat on the other. My bus left 10 minutes late, as the tour guide held up a map and began lecturing us on Patagonian political geography and history, and then, after more than an hour of driving, got stuck in a muddy dirt road seven kilometers from the penguin sanctuary.
A Patagonian hare was in the area, for a moment.
DSC_2327 222670295
After perhaps twenty minutes and an attempt by a truck working nearby to pull the bus using a frayed nylon rope with the tensile strength of dental floss, the bus was somehow freed and we continued to the penguin colony. Our visit was curtailed to about an hour.
DSC_2454 222385724
The colony, now a penguin sanctuary, is located along a soothingly silent, windswept beach; the penguins' burrows are scattered over a broad area. A few years ago there were as many as 10,000 here; the numbers plunged last year to just a few thousand but no one knows why, as none of the penguins have tracking devices. According to the guide, it is thought that local food shortages have sent them elsewhere to breed, but as no one seems to have noticed an influx of thousands of Magellanic penguins elsewhere, this may be optimistic.
The penguins are most active at early mornings and evenings; they go out to fish for about eight hours at a time and spend the balance either resting on the beach or at or in their burrows with eggs or chicks. The penguins do very little, but in a very charming way, and they do not much mind being watched from behind the fences and the viewing blind. I observed that loud voices do bother them, as they would stop and look around when they heard them, but there is no silencing some people.
DSC_2338 222298068
DSC_2345 222298278
DSC_2352 222298407
DSC_2360 222298593
DSC_2374 222381999
DSC_2398 222382379
DSC_2404 222383508
DSC_2406 222383114
DSC_2409 222383765
DSC_2424 222299192
DSC_2425 222299847
DSC_2446 222300209
DSC_2501 222300420
The impulse to anthropomorphize penguins derives from their upright stance and awkwardness on land; they seem like caricatures of humanity. It is easy to read intention into slight gestures, pauses, poses.
DSC_2512 222387571
Grooming is extremely important. When not asleep or eating, the penguin grooms, spreading oil from its glands over its feathers. The oil makes it waterproof and buoyant.
There are many small songbirds singing high thin paeans in the scrub bushes that cover the ground.
Andean negrito (Lessonia rufa rufa):
DSC_2455 222385447
DSC_2429 222384624
Names to come sometime on these. The ship has no bird book (only seabirds).
DSC_2442 222384886
DSC_2465 222386444
DSC_2515 222387840
DSC_2524 222389957
They are very busy birds; there's all the singing to get done and at some point one has to get a bite to eat and find a mate. No time to stand around being photographed, thank you, good-day!
DSC_2519 222391638
I spot several male upland geese, but don't spy the females. The males are chalk-white with a distinctive pattern of white, grey, and brown; the females are a camouflage brown color that blends in well with the grass and bushes. From buses I've seen pair after pair standing together, one on guard while the other eats, but haven't managed to get a decent photo of them.
DSC_2499 222387106
DSC_2492 222386787
On the way from the park we meet a pair of nandú (by the way, these have been usually called rheas in English---the name nandú, the local name, seems to be getting preferential use). We also passed an oystercatcher, but the bus was going too fast to try for a photo.
DSC_2527 222388784
There is a coal strip mining operation nearby. We don't need to look at that. They don't burn the coal themselves here in Chile---it's too polluting. They sell it to Uruguay.
