Fabrice Schmitt and Steve Howell on their just-completed Buenos Aires to Valparaiso cruise.
Viewing from the stable platform of a cruise ship is remarkable...
Each day has been so different, starting in the warm waters of the Brazil Current, home to Yellow-nosed Albatross...
...then passing into the cold waters of the Falkland Current and Cape Horn, home to the majestic Southern Royal Albatross.
Photo opportunities of smaller species can also be surprisingly good—such as of this Slender-billed Prion...
...and even this diminutive Gray-backed Storm-Petrel.
Marine mammals have shown well, including four species of dolphins plus good numbers of the usually scarce Sei Whale, shown here.
On land, birds at the varied landings along our route have included the handsome White-throated Hummingbird in Uruguay...
...the cryptic Elegant Crested Tinamou in Argentina...
...and stunning King Penguins on a beautiful sunny and warm day in the Falklands...
...before we circled Cape Horn (shown here) and headed into the sheltered waters of the Beagle Channel.
Of the 32 species of tubenoses we saw, the aptly named great albatrosses stood out as highlights, including numerous Antipodes Wandering Albatrosses that gave great views, here an immature at eye level...
...and here a close-up of another individual.
About as far as you can get in the bird world from Wandering Albatrosses, this confiding Magellanic Tapaculo showed well on Tierra del Fuego...
...where we enjoyed beautiful weather and a fine picnic lunch.
Our search for Magellanic Plover turned up a remarkable flock of 47 birds (!), here an immature with its legs changing from orange to bubblegum-pink, its eyes from amber to ruby-red.
Chilean Skuas were a frequent sight as we headed north through Chilean waters.
Approaching Puerto Montt, among the swarms of Fuegian Storm-Petrels we found some Pincoya Storm-Petrels, a species described as recently in 2013!
After 7 species of albatross one day, the next day featured 4 species of shade-haunting tapaculos, along with this fierce little Austral Pygmy-Owl.
Our last day at sea produced numerous Sperm Whales and Fin Whales, as well as near constant bird action, including two of the region’s specialty petrels—the slender-billed Stejneger’s Petrel in worn plumage near the end of its breeding season...
...and the bulkier, bigger-billed De Filippi’s (or Masatierra) Petrel, completing wing and tail molt prior to breeding. What a great way to finish up a remarkable cruise!
