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WINGS Birding Tours – Photo Gallery

Cruise: Antarctic Peninsula and Around Cape Horn

This tour offers a wonderful opportunity for visiting the Great White South in comfort…
As well as great pelagic birding, with albatrosses sometimes at eye level—like this Antipodes Wandering Albatross!
Of ten albatross species we have seen on this route, our first is likely to be the widespread Black-browed,
And Southern Right Whales are regular in these waters.
As we head south off the coast of Argentina, a Spectacled Petrel may stand out among large rafts of Great Shearwaters, but the poorly known Cape Verde Shearwater is easily missed—can you spot it?
Our first landing is Punta Arenas, Chile, where we’ll look for the odd little Magellanic Plover, in its own family Pluvianellidae (and for which ‘Ruby-eyed Pluvianellus’ would be a much sexier name!)
Next stop Ushuaia, southernmost town in the world, where with luck we’ll find the impressive Magellanic Woodpecker, here an adult male (right) with begging juvenile male.
And these will be our last trees for more than a week!
After passing by Cape Horn we’ll head into the Drake Passage, where we should encounter the majestic Snowy Wandering Albatross.
As well as large whales, we have been lucky enough to see Gray’s Beaked Whale in these waters.
Who knows where or when our first iceberg will be, or what it will look like.
Groups of Pintado Petrels joining the ship (spot the Antarctic Prion) usually mean land is not far off…
And glacier-cloaked islands may appear from the mist
As Chinstrap Penguins porpoise alongside us…
We may even see penguins flying—through water, their true element.
The constantly changing scenery can be mesmerizing, fifty shades of white…
…and counting.
As we enjoy penguins on icebergs…
And hope for a close pass by the ethereal Snow Petrel
Or perhaps a pod of Killer Whales, here practice-hunting a Gentoo Penguin!
Heading back to sea across the Drake we should see the iconic Light-mantled Sooty Albatross
And with luck the dapper and dashing Blue Petrel
The colorful waterfront (and famous whale-bone arch) of Port Stanley herald our arrival to the remote Falkland Islands….
Where the spectacular King Penguin colony will be an undoubted highlight
Even for non-birders!
Gentoo Penguins, …
Rufous-chested Plover…
And White-bridled Finch may add extra color.
Deep offshore waters on our homebound route add new pelagic species, such as Soft-plumaged Petrel…
And Atlantic Petrel, before return to ‘the real world,’
Where memories of our amazing voyage will last a lifetime.

 

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