11th.February, South Georgia, Prion Island – Wandering Albatross
The ship transferred across the very wide Bay of Isles to Prion Island. This is a rat free area and therefore suitable for nesting albatrosses and the endemic South Georgia Pipit and the Pintail duck. Any visit could have been an anticlimax after the thousands of King penguins and I had expected more of the Wandering albatross nesting site. But its situation and the landscape were very beautiful especially in such perfect conditions as we had. Fur seals and King penguins were much in evidence, but only a handful of widely separated albatross nests could be seen from the viewing platform. One of the keen ornithologists with us took good shots of them and of a pair of Sooty albatross in flight. I have so far not had so much success with my bird in-flight shots, although I have one of the Wandering albatross at least flapping its wings. These can be up to 3m across. One picture shows me with Rolf and Elke, the expedition leader and the assistant expedition leader.