More birds (and some cetaceans)

I’m sorry if I’m seeming a bit repetitive. I’ve shown you more bycatch and now more birds. The thing is that there’s not much else! Still, I think my photos have got better as I’ve learned more about the birds and my camera, and hopefully you’ll think the same too.

I’ve got some new birds to show you. This is a cape petrel (Daption capense). They seem really small compared to the albatrosses but in fact they have a wingspan of 86cm so are pretty big. They fly in quite large groups and are really cute. They have the most distinctive plumage of any of the birds out here.

The second bird isn’t new as such, but the colour is. This is a southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus) in its white phase. The birds are normally grey or black/brown but go through a phase of being white. I don’t know when or why they do this. If anyone knows I’d love it if you could tell me!

This is a grey-headed albatross (Diomedea chrysostoma). From a distance they look very like a black-browed albatross as it’s only their head that is different and when the light is bad it can be difficult to tell if the head is really grey or if it’s just an illusion.

You can see the coloration of the bill a bit better here. It’s yellow and black and is quite striking up close.

This is an Antarctic fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides). They are quite large, about halfway between the cape petrel and the black-browed albatross in size. They are very quick, agile fliers and I only ever see them in ones and twos on rare occasions.

I’ve seen one (possibly two) other new birds but I’m still not sure what species it/they is/are and my photos aren’t good enough for identification yet so they will have to wait. But I promised cetaceans. One fine day I was out on deck watching the birds when I saw very briefly a pod of cetaceans. I don’t know how as they were only present for a few seconds but I got this photo of them.

I think they are long-finned pilot whales but will ask someone more knowledgeable and let you know.