ePostcard #106: Skua Drama (Estancia Harberton, Tierra del Fuego)
ePostcard #106: Skua Drama (Estancia Harberton, Tierra del Fuego)
Estancia Harberton is rich in history, but most visitors today come to see its penguins. Isla Martillo, one of several small islands belonging to the estancia, was originally used for grazing sheep, but when the sheep were moved off the the island in the mid-1990’s, Magellanic penguins started to arrive. Their colony steadily grew, and there are now roughly 3,000 breeding pairs as well as smaller numbers of gentoo and king penguins. It was a bitterly cold and windy morning as we boated out to Isla Martillo to visit the penguin colonies. Settling down in the shelter of a bouldery ridge, I wanted to watch and hopefully photograph the Magellanic penguins surfing the waves to land on the beach. But it was not penguins that caught my attention, it was the arrival of a handsome pair of Chilean skuas ready to begin the breeding season at the edge of the breaking waves. Although I felt a bit like a voyeur, these are the moments that make a naturalist smile.
One of the wonderful things about taking the time to observe is that you always learn something new. I had never had such a close encounter with Chilean skuas. Everything that I was about to see, as the skua pair faced each other and began their ritualized courtship display, played out against the backdrop of a jade-green wave. With the female appearing to bow in welcome, the male immediately leapt into the air and performed the first in an elegant series of “wing-raising displays,” each jump preceded by a high-pitched vocalization. Although it may appear aggressive in my photographs, the female never attempted to evade the male or to appear disturbed by his repeated attempts to position and balance himself on her back. I tried to capture this remarkable experience in sequence and wish that I had also captured the dramatic soundtrack of the skua’s calls and the crashing surf. There is nothing quiet or subtle about Chilean skuas when it comes to sex on the beach!.
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Wow. It is nice to see the Skuas in a different light not just the aggressive predators that are after favored penguins. Just exquisite images Audrey. Thank you.
Audrey, what else to say that clearly transcribes the goals of every naturalist in a surprising and balanced way.
You express how important it is to observe. Some tourists are driven by the obvious (The penguins) and do not have a comprehensive vision of what is happening around them.
As the important thing is the penguins, not everything. The ecosystem in general with its intrigues and information that it gives us.
It describes the beauty, the wonder but without forgetting the meticulousness of the researcher.
Although you may not believe it, every time I go to the penguin colony I feel the same need as you to observe the Skua couple (I don’t think they are the same) the reproduction, the laying, the chicks, everything is a movie that attracts because perhaps it is only one that is in that place.
You know how to excuse my English, I hope something is understood but I want to celebrate and thank you for your disclosure on nature. The world needs you to understand more about our great house.
Marcelo, your profound knowledge of our shared natural world, make your comments to me even more important as an affirmation that what I’m trying to do with these ePostcards is the right thing for these imperiled times! My grateful appreciation for your words!