Southern Royal Albatross, Campbell Island

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3 December We had anchored in Perseverance Harbour at Campbell Island. Another natural harbour, this one entered through narrows. We would be staying here, on the island, all day. There was a briefing describing the two walks on offer - our group chose the boardwalk to the upper plateau to be with the breeding albatrosses. Firstly though, a zodiac cruise went along the shoreline looking for the Campbell Teal. This species has been reintroduced recently from a captive breeding programme on the New Zealand mainland. 105 birds have been brought over in the last year and some twenty were released around the harbour area. The zodiacs could not find any; it is a secretive species that feeds along small watercourses inside the thick tussock vegetation. Late morning we were ferried across to a wooden jetty. It was a long walk uphill though the climb was steady along the boardwalk. Occasional stops to recuperate gave us Dunnock and Redpolls, familiar birds from home, introduced here. It took more than an hour to get to the saddle known as Col Lyall. Around this broad basin was the Southern Royal Albatross colony. We had lots of time to spend with the albatrosses, and by behaving sensibly we could sit close to them, admiring their size and beauty. This was a photographers' dream as some nests had a background of rugged terrain with cliffs, bays and inlets. The megaherbs were everywhere and many were in flower, producing a carpet of glorious bright colours. We watched as albatrosses displayed, preening each other, then grunting and trumpeting with their bills pointing skywards. It was magical and I'm sure has left a lasting memory. ‘I too have felt moved beyond words in the presence of these beautiful nomads. I have been powerfully touched by the experience, and felt wretched when told of the bird's plight, wondering what I could do. When you meet a creature on equal terms, both of you alone and far from anywhere, you feel linked forever’.                                                                                           Matthew Parris, writing on albatrosses in The Times The zodiac returns were running late afternoon and all passengers were back aboard by 1915, in time for dinner. The ship was underway again at 2130. As we left the harbour I had informed everyone to be on deck, as we would be passing a Campbell Shag colony at the narrows. It was quite dark when we got this species ‘under the belt’. The open sea had hordes of seabirds returning under the cover of darkness to nest sites on the island. We did manage Little Shearwaters, White-chinned Petrels and many Sooty Shearwaters. 4 December We were at sea the entire day, en route to the Antipodes Islands. The weather was overcast, occasionally rain was in the air, but we had a calm sea and fair conditions for watching birds. A Wilson's Storm-Petrel was a new species for us, and surprisingly it was to be the only one of the trip. Albatrosses could be seen flying in to inspect us, mostly Black-browed and Campbell in the smaller mollymawks and Southern Royal in the 'great' albatrosses. Sporadically a White-headed Petrel or a Mottled Petrel would add excitement as they shot across the bow. Prion numbers were lower than usual and we noticed a change - there were still Antarctic Prions around but we could identify the pale-faced Fairy Prions and the high-flying and erratic Fulmar Prions in with them. During the afternoon there was an excellent presentation on the single greatest threat to the world's seabirds – longlining (much of it is carried out by ‘pirate’fishing boats). I thought it was put across very well. It is a tragedy that any albatross should die in this way. The first Antipodean Albatross flew in, to follow us at the stern. An interesting form this, as it retains a juvenile-type plumage all its life. This bird was most likely a male, which had a restricted dark cap. We were still more than one hundred and twenty miles from any land when two penguins were seen; they popped up at the surface ahead of the ship. There was no doubt that these were Erect-crested Penguins, quite some distance from the breeding islands of the Antipodes. This was my last penguin species; I had seen all 17 (actually I recognise twenty world species) and this deserved a celebration after dinner - so, according to tradition, I arranged some ‘bubbly’, which was enjoyed by the group! 5 December 'Penguins are wonderful creatures, interesting and humorous. They are fun to watch even though they stink and their voices aren't very melodic'                                                                                                                                      George Gaylord Simpson With the Antipodes Islands in view many people were out on deck early morning. Our briefing gave details of the visits to the Antipodes and the Bounty Islands, both islands where landings are not allowed. The ship moved in closer to the main island but we needed to position out of the strong wind. A bay, called Anchor Bay was chosen where we had a safe anchorage. Around the ship were Erect-crested Penguins, a precursor of what was to come. The Naiads were lowered and soon we were on our way inshore. We stopped to look at Antarctic Terns on a ledge and a solitary Rockhopper Penguin before getting to one of the Erect-crested colonies. These were amazing plucky penguins with punk hairstyles, stuck up in the air like Mohican haircuts. We drove along the shoreline to two smaller colonies, one in a cove where it was calmer and we didn’t bounce around so much in the boat. It was much better for photography. Some Rockhoppers were mixed in with the numbers of Erect-crested. Fairy Prions and Subantarctic Skuas (these very dark ones) flew low over our heads towards their own nesting sites. We had a problematical landing back at the gantry as there was a heavy swell, the zodiac going up and down and the ship moving at the same time, but we all were soon safely back aboard. We raised the anchor to sail away. A little way offshore crew members began ‘chumming’, throwing over the stern squid and fish pieces, which brought in many species - albatross and petrels galore for the photographers. Birding was excellent. On the open sea we saw hundreds of Little Shearwaters, many Antipodean Albatrosses and now and again a Pterodroma, including three Soft-plumaged Petrels which we hadn't logged for some days.

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