After our usual 8 am breakfast we pottered about until 9.45am when Augustine arrived in the Landrover - we were going to drive to the coast to see if a rock cormorant colony was being established in the cliff face after he saw a few pairs there a week or so ago.
As we crossed arid pasture zones with different age sheep in them, together with iconic windmills to bring the water up through bore holes and the best in bloom thistle I have seen we passed mara, European hares and rheas. Both the rheas and the mara like eating the yellow flowers which were adorning the low shrubs. We parked the Landrover and walked to the coast then atop the cliffs on a path - as expected we saw lots of elephant seals hauled out on the beach along with a group of very golden ones -newly arrived females who had yet to start mounting. When we reached telescope range of the cliff face we could see the rock cormorants - some definitely looked as if they were nesting - we also spied a kelp gull and chick on the ledge. Flying over we saw more kelp gulls and southern giant petrels who seemed to soar and glide effortlessly. Below us in the water we could see groups of crested ducks and noisy oyster catchers. On our journey back we saw more mara and our first guanaco of the day.
We stopped at the pen with the young orphan guanacos in them - they were very affectionate and soft to stroke. Augustine also spied a burrowing parrot fly into the trees - it probably comes from a colony near Puerto Madryn.
After lunch we had a siesta -particularly important as we are up at 3.15am tomorrow and off at 4am for our 8.15 flight to Buenos Aires - the journey to the airport will take about 2 and a half hours!
At 4.45pm we left with Augustine in his big white truck for Caleta Valdes an inlet where the orcas sometimes hunt - they were last spotted on the 18 th December according to the notice in the Rangers hut but not today. We did see their prey though - elephant seals on the beach and sealions in the distance on a small shingle island but the best bit was visiting a small colony of Magellanic Penguins - or Jack ass penguins - their nickname is obvious when you hear them call - they sound just like donkeys! We spent a wonderful 90 minutes or so with them watching the chicks emerge from the burrows, seeing penguins fighting - for who knows what - and tumbling down the cliff side, penguins returning from a days fishing and greeting each other with much beak slapping and then of course watching them throw their heads back and use their whole bodies to make their very deep and in penguin like braying call - you could see their little chests go in as they did it - (tomorrow's photo is of one in full cry with its chick seemingly mimicking it - albeit I think their beak opening was either yawning or hunger driven!)
We didn't get back until 8.15pm so had a slightly late dinner - after dinner we said our goodbyes to Augustine and Maria who insisted we send them penguin pictures from Antarctica.
By the time we were packed and the lights switched off it was 10.40pm - we went to sleep knowing 3.15am wouldn't be long coming!