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Summer
Returns to Mawson
(part 1 of 7)
Friday March 23rd 2001
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The
beginning of spring in late September and early October marks
the return of the animals that migrated north to warmer waters
for winter and as the hours of daylight increase so do the
chances to get out and discover new things.
Having already experienced a summer, I had a good idea of
what to expect in the way of animals to see and places to
go. My first sighting of the returning animals was on our
way to revisit Auster.
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An
Adelie fetching stones for its nest. |
In
the distance we spotted the first Adelie penguin marching across
the sea ice towards its breeding grounds on one of the rock islands
located along the Mawson Coast.
It
was a great feeling to see the Adelie penguins again. I had nearly
forgotten how funny their marching waddle looked. Sometimes there
would be a dozen or more marching together, flippers outstretched,
side to side like wind up toys determined at whatever the cost to
reach their summer nests.
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The
Adelies breeding areas are usually located on rock Islands
within a few kilometres from the coast. At that time of the
year the fast ice may extend 60 kilometres out to sea necessitating
a long walk for the birds to feed. Adelies usually return
to the same location each year and one of the first tasks
that they have to do is build a rock nest from all the stones
that they can find, even if that means stealing them from
a neighbour. Adelies are well known for their persistence
and watching a bird steal rocks is very comical.
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If
you sit on a nest for hours on end you are bound to need to
have a stretch! |
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Last
summer we came across an interesting Adelie penguin on Verner
Island which I called the "Executioner Adelie".
Adelies normally have a sharp delineation between their white
front and their black head, however with this penguin the
black on it’s head extended down over part of the front
making it look like it had a bigger then normal hood. This
was the only example I ever saw of a difference in the colouring
between one Adelie and another.
Closely following the Adelie penguins are the Skua’s.
Skuas are the Vultures of the Antarctic and are quite a large
bird of similar size to a crow covered in unremarkable brown
feathers that enable it to blend in with the surrounding rock.
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The
Executioner Adelie returns to Verner Island. |
A Skua flies low over an Adelie
colony.
Skuas
are carnivores so they tend to nest around penguin colonies, and
they spend a lot of their time perched on a rock overlooking the
colony watching out for a meal such as young Adelie chicks that
stray from their parents protection. The relationship between the
Adelies and the Skuas is an interesting one. The Skuas seem to have
no ethics or respect and they will take any opportunity to attack
a penguin. Skuas are also very aggressive and will often fly low
over a colony taunting the birds. Sometimes they will dive into
the middle of a nest and try to steal a young chick from under the
guard of the parents. Luckily Adelie’s return the aggression
and have been known to deliberately hunt down and crush Skua eggs
that are laid on the rocky ground near the colony.
Email
continues in part 2
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