Happy Spring Equinox!

Heading north, I crossed the equator at the weekend and the sun was only a few hours behind me!  We in the Northern Hemisphere are now going to see more of it for the next few months, but today is the Equinox, when Day and Night are Equal.

Relaxed Rockhopper penguin

Sorry for the lack of posting here recently, but I've been away and Internet access was severely limited.  As I took quite a few photos, and enjoyed some new experiences, I'll try to share these over the coming weeks.

Albatross chick

To give you a clue to where I was, the above photos should give you a general idea.  The albatross chick and penguin lived together for a few months while the chick was fed by parents, and the penguin moulted.  After about 4 months, the chick weighs about 7 pounds, and leaves the nest...and keeps flying ...and flying... and flying .. for a couple of years, perhaps not touching land again until it returns to mate.

Striated Caracara

Even though the island they live on is remote, there are predators.  The caracara (above) lives mainly on carrion and ground-dwelling prey (so is quite happy near penguin colonies!).  It usually attacks prey by walking or running towards it.  This has been highly successful over the millenia, until cats are introduced to an island!

There are about 500 pairs in the world, mostly in the Falkland Islands. ('Islas Malvinas' if you are in Argentina).

So, despite (or maybe because of) the travels, I'm really looking forward to meeting my fellow Nordic Walkers again this week, and seeing the blossom and other signs of Spring in the locality.  Where I visited was just entering Autumn, so I'll have to adjust my body clock quickly.

If you want to indulge in Nordic Walking, or learn more about penguins, please get in touch.

Peter
07703-404-931