There are large colonies of black-browed albatrosses nesting on the cliffs near The Neck. Some of them are on their own whilst others are in mixed groups with imperial shags and rockhopper penguins.
Until I saw them "for real" I had no idea how beautiful these birds are. When they are sitting you don't realise how big they are but they have a wingspan of up to 250cm. They are quite ungainly on land, having to run along the ground before taking off but as soon as they are airborne they are amazingly graceful just soaring around hardly beating their wings at all.
They build nests of mud and vegetation which build up over the years and become hard like chimney pots.
The pairs seem very affectionate towards each other, displaying and rubbing their beaks together when one returns to the nest and frequently preening each other.
They lay one large egg and when it hatches one parent stays guard whilst the other goes up to 2,000 km fishing.
The chicks are grey and fluffy and surprising aggressive to anything that passes the nest. As the chicks get bigger they are left on their own whilst both parents go off to feed.
During March all the parents leave the colony and don't return until the next year. The chicks remain on the nests for about a month unfed and then one evening after sundown they take their first flight and don't return until 7 years later when they are mature and ready to start breeding!
I was amazed how unperturbed by people the albatrosses were. This one walked up to me whilst I was sitting watching them and sat down and watched me. It seemed particularly interested in the muesli bar I was eating.
There are large colonies of black-browed albatrosses nesting on the cliffs near The Neck. Some of them are on their own whilst others are in mixed groups with imperial shags and rockhopper penguins.
Until I saw them "for real" I had no idea how beautiful these birds are. When they are sitting you don't realise how big they are but they have a wingspan of up to 250cm. They are quite ungainly on land, having to run along the ground before taking off but as soon as they are airborne they are amazingly graceful just soaring around hardly beating their wings at all.
They build nests of mud and vegetation which build up over the years and become hard like chimney pots.
The pairs seem very affectionate towards each other, displaying and rubbing their beaks together when one returns to the nest and frequently preening each other.
They lay one large egg and when it hatches one parent stays guard whilst the other goes up to 2,000 km fishing.
The chicks are grey and fluffy and surprising aggressive to anything that passes the nest. As the chicks get bigger they are left on their own whilst both parents go off to feed.
During March all the parents leave the colony and don't return until the next year. The chicks remain on the nests for about a month unfed and then one evening after sundown they take their first flight and don't return until 7 years later when they are mature and ready to start breeding!
I was amazed how unperturbed by people the albatrosses were. This one walked up to me whilst I was sitting watching them and sat down and watched me. It seemed particularly interested in the muesli bar I was eating.
1 comment:
Wow. These pictures are amazing mum. The birds are really beautiful. I guess that sitting on a nest for a month and getting very hungry is a good incentive to start to fly. It's strange that they take their first flight at night though. I wonder how they learn to fish and feed themselves if their parents are not there to teach them.
Post a Comment