Kidney Island and Cobb's wrens

Yesterday afternoon I went on a visit to Kidney Island. This is a small island off the east coast of East Falkland and takes about 30 minutes to reach by motor launch from Stanley. Access is usually restricted but as part of the Cobb's wren conservation programme visits have been arranged on 2 days a year. Simon went on one while I was in UK before Christmas and I was fortunate to get a place on one yesterday.

The island has rocky shores and is covered in dense tussac grass. We were taken ashore from the launch in an inflatable dinghy and there were 4 sea lions playing in the water near the beach.
We were guided by Sally Poncet who manages the Cobb's wren conservation programme. We scrambled up through the tussac and it was very wet underfoot in many places. Under the tussac plants are numerous burrows where sooty shearwaters nest. Thousands of them return to the burrows when it gets dark but are all away feeding during the day. When we were with the ramblers at Rincon Grande the previous weekend we watched a big flock of them fishing while we ate our lunch.
In the middle of the island we passed a sea lion amongst the tussac. It is surprising how far inland they travel.
Then we scrambled down to another pebbly beach where there were quite a lot of sea lions and sat and watched them. There were also lots of tussac birds and Cobb's wrens feeding amongst the kelp and rocks. They are both quite tame and will come quite close if you sit still. The wrens were constantly popping down between the pebbles so were hard to catch on photos.
In the breeding season the adults are dark chestnut brown on their backs but by this time of year have faded considerably.
Cobb's wrens are only found on those offshore islands in the Falklands that are free from cats, rats and mice. They nest in tussac or in crevices in the rocks. There are thought to be about 6,000 breeding pairs.
The conservation project is undertaking surveys and attempting to eradicate rats from a number of other islands with suitable habitat in the hope that they will become colonised.
While I was sitting watching the wrens another sea lion came down from the tussac quite close to us.
We saw several dolphins on our way out and as we came back to the jetty in Stanley 3 were playing just next to the launch. You could almost have reached over the side and touched them. Unfortunately I had put my camera away by then.