Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands

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Amber Waves Photography Galleries » South America and Antarctica - Star Princess - January, 2008 » Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands

Volunteer Point is home to colonies of King and Gentoo Penguins, along with a few Magellanic. Spectacular!

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The first sightings of the King Penguins occurs in solos or pairs walking around or merely enjoying a moment in the sun. They simply take your breath away! Second in size only to the Emperor Penguins, and very similar in coloration and habits, these regal penguins are gorgeous!

When they walk, it's rarely side-by-side, but rather follow-the-leader.

Back and forth to the ocean they go. Notice the sheep in the background? Volunteer Point is actually owned by a sheep herder and the species intermingle comfortably.

As you get closer to the main colony, you observe both juveniles transforming from their fluff to their waterproof feathering, as well as adults going through their annual moult.

Penguins do seem to like to vocalize, both from the ground and also standing up with their heads and flippers back.

A look at the colony. There are more than 2,000 breeding pairs of King Penguins which live in this colony.

This was a late hatchling from last year, still in full chick fluff. When early explorers came upon the King Penguins, they originally thought this was an entirely different species of penguin.

One of the earliest hatchlings for this year, this one was a bit shy, never showing his face.

The shy chick's parent looks content to have him there, in any way he wants.

This chick is probably less than 48 hours old, and possibly quite a bit younger than that. At this stage without fluff or feathers, it looks a bit like a pterodactyl, doesn't it? This is its parent giving it a much-needed meal.

After feeding its chick, the parent basks a bit in the sun.

The series of pictures of this parent and chick show the parent is a bit restless with its newborn.

Of course, have to talk with the neighbors a bit. Since this was one of the few chicks to have hatched by this point, likely they're

Even when completely nestled under its parent, this chick sems to like to keep its beak out. Perhaps its parent's belly is a bit too heavy.

Most of the colony is still sitting their eggs, and at times they looked like a field of beaked flowers, all facing the sun.

Ooops, got to check on Junior again.

Sometimes the penguins got a bit quarrelsome with one another.

Just a quick sharp squack, then it was all back to normal.

The other major portion of the colony was the activity on the beach. These are adults going through their annual moult, but still wanting to be near the water, even if they couldn't go in. In the background, one returning from fishing.

A Magellanic penguin (one of the three species which call Volunteer Point home) playing in the surf.

A group of adults going into the sea. Interestingly, they tend to go in clumps, probably for safety with the hunting seals. Don't these look like suited men heading off to work?

While most penguins traveled with others, occasionally you'd see a lone bird walking along. This is a Gentoo.

There's asecond large colony at Volunteer Point - the Gentoos! Here are two of this year's chicks, about a month old, and while obviously well-fed, they were still vocal about being hungry.

More of the Gentoo colony.

This chick had a ton of personality - and quite the voice, too

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