Having breakfast with the penguins in the falklands

Sea Lion Island is the most southerly of the Falklands and our nature writer Barry Madden spent a few days there, which impressed upon him how challenging life can be for those hardy souls, humans included, that choose it for their home. This piece was written there, and gives such an insight.

Continuing with the theme of foreign travel, I thought you may like an account of a typical day spent in the bright but perpetually breezy Falkland Islands, watching the varied and very approachable birds and mammals.

Be honest now, how often have you had the pleasure of being able to gaze out of your hotel window upon a colony of penguins basking in the soft light of a Southern Hemisphere spring morning? Not often, I bet.

As we watch it seems surreal; hard to believe that here on Sea Lion Island, the most southerly of the Falklands Islands, we are actually witnessing such scenes.

For there they are, a colony of Gentoo penguins less than 100 metres from our window. We can hear them braying, and I dare say if we opened the window we could surely smell them. Wonderful.

Monday, November 28, 6am, up and out, stumbling into a strong, chill nor’-westerly. It’s been light here for the best part of two hours, the unrestrained sunlight punching brightly from a clear azure sky. Perfect light for photography and there’s so much to point the camera at.

But we have a bit of a quest this morning, for just over the ridge there is an elephant seal colony that proves to be an irresistible lure to a pod of orcas that cruise into the shallows to pick off the pups.