Preparing photos for last week’s post it was difficult to choose from all the images I got so I thought that this week we would look at Southern Royal Albatross again. Seeing them on their breeding grounds was such a special experience that it definitely deserves a revisit. If I could teleport myself, I would be there now but in the absence of that fantasy, revisiting them through images is a reasonable substitute.

There were an amazing number of birds circling overhead with those on the ground displaying and sky-calling which brought more in to land. They seemed completely unperturbed by our presence which brought a number in very close to us as they approached to land. While extremely graceful in flight over the sea, coming to land looked rather marginal at times.

I’m not sure if bonus points are awarded for a graceful landing but a sketchy performance didn’t seem to hamper their subsequent involvement in gamming displays.

I could happily spend weeks in the tussock watching and photographing these birds but strangely felt more of an intruder into this environment that I had in Antarctica. It is a hard feeling to explain as Antarctica is such a remote and foreign place. In that, I think, lies the explanation. Campbell Island is just familiar enough, while at the same time wild and inhospitable and so obviously home to the great birds that have evolved with it. Human involvement was exploitative and damaging and we have only just redeemed ourselves to an extent by eliminating the pests we brought in our ignorance. Campbell Island has no need of us, but if respectful and and limited in our contact we can savour the opportunity of experiencing this Eden first hand. It evokes similar feelings in me to looking at the stars and photographing the arch of the Milky Way. Overwhelming amazement that lets me delight in my insignificance and the privilege of this brief consciousness called life.

Campbell Island photos with Nikon D810 and Nikon 200-400mm F4 VR lens

Milky Way photograph with Fuji XT1 and Samyang 8mm Fisheye lens. Image defished with Fisheye Hemi plugin.