The plan for our third and final full day on Pebble Island was to be fully guided by Riki. Our holiday was a land based wildlife trip, however, there is no escaping the fact that one of the first things that comes to mind, especially as a Brit, when you think of The Falklands, is the 1982 war. Before we headed out Riki asked if we were interested in seeing war related stuff as well as wildlife. We were and it wasn't long before we made our first stop at the remains of a blown up Argentinian airplane just off of the grass runway that we had arrived via just a couple of days earlier, and just 5 minutes later we were at the site of a fighter plane that had been shot down.
Wing section of fighter plane
Wing mounted cannon - it still had a round in the barrel!
Riki then took us to the most amazing beautiful beach. If it wasn't for the wind chill and the penguins you would be forgiven if you thought it was the Caribbean!
That dark smudge on the right hand side with a rock at the bottom is a penguin colony, as below
I'm pretty sure this is the most scenic place I have ever stopped to eat my packed lunch
Especially when you are watching Commerson's Dolphins playing un the surf right in front of us
We stayed here around 2 hours but in all honesty I could have stayed here all day
We continued our journey to a Rockhopper colony, and penguin cave. Interestingly, Riki said they had been visiting this cave for decades until one day a tourist pointed out that it looked like a penguin!
After more stops and yet more gorgeous beaches, it was time to head back via a small pond Riki knew of, which he said may have duck on. On route I saw my first Striated Caracara and of the trip.
Riki came up trumps again. At the small pond I added Chiloe Widgeon and Silver Teal, this was the only place I saw these species on the whole trip.
Chiloe Wigeon
A great day out and a fantastic way to spend our last full day on Pebble Island. The trip list stood at 40 by the end of our Pebble stay, adding: 31.Two Banded Plover; 32. Megallanic Penguin; 33. Rockhopper Penguin; 34. Variable Hawk; 35. Peregrine Falcon; 36. Straited Caracara; 37. Silver Teal 38. Chiloe Wigeon; 39. Flying Steamer Duck and 40. Grass Wren
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