Date: 1/11/25 5:50 am From: Edmund LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Further details on cruise ship birding
For details on birding on these cruises, especially around South America,
check out the Wings bird tour website under trips led by Fabrice Schmitt
(an outstanding guide, including being very likable!). I did the Wings tour
for the Princess cruise that Derb described (in the opposite direction),
though apparently he did it on his own. Here are several crucial points.
The cost of the cruise is surprisingly low, even with the included food and
entertainment. The Wings tour costs a similar amount in addition (and is
separate). So what did I get for my money from being on the tour? Not just
two very skilled guides and their scopes who were on the bow all day long
teaching me subtleties of difficult IDs, but especially the excellent day
trips for birding at each port led by guides who knew exactly where to go
for the specific birds. THIS would have been very difficult to arrange
alone, even if one felt comfortable being able to find and identify all the
land birds. Plus you don’t want to miss the boat (when it leaves at 5 PM!),
or if you do, it would be a much less unpleasant experience to be with the
guides with logistical support back at their office. The shore trips
offered by Princess cost about 3x more than I would have expected, perhaps
because they may include insurance for not making it back to the ship on
time. While it is feasible to do seabirding with a scope on deck by
oneself, for me it would have been extremely frustrating even with the
excellent bird books now available. Try CONFIDENTLY sorting out the
numerous albatross (sub)species with their age-varying plumages, etc. even
in your bird books. Plus, having more eyes (especially expert eyes) is
surprisingly important despite the excellent viewing conditions 30 feet
over the water. You’d think you’d be able to see everything (“it’s right
out in plain sight”), though against the blue-patterned background the
photons may hit your retina, but a bird’s image won’t necessarily form in
your brain.
Bottom line: Highly recommended if you’re into world birding. Highly
recommended that you don’t do it alone, unless you’d be comfortable with
birding alone in say, Paraguay or French Guiana. Oh, what about going on
the same cruise ship that the tour is on, especially if it doesn’t make
land stops? Well, as a frustrated “remora” you could manage, but it might
be a socially awkward couple of weeks.
Ed LeGrand
Fauquier County, VA
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Derb Carter <dcarter...>
To: "'<carolinabirds...>'" <carolinabirds...>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2025 22:32:59 +0000
Subject: Antarctic cruise
I want to echo Mike Tove's observations on his cruise to Antarctica. I did
the cruise on the same ship but a different route a year ago. Last year, it
departed Santiago, Chile and ended in Buenos Aries after Antarctica and the
Falklands, giving three at sea days on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides
of southern South America. The current cruise route begins and ends in
Buenos Aries missing most of the Pacific which has several seabirds not on
the Atlantic side It would be great if Princess went back to the old route
but the current one is still an excellent way to see a lot of seabirds.
I had 13 species of albatross, 30 other tubenoses (petrels, storm-petrels,
shearwaters, diving-petrels, etc) including Snow and Antarctic Petrel and
seven species of penguin. The only miss I had in Antarctica was a long shot
chance for a stray Emperor Penguin. I have a public ebird trip report for
the entire trip if you are interested. The cruise ship is so stable you
can use a scope and the Sapphire Princess has a deck on the bow low enough
for great viewing.
One thing Mike did not mention is day long port calls allowing birding of
sites in Argentina and Chile and the Falkland Islands. While you do not
make landings in zodiacs on a big cruise ship in Antarctica, you can walk
with the King, Magellanic, and Gentoo Penguins in your day on the Falklands
if you want while looking at the endemic flightless Steamer Duck.
Derb Carter
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Erik Thomas <erthomas...>
To: Derb Carter <dcarter...>
Cc: "<carolinabirds...>" <carolinabirds...>
Bcc:
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2025 20:55:13 -0500
Subject: Re: Antarctic cruise
How were the land birds on that trip? Species such as Tussacbird,
Magellanic Woodpecker, Austral Canastero, Common Miner, Cobb's Wren,
Cinnamon-bellied Ground-tyrant, Blue-and-white and Chilean Swallows,
various sierra finches, Patagonian Mockingbird, Diuca Finch, Long-tailed
Meadowlark, etc.?
Not that I can afford to go on an Antarctic cruise, but there are plenty
of great landbirds in that part of the world that might interest
other people. Tubenoses are all just boring shades of black, gray, and
white anyhow.
