Over the past week or so it has become more evident that summer is upon us here at Davis station. The sun rises earlier — even radiating a little warmth each day, as well as setting later at around 2130. The night skies have turned to twilight and temperatures are slowly rising. But the most exciting thing is that the wildlife has started to return.
So last night being a beautiful sunny evening Paul B, Aaron and I decided to head out after dinner to visit a local Adélie colony at Magnetic Island to see what was going on.
There were masses of Adélie penguins scooting along the ice on their tummies, making a beeline for the island to get the pick of best nesting spots and rocks to impress the females.
We also saw some Antarctic birds flying around — snow petrels, painted or cape petrel, and possibly an Antarctic skua… as well as some Weddell seals out on the ice ready to pup.
What a magnificent sight and realisation that our winter is almost coming to an end…
But then the summer begins… Happy times!
Lesley Eccles