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The Antarctic Petrel (Thalassoica antarctica) is one of those seabirds that birders always hope to see on trips to Antarctica. It can be very hard to find on the regular trips to the Antarctic Peninsula in the summer (December-February) which is when most tour ships visit that region. It does not nest along the peninsula, so birds seen there are visitors. Still, on some trips there I have seen dozens of Antarctic Petrels on some occasions, but it is a bird easily missed in that area. The species is easily seen on trips to the "other" side of Antarctica, south of New Zealand and into the Ross Sea, which is where I photographed the bird at left during a snow squall as it passed by our ship in December, 2001. The shot was taken with a Canon EOS 3 and EF 70-200 mm F/2.8 L lens on Fuji Sensia. |
