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Japanese citizens have a complicated religious belief. It all starts with their ancient Shinto beliefs which are a reverence to Nature. Shinto shrines are all about having the best life while on Earth. One prays for good luck, wealth, health, avoiding catastrophes and even good test results. This Animist religion is often combined with Buddhism which is all about living a disciplined life in order to attain an enjoyable afterlife. This ancient religion traveled from India to China and eventually to Japan. Many Japanese believe in both religions and find them compatible with each other. Shrines don’t have priests, Temples do. The Shinto shrines always have Tori gates where Buddhist Temples have Arches protected by two Demons. So as one enters a holy place, its easy to differentiate between one and the other.

Tori Gate at Fushimi Mari, Kyoto There are over ten thousand gates forming a tunnel. A long waiting list exists for people wanting to donate the building of a gate. Gates last a couple of decades before they collapse.

Buddhist Temple Entrance Guarded by two Demons

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In the Winter, these Owls travel South to the Northern US States, even known to visit NYC and Chicago. I have pursued these creatures in NY and Chicago with no luck.

We were just back a few weeks from our Antarctica trip when we saw on the news and birding emails that a Snowy Owl had shown up in our Orange County! It was located on a Cyprus neighborhood rooftop, a 45 minute drive from our home, and with Christmas obligations we were unable to get to it until December 27th. Until then we followed it closely on the news and saw that when it relocated, I was only a few roofs away.

On the 27th, our drive quickly took us up to the Cyprus neighborhood, and when we closed in on the address, we saw a big crowd, of maybe two hundred individuals milling on the street and gazing at a rooftop. As we walked to that spot, I immediately spotted a good friend and birding guide, John Dunn, who I went to greet, just as he was finishing a live interview with a local news channel. They turned to me and asked where I was from, looking for an individual who had traveled a long way to see this bird. They were disappointed by my answer, being a “local”, but I was on the air!

Each year, birders try to view tough to find birds as early in the year as possible, before they fly away. So on January 3rd, I started a long day of birding with a return trip to Cyprus. The Owl had moved a couple of blocks, but the big crowds made it easy to re-find the bird. Unlike the first visit, I took a few photos and left, the bird was getting too much attention already. A week later the Owl disappeared, presumably deciding to fly North towards its usual habitat.

There are many theories about how the Owl got so far off course. A popular one is that it hitched a ride on a ship heading South. It’s not unusual for these birds to fly over open Ocean, skirting the shoreline, but to fly this far would be highly unusual. It will remain mystery, but this big white Owl, with feathery legs and feet, was a treat to see and photograph!

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Now we were off the ship, onto a bus that would carry us a few hundred yards, then let us disembark to “wander around town” for three hours. We had better plans! Thanks to our bird expert, Lancy, we were off on one last birding adventure! A fifteen minute walk on the waterfront brought us to a park named “Reserve Natural Urbana” which consisted of a path around a lake and some paths leading into the grassy fields.

Our targets included ducks, lots of ducks, and we weren’t disappointed. We had a good look at Red Shovelers, Yellow-billed Pintails, Yellow-billed Teals and Crested Ducks were everywhere and then there were a pair of the attractive Chiloe Widgeons.

During our walk we spotted what we presumed were two Magellanic Snipes landing in the long grasses. As is typical of this shy species, we weren’t able to see them once they landed. During our walk, we ran into a charming couple who were guides on one of the Antarctic Ships and had a few hours of downtime between voyages. They helped us find both the local Correndera Pipit, which had eluded us throughout our trip, and then pointed out a Snipe that uncharacteristically decided to show off, instead of hide.

We then wended our way back to the bus and got there apparently too early as they had been instructed to wait another 25 minutes before taking us on the very short ride to the airport. We now had nearly an hour to catch a bite to eat and return. Between slow service and language translation issues, we arrived at the bus what we thought was on time, but actually fifteen minutes late, which aggravated some of the passengers. We arrived at the airport still with an hour and a half and took off on time.

Ushuaia, the gateway to the Antarctic, is a small but beautiful place, not so much for the town but for the surrounding mountains and coastline. As we took off, we looked one last time at the town at the Southern end of the Earth.

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Our bird expert, Lancy Chen, was surprised to see such a species on this island and referred the photo to ebird experts, who identified it as a Cattle Tyrant! This species has never been recorded on the Falklands! So an out of focus, distant photo that I was about to delete is now a prominent member of the collection!

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Plan B was to go around to the other side of the island and then go ashore. This was a two hour process as we had to go around some shoals at the point of the island and then turn in. While on deck, we saw a few of the usual suspect birds and an occasional Porpoise.

We arrived at the “Plan B” spot and it looked much less rough, but we would not be near the spot where the King Penguins lived. King Penguins are a slightly smaller version of the Emperor). From the ship, we could spot a few penguins on the beach and then turned a brown rock into a Weddell Seal! Preparations didn’t take long and we were off on our last shore landing of the trip. And it was a doozy! I sat in the front of the Zodiac and took the full brunt of the crashing waves, we were all soaked on the outside, but our waterproof gear shrugged off the wet and left us dry. We got off the Zodiac in almost boot high water and strolled into a remarkable sight.

Magellanic and Gentoo Penguins in the surf! I finally had my good Magellan Penguin shot! Then we looked at the Weddell Seal, who was motionless and had an ugly coat. Apparently he’s shedding and during this time preserves his energy and just lays there. Along the beach there was lots of brown seaweed in it, but there was something darker lurking. A Leopard Seal was surfing an sizing up the penguins. Luckily we saw no gore and enjoyed viewing the penguins, oystercatchers and gulls on the windswept beach.

We decided to walk inland, but the winds got the best of us. There were several penguins walking towards the beach and lots of Geese in the inland ponds. As we turned ourselves around, we had to bend into the wind to make progress towards the shore and awaiting Zodiacs.

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This Island claims the highest peak of the entire Archipelago (1,250 feet), but more importantly are the Rockhopper Penguins that build burrows to nest among the BB Albatrosses. We were greeted by the family which has owned the island since the 1800’s and make most of their income from visitors. A short detour along the beach revealed Kelp and Ruddy-headed Geese as well as Black Cinclodes, we were off to a fine start!

10AM was our launch time, and soon we were on the island and trudging up a steep hill punctuated by fields of gorse. The wind whipped by us making the relatively cool day feel chilly. It took a while to traverse the two kilometers with great views along the way.

Then we were there! The BB Albatross and Rockhopper rookery. We waited in line as there was a limit on number of viewers at a time and eventually it was out turn to descend to get a first row view of these creatures. I have a hard time describing the beauty and yet tumult of the scene. The two species were interspersed, with huge Albatrosses sitting on mud nests, occasionally giving us a peak of their huge pristine white egg. Next to them were the Rockhoppers, who certainly are aptly named, much smaller birds with typically two eggs on a nest made of twigs and mud.

Above were many flying albatrosses as well as a few turkey vultures and a single Striated Caracara (a member of the Falcon family). It was controlled mayhem. We saw Rockhoppers nuzzling each other and Albatrosses crossing beaks as they courted. Eventually we left the rookery and on the way out saw a long-tailed meadowlark perched on grasses with its bright red breast.

We decided to wait for a lift back as we were now hungry and tired. We soon were riding a 41 year old Land Rover over the rolling meadows, with a lot of lurching going on. At the owners home we were treated to a dining room full of baked treats with some coffee and tea.

Fortified, we went down the hull towards the ship launch area and took a right turn to look for Magellanic Penguins. It was tricky negotiating a steep hill but were soon able to spot these small, burrowing penguins as well as Pied Oystercatchers and Ground Tyrants, a type of flycatcher. Satisfied with our day, we headed back to a late lunch on the ship.

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