Snow petrels are birds of the Antarctic, they
don't migrate as such but move further north in winter as the cold
weather sets in. Research in recent years has shown that the
Antarctic ocean beneath the winter ice is surprisingly rich in life
- a fact that it seems these birds have known about for some time.
They frequently arrive surprisingly
far south in the winter in ridiculously low temperatures and high
winds for such small creatures and rest overnight on totally exposed
sea-ice, as here. Any spring and summer shelter is blocked up by
now. The reason they venture south in such adverse conditions would
seem to be in order to take advantage of the abundance beneath the
ice and the relative rarity of summer competitors.
Paul Ward - Pentax equipment, 50mm
lens, 35mm film, K64.
This picture may not be copied or used
in any manner without prior written permission.
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