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We were up just after 7am - the predicted windstorm looked unlikely as it was blue skies, warm with a light breeze - so we were hopeful that there would be good conditions for watching elephant seals.
Just after 8am we had breakfast, said our goodbyes to the Dutchman and German couple who were going their different ways and got ourselves ready for a walk with Augustine - the owner.
Firstly we got into the red Ricon Chico Landrover and were driven to the coast. Enroute we passed lots of Mara with young of different ages, some were suckling - unusually the mother sat and they sat infront of her. This estancia has a very healthy population of this once endangered species and is the best place to see Mara on the peninsula.
One had a red collar - she was an orphaned mara that was brought to Augustine and he raised her by hand. He put the wool around her neck so he could watch her progress.
We also saw burrowing owls - the chicks were now big enough to stand by the entrance to the burrow.
When we got to the coast we walked on the cliff tops -it was quite cool so we donned jackets - firstly we saw a colony of elephant seals - the worlds second largest land animal after the elephant - the tide was out so they lay there like rows of dead fish, hardly moving - this is the moulting season, the breeding season has just finished so the big males and most of females are back at sea and will return in January - so on the beach were sub-adults in different stages of the moult with some looking very moth eared and others sleek and black having just finished. There were also this years weaned pups thinking about their first trip to sea, finding in some pre programmed way, and then feeding on the fish of, the Argentinean bank - the deep dives for the squid which the adults feed on will not be until next year. We then walked along the beautiful coastline to another inaccessible bay where there were lots of sea-lions and elephant seals. The sea-lions only live on the inaccessible beaches. The difference between sea-lions and seals is the former live on the land feeding at sea but returning to land daily to haul out whereas the seals only moult and reproduce on land the rest of the time they are at sea feeding.
We also saw a hole in the cliff face where buzzard Eagles were nesting, while large petrels glided along the cliff tops infront of us. As we made our way to a point to sit and watch the action we saw the largest lizard (Darwin's lizard) - also quite a rare animal -sunning itself. We could see guanacos standing on the highest hill top and we reached it we could see why - you could see for miles in all directions over the flat Patagonian landscape.
We headed back to the Landrover and the estancia for a lovely lunch cooked by Maria - Augustine's wife- and a siesta before going out again at 1645.
We headed out in a different direction this time and parked by a house they had overlooking the sea and walked onto the beach and close to another colony of elephant seals. This time we got quite close and even closer when they weren't looking. As long as we sat down they were very confiding. We watched as the sub adult males tested themselves fighting in the sea and tried to mate with young females - this is a frustrating time for them as they are sexually mature at 5 years old but will not be big enough to be a 'beach master' and get the spoils until they are 10 so now all they can do is prepare! Augustine has hosted the elephant seal researchers for 20 years now their main activity is census - the other populations of elephant seal live further south on sub Antarctic islands but this is the only growing population ( and the only group that can be researched in shorts! ). While sitting on the shore we also saw kelp gulls, neotropic cormorants, a rock cormorant, crested ducks, American oyster catchers with a young one and a rarely seen skua flew past.
The skies darkened and we had some unusual Patagonian rain on the walk back to the Land Rover. We then made our way back to the Estancia through the different zones with different aged or sex sheep - interestingly they keep the males for wool but they are all castrated. Back at the estancia all the orphaned sheep in the field at the front had moved in from the field and were sheltering in their corral - these sheep all have names and will never be sold the oldest is 10 years old - all the other sheep are sold at 5 years old.
Augustine and Maria - definitely have a soft spot for animals - they also have 3 guanacos who are free to leave but still hang around - the food & attention they get is no doubt much better than out on the pastures ( or should that be areas of arid steppe with tough grasses and scrubby bushes! )
We had another lovely supper, I sorted my emails and tried to charge a battery during our 3 hours of power and then just before 11pm I went to sleep and the power went off!
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