Bart Bear's Blog

Montague Island is home to lots of different birds and animals. The day I was there I saw gulls, terns, penguins, seals and lizards. The birds in this photo are crested terns. These birds can be found all around the warmer parts of the southern oceans. They nest on Montague Island in the summer and raise their chicks. Some stay there all year round. The chick in the picture is almost ready to leave home and do his own thing. You can see he is nearly as big as the parent and has his adult feathers. This is one of the last times he will have a fish bough back for him; it's time he learned to catch his own.
The seals in the bottom photo are expert fishermen. While I was trying to catch fish they swam around the boat and if I wasn't quick enough they would snatch my fish off the line. Of course they usually hunt and catch their own, but they go for easy pickings as well. You can see that they like their rest. Between feeds they just lie around on the rocks and soak up sun. If you have ever been in a bird colony and think the smell was bad, just wait until you are downwind of a seal colony and you will know what really stinks. We had seals swimming all around the boat as well and they are really the most superb swimmers. Someday I want to swim with them.

Labels: animals, birds, New South Wales, south coast