Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

ubbing; another black bird came up swearing, then another and so on - until there
were eight potential suitors (?) in a ring and then the white bird flew off. I noticed the
same at a nest site on the crags, where a white bird and its presumed partner
attracted a crowd of dark birds. The pairs at the nests were bill-rubbing, swaying
from side to side and undulating their necks up and down, making loud noises.
Other birds lifted their heads with beaks open, called and moved their necks
sinuously from side to side, tracing an ellipse in the air and swaying laterally from
leg to leg. In some cases a third bird came up to a pair and all three opened their bills
and waved their necks about. Then the intruder moved away. Once an interloper
approached a pair, to be greeted by cries and clashing of bills. It retreated a little way,
flapped its wings vigorously, ruffled its neck feathers and sat tight. The other two
flew off in a moment and the interloper moved up onto the nest and began to dig
with its bill, throwing snow to one side away from the sheltering rock. When I looked
again the interloper was still digging and another bird was standing a few yards
from the nest. Was it one of the actual ‘owners’ or looking for a mate? One got the
impression that many of these birds were still looking for a mate; could they be
newly mature birds? All the nests on Knife Point crags and at the hut rookery were
occupied - and all this activity seemed very early in the season to me.
Two apparently unconnected birds started mutual display; one bent its neck
stiffly just behind the head, bill open and moved it from side to side, the motion
exaggerated by the swaying of its body and legs. Suddenly they stopped and began
to contemplate the infinite. Five other birds came along and two of them indulged in
the same mutual display. One of this pair was black and smaller and went through
the same motions but with its head held level.
A week later I watched the giants again. Their behaviour was similar to the
earlier pattern, but more were in pairs now - 60%. Bill-rubbing was more a fencing
duel; one thrust with its bill, the other parried and then returned. Parts of these
actions were similar to feeding the young; one of a pair opened its bill and the other
turned its head sideways and thrust between the mandibles of its partner. I also
noticed with some birds in pairs that one bird stood parallel with the sitting bird,
with its head held higher and a bill-rubbing ceremony followed. The standing bird
might then move round until it was facing the other and then sit. Or the two birds
began standing and then sat; one might move away flapping its wings. The pairs
didn't appear to be quite stable, for extra birds came along and joined in. It was
difficult to tell which were interlopers and which not.
In one case a pair was dosing near the nest, then woke up and one of them
turned around to face a nest where another bird had just taken over. A quick peck as
the other moved off the nest; then it sat on the nest, leaving its partner where it was
before. The partner then moved nearer, opened bill, neck bent and emitted a cry. It
moved nearer and turned to face away from the nest as its partner moved towards it
and began to dig snow with its bill, throwing it to one side; the partner did the same
in parallel. Then they began to nose again.
Next day Ralph saw 50 shags from the top of the hill. There weren't many
snowies around, or giant petrels, but there were gulls at Berntsen Point. The pack
edge was now in a line South from the Robertson Islands along the eastern horizon
where there were many large grounded bergs.
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