Penguins, of course, can’t fly, but this gentoo was doing his/her best to make it happen. It was fun to watch them as they shot from beneath the surface of the water into the air and then back down again. But it was a challenge — in a whack a mole kind of way — to predict where the next one might pop up for a picture. Photographed on Sea lion Island in the Falkland Islands. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 250mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/2000th of a second.

Along with the Cobb’s wren, the Falkland steamer duck is the only endemic bird to the Faulkland islands, occurring nowhere else in the world. It is a large duck and also flightless. This is a mated pair, the male to the left and female to the right. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/14 at 1/500th of a second.

Johnny rook is the local nickname for the striated caracara, likely due to its main prey the gentoo penguin, which itself is often called the Johnny penguin (all very confusing). That’s a gentoo penguin off to the right in the background. These raptors were relentless with their efforts to infiltrate the penguin colonies and steal their eggs. I was down on the ground photographing a few of them when I turned around and saw this guy running toward me (I think he thought I might have something tasty in my backpack). I wish he didn’t have a tag but all in the name of conservation efforts. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 135mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/1600th of a second.

These two gentoo penguins really seemed like they were on some sort of top secret recognizance mission. I watched as they worked their way across the beach, past the dunes, into the hinterland where they forded a few shallow streams, never breaking focus on the importance of their undertaking. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/3200th of a second.

Of the five species of penguin I photographed in the Falkland Islands, the Magellanic is the only one that digs burrows in the ground. This Magellanic penguin was working on lining that burrow with twigs and straw. Photographed early morning at Volunteer Point. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second.

Nothing about a king penguin’s entrance into the water is expeditious. They’ll go to the water’s edge, retreat, go back again, contemplate any danger that may lurk unseen, retreat again, do a little dance, stretch, retreat again, and then finally, maybe, make the plunge and get down to the business of catching fish. This guy appeared to be throwing a few back stretches into the routine, limbering up for the adventure ahead. Photographed at Volunteer Point in the Falkland Islands. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

It was a windy day in the Falklands when this king penguin chick came to pay me a visit. I was on the ground photographing one penguin when suddenly another started pecking at the back of my shoes. The perfect opportunity for my fisheye lens. With all those not-yet-fledged feathers, you could really see the wind in action. Nikon D810 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/1250th of a second.

A lone gentoo penguin seems a bit indifferent, if not downright dejected, about hopping into that water. Photographed on Sea Lion Island in the Falklands Islands. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/200th of a second.

A young southern elephant seal relaxes in the shallow water of an inlet on Sea Lion Island in the Falkland Islands. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 380mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/800th of a second.

A lone gentoo penguin casts a long shadow across the beach at Sea Lion Island in the Falklands. I thought this one looked a bit moon-like (not that I’ve been there — the moon that is — at least not yet). Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/250th of a second.