“It’s like Scotland – but with penguins. You’ll love it!” That was how a friend of mine summed up the Falkland Islands before my visit, and he was absolutely right.
Five species of penguin breed here, raising their young in noisy, smelly colonies during the brief austral summer: the Magellanic, gentoo, southern rockhopper, macaroni and king.
Of all these, the aptly named king penguin really stole the show. At almost a metre tall, it is second only to the emperor penguin in size, and is arguably even more handsome.
Signs all around the colony at Volunteer Point, on East Falkland, warned me not to get too close. But that didn’t stop the penguins approaching me: waddling past like old men in dinner suits, as if on their way to supper at the club.
Like all penguins, the kings are a photographer’s dream. I spent hours looking for – and finding – new angles: wide shots to show the whole spectacle, individual portraits of adults and their fluffy chicks, and ultra-closeups of the birds’ heads, feet and sharp, pointed bills.
But most of all, I was transfixed by the colours, patterns and texture of their plumage – deep black, pure white and rich orange and yellow – and the shapes they made when they huddled together. Simply mesmerising.
