Day 7: Albatross Sextuplifecta
Southern Ocean —international waters
Wednesday 25 December 2019 51 °F
As we approach Antarctica, the seabirding is gradually becoming increasingly more exciting!
The morning started off with a BANG: my lifer WILSON’S STORM-PETRELS! Awesome, tiny jet-black birds that skim the surface of the waves!
My second and third life birds were prions, which are locally common in the Antarctic regions. Here is an ANTARCTIC PRION — note the bold stripe through its eye and the well-defined black “W” pattern on its back.
And the much paler SLENDER-BILLED PRION: note the overall white quality of the bird (especially in the head area).
Albatross species such as the BLACK-BROWED were amazingly abundant today!
As well as the endangered SOOTY ALBATROSS — probably my favorite bird of the trip so far!!!
And one must never forget the bird with the world’s largest wingspan: the WANDERING ALBATROSS!
Here you can see how this species easily dwarves the nearby SOUTHERN GIANT-PETRELS, which are also not small birds by anya means. 
Then, a LIFE BIRD came into view: the highly-anticipated GRAY-HEADED ALBATROSS! 
SOUTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS:
CAPE PETREL, my first since New Zealand!
Then, its counterpart the NORTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS came into view! Their identifying characteristic to be separated from the Southern is this dark leading edges to the wings, which the Southern lacks. Here is a perfect example in the form of my life bird Northern!
And with that — I had seen six albatross species in one day — making it an “albatross sextuplifecta!”
Here is a view of all of us and our scopes lined up on the aft deck 10 — an all day (all day meaning 4am-8pm), everyday sight on the MS Coral Princess!
Bird-of-the-day to my life bird Northern Royal Albatross which I was able to find and identify by myself — that always, as a birder, feels gratifying! Runner-up to the Gray-headed Albatross. SIX albatross species in one day — unprecedented! Stay tuned: tomorrow, the cruise starts the three-day journey touring the Antarctic Peninsula! The captain said we should expect upwards of 1.2 million Adele & various penguin species to be seen from the ship, so I am SO excited!
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1071 Species (5 life birds today) **please excuse the earlier typo
Henry
My husband and I are enjoying your cruise blog and catching your excitement. One question. Your life list was almost 100 birds fewer today. Can we assume it was just an oversight?
Looking forward to continued postings.
by Judy Fitchett