Skua Family - The Final Migration

Guest Blog by By V R Manchem

The story of the migration of the skua family took a different turn in the end. The parent skua left their young skua behind and left for their destination by end of March. The young skua was left alone to look for food itself, practice more hours of flying to get stronger, and learn to acclimatize for falling temperatures. I was quite baffled how it would reach a destination it has never been before. It left our vicinity a week later after its parents had left. One observation that struck me was that it left its birth place only when its entire original plume had been replaced by new set of feathers resembling an adult. A few days later, on the 5th April, another young skua from Trishuli area came to Maitri along with its parents. They left the same day, but the younger one stayed behind till 16th April when it left the station before sunset. During the time it stayed here, it remained very active and agile and was seen flying most of the time. Its plume had also been totally replaced by a new covering of feathers before it left.

It has been five months here since I came to Maitri. Every day the Nature looks different which I enjoy from my window. Presently the sun rise is at 8.30 am and sun set at 1.30 pm.