Observations on the birds of the Vestfjella and Heimefrontfjella, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, 1991/92 and 2001/02

During the austral summers of 1991/92 and 2001/02, we visited the Swedish Research Stations of Wasa and Svea, situated 120 km and 300 km inland in the Vestfjella and Heimefrontfjella, respectively, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. There is no previous comprehensive documentation of the occurrence and the breeding numbers of birds from these areas. To obtain such estimates we combined our field records and extrapolations from nest counts. Four species were encountered, Antarctic Petrel Thalassoica antarctica, Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea, Wilson’s Storm Petrel Oceanites oceanicus and South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki. We report the first nest site of Wilson’s Storm Petrel in the Vestfjella and the first records of Antarctic Petrels in the Heimefrontfjella. The Snow Petrel was by far the most numerous species, with an estimate of 2300–4050 breeding pairs at Scharffenbergbotnen in the Heimefrontfjella. Previous population estimates for the Snow Petrel in these areas are of the same magnitude