The first time ashore in a penguin rookery, one is overwhelmed by the vast numbers of birds. Our recent visits to king penguin colonies especially at Salisbury Plain on the north coast of South Georgia have only served to underscore this impression. As one stands quietly at the perimeter, the sounds of the colony become apparent and the cacophony begins to reveal its structure. A male stretches his neck skyward and calls presumably inquiring about available females. Elsewhere two penguins are in lock step in the midst of their courtship walk.

Most activity is between penguins but occasionally, if one is patient enough, someone else gets into the act. Skuas are a marauding presence in penguin colonies. Related to the gulls but with a more aggressive and cheeky attitude, skuas patrol the colony looking for a meal. It might be an abandoned egg, a weakened chick, a wounded adult or a rotting carcass. With catholic tastes, skuas perform a useful service of weeding out the sick and the infirm, cleaning up the carcasses and assuring that the protective adults are ever alert. And, all the while, they are carrying on their own courtship, nesting and raising their young.

A patient observer is often rewarded with these vignettes as the daily life of the colony plays itself out. Occasionally one reaps the benefit of Yogi Berra's admonition, "You can see a lot by looking." And so it was on this day that the skua challenged the penguin -- or was the penguin challenging the skua? A snapshot will never reveal the answer, but if you had been standing there you could have observed the outcome.