Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Penguins!



We've been really lucky in the last week or so and seen three different types of penguins! Unfortunately they're very shy creatures so photos had to be taken from a long way away and, in one case, not at all! Apologies for poor quality of pictures.




First was the Fiordland crested penguin in Milford Sound. This little guy has a great hair cut and seemed to be enjoying hopping about on the rocks.


 

While visiting the gorgeous Otago Peninsula near Dunedin, we spent an hour or so camped out in a hide on Sandfly Bay (mercifully free of them that evening!) near a yellow eyed penguin colony. This one was slowly clambering his way up the steep cliff back to his nest just above the beach. His little legs meant that after a just few quick waddles he had to stop for a break.




We loved Sandfly Bay, it had a very special atmosphere, with huge sealions lounging around on the beach and lots of birds enjoying the peace and quiet. On our way back across the sand, we spotted another penguin leaving the water and on its way back to its nest.




Our last penguin spotting event was a trip to Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony on the East Coast. This is home to little blue penguins who, weighing only 1kg and measuring around 30cm in height, are the smallest and rarest penguins in the world. Seeing them was a really special experience; we arrived just as the sun was setting and took our places on the special penguin viewing platform. As it got darker, the guide pointed out "rafts" of around 50 little blue penguins drifting across the water towards the beach. After a few failed attempts to escape the fierce surf, they all flopped onto the rocks, scrambled up the cliff and ran to their nests. We even saw some chicks coming out to meet their parents! Altogether 189 penguins came ashore that night (there was an official count for monitoring purposes) and we felt really priveleged to see such unique birds in their natural environment. OBPC is a really good organisation and does everything it can to limit human interference with the colony, which explains why the only photo we have is of me with a giant limestone penguin!

Rachel x

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