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Yellow-Eyed Penguins
The beautiful beach in the photo above is located on the ocean side of the Otago Peninsula, and yellow-eyed penguins come up on the beach and roost in the bush just inland from the beach. The land is privately owned, and the owners have developed it into a wildlife refuge. They build cute little huts that the penguins use for roosting, and they built a blind so tourists can walk among the nests. We had houseguests a month ago, and I took them there. It was my first time. The next two photos show the nesting area from a hill nearby. The second photo zooms in so you can see the funny green tunnels made of netting where we walked to get to the blinds. The light green vertical boxy things in the second photo are protectors for trees that had just been planted.
When we were there, the penguins had already given birth to their young and had gone back out to sea. Only a few young were left, the ones who were a bit late to go to sea themselves. The only adult penguins who were there were moulting. The adult penguins come back year after year, so the people at the refuge name them. The in the two photos below was named Lynne (I assume it was spelled right!), and you can see how rough her feathers are as they moult.
While they're moulting, the stand or lie down for days, and live off their stored fat. They can't go to sea and fish while they moult. So some of them were standing, like Lynne, but others were laying down.
That blob beside the pond in the next photo is a moulting penguin.
In the next photo you can see the cute little huts where they nest.
Only a very few adolescent penguins were there, late to go out to sea. Juveniles lack the yellow patch around their eyes that the adults have. The juveniles are banded but not named. When they go to sea in their first season, they can end up nesting somewhere other than where they were born.
The penguin refuge also runs a little hospital for wounded penguins from all around the South Island. One of the penguins in the hospital (named Dave) had been mauled by a shark. Others had different kinds of injuries. The next batch of photos show the penguins in the hospital, which was a fenced area with a cement floor. The first one is fjordland crested penguin, and you can see the crest. The rest were yellow-eyed penguins, one of the two common penguins on the south east side of the South Island. Yellow-eyed penguins are found only in New Zealand and are one of the rarest kinds of penguins.
We walked up on a headland beside the penguin refuge and saw a bunch of New Zealand fur seals. Some of them were frolicking in the water and some of them were sleeping on the top of the headland.
Another highlight of the penguin refuge was a batch of pukekos in the pond. The two outer birds are adults and you can see the blue on them. The middle two are juveniles, and the blue hasn't appeared yet.
A paradise shelduck was also there, munching on grass. They have such lovely coloring.
The beautiful beach in the photo above is located on the ocean side of the Otago Peninsula, and yellow-eyed penguins come up on the beach and roost in the bush just inland from the beach. The land is privately owned, and the owners have developed it into a wildlife refuge. They build cute little huts that the penguins use for roosting, and they built a blind so tourists can walk among the nests. We had houseguests a month ago, and I took them there. It was my first time. The next two photos show the nesting area from a hill nearby. The second photo zooms in so you can see the funny green tunnels made of netting where we walked to get to the blinds. The light green vertical boxy things in the second photo are protectors for trees that had just been planted.
When we were there, the penguins had already given birth to their young and had gone back out to sea. Only a few young were left, the ones who were a bit late to go to sea themselves. The only adult penguins who were there were moulting. The adult penguins come back year after year, so the people at the refuge name them. The in the two photos below was named Lynne (I assume it was spelled right!), and you can see how rough her feathers are as they moult.
While they're moulting, the stand or lie down for days, and live off their stored fat. They can't go to sea and fish while they moult. So some of them were standing, like Lynne, but others were laying down.
That blob beside the pond in the next photo is a moulting penguin.
In the next photo you can see the cute little huts where they nest.
Only a very few adolescent penguins were there, late to go out to sea. Juveniles lack the yellow patch around their eyes that the adults have. The juveniles are banded but not named. When they go to sea in their first season, they can end up nesting somewhere other than where they were born.
The penguin refuge also runs a little hospital for wounded penguins from all around the South Island. One of the penguins in the hospital (named Dave) had been mauled by a shark. Others had different kinds of injuries. The next batch of photos show the penguins in the hospital, which was a fenced area with a cement floor. The first one is fjordland crested penguin, and you can see the crest. The rest were yellow-eyed penguins, one of the two common penguins on the south east side of the South Island. Yellow-eyed penguins are found only in New Zealand and are one of the rarest kinds of penguins.
We walked up on a headland beside the penguin refuge and saw a bunch of New Zealand fur seals. Some of them were frolicking in the water and some of them were sleeping on the top of the headland.
Another highlight of the penguin refuge was a batch of pukekos in the pond. The two outer birds are adults and you can see the blue on them. The middle two are juveniles, and the blue hasn't appeared yet.
A paradise shelduck was also there, munching on grass. They have such lovely coloring.
1 comment:
Wonderful post. I'm hoping to take the troops there this Summer. Any tips?
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