Penguins Day 8 - Monday 13th May

It’s hard to believe we have been here a week already, but we are getting into quite a good routine and are used to where the nests are located, etc.  It’s another lovely day here on Robben Island. This morning Richard, David and I did a repeat of the nest round at NPR North.  All went well, apart from one nest that had 2 x P1 last week but we couldn’t find them this week. We searched the immediate area, but Richard said they would not be able to move far at that age.  We didn’t see any carcasses either, but unfortunately a predator probably got them, either before or after the adult left them. 

This can happen when penguins start their annual moult, and then their own survival instinct kicks in. They go out to see and fish for several weeks to fatten themselves up, because once they come back to land and start to moult they can’t return to the sea to feed because they are no longer waterproof. Essentially, they are also fasting during this time, so they need to build up enough fat reserves to last until their new feathers come through.  So if this coincides with an adult having chicks, they have to abandon the nest. One parent cannot look after chicks, as they have to be kept warm/covered, and fed. So if one adult abandons the nest, the other will soon follow as their first priority is their own survival.

Another nest we checked had a health chick, but the adult had a metal flipper band that was coming loose. Richard managed to catch the penguin, and I tightened the band with some pliers. There was a little feather damage under the wing, which can happen if the bands don’t fit properly and rub. When we let the adult go, it ran away from the nest, so Richard had to go and retrieve it again and make sure it returned to its chick without any problems.

The rest of the round was fairly uneventful. We did come across another spider’s web (that I almost walked straight into), and this time I managed to get a good picture of the beautiful golden orb spider.

We had a leisurely lunch back at the house, and in the afternoon carried out a count of wading birds along the coastline.  Starting at Sandy Beach, we set off in two groups in opposite directions. Richard, Kelley and I walked anti-clockwise – through the harbour, along NPR and then along the west coast past the quarry and wrecks. We also stopped to look at the remains of a whale that had been washed ashore last year - two vertebrae are pictured opposite. The other group must have been really slow, because we walked about two thirds of the way around the island. Although we kept stopping to check out the birds, it was quite hard going under foot along the coastline, and we were quite tired at the end. When the two groups met up again on the west side of the island, we phoned Leanne to come and collect us in the bucky.  While we waited, I managed to get some good photos of the local vegetation.

On the bird count we saw numerous African Black Oystercatchers with their vivid orange beaks and legs; the juveniles have dull beaks with a dark tip, and pale brown legs. There were also a large number of the African Sacred Ibis, a large ungainly looking white bird with a black head and curved beak.  A similar looking bird was the Little Egret, which is all white with just a black beak.  Kelley and I kept getting told off for watching penguins rather than counting sea birds!  Gulls and cormorants did not count, though there are several types of cormorant on the island including Bank and Cape Cormorants, though my favourite was the Crowned Cormorant with its ginger face.  I tried to take photos but the combination of camera zoom, rocky coastline and direction of sun meant they came out rubbish, so I will copy some from the internet.

In the evening, Nancy and David cooked a typical Brazilian meal – I can’t remember the name, but it was minced beef with chorizo and raisins. For dessert, there was cheese with jam on top … not quite sure about that combination!  Somehow I think it will be an early night as we all seemed exhausted.