Sea-bird Rehabilitation at SANCCOB

I had a morning flight from PE to Cape Town, arriving mid-morning on what promised to be another very hot day.  I had my case shrink wrapped and left it at left luggage before catching the myCiti bus into Cape Town – wish I had known about this before as it’s a very clean, safe and efficient rapid transport route into the city, is direct with no stops and much cheaper than a taxi.  The trip took about 30 minutes, and at the Civic Centre I changed bus for Table View.  The next bus did stop, but it had a dedicated bus lane for much of the way, and gave me chance to see a different part of the city.

I arrived early at Table View so had lunch at the nearest convenient place – MacDonalds. I then walked to SANCCOB about a mile away. Once I had crossed the very busy main road, it was an easy walk along the side of a nature reserve with up-market houses on the other side. I was comforted by the proximity of the police station and quiet of the area, otherwise I wouldn’t have walked myself.
 
I was still a bit early when I arrived at SANCCOB, the sea-bird rehabilitation centre, so watched the resident penguins in their pen before my tour commenced. These are the penguins that cannot be released back into the wild for various reasons – some are amputees missing a flipper or foot, one had a disfigured beak. Others seemed healthy, but they have genetic or other diseases which means they are not wanted to breed and spread the problems further.

During my 1:1 tour I saw all the different stages that an incoming bird goes through. Oiled birds are washed, which takes four people two hours; there is an Intensive Care Unit for the most needy; then the birds progress through various groups as they recuperate until they are finally fit enough to leave. There is also a hatchery and chick rearing unit where abandoned eggs are artificially incubated until they hatch, and the young penguins are hand fed every two hours until they are big enough to join other penguins on the path to release.  It was really interesting to see the work SANCCOB do.

To finish I had a cuddle with Rocky the rockhopper penguin, who is too far from home to be released and is now acting as SANCCOBs penguin ambassador. She was a lot friendlier than the penguins on Robben Island!

The trip back to the airport was hot but uneventful – bag recovered, checked in, cleared security, and ready for the long flight back to the UK.

On Safari

A very early start today – up and away by 6:30 am to miss the traffic out of PE and we still managed to get caught in a bit of a jam. It was about an hours drive out of the city before we reached the Addo Elephant National Park just after dawn.  We were the first entrants to the South Gate. The main park stretches for about 20 miles North/South and 10 miles East/West and there are various roads and loops to follow.  We headed north and came across a group of elephants after just a few minutes.  We stopped for breakfast at Jack’s Picnic Site, which is fenced in so you can have a break without fear of being eaten by lions; otherwise it is strictly stay in your car.   The main watering hole we were aiming for had no animals whatsoever, but at the next stop at Gwaddarie Dam we again had a great view of elephants drinking, and bathing. They passed really close to us, and I managed to get some video.

It was turning in to the hottest day of my trip, peaking at 33 degrees, so we stopped for a longer rest at the main camp. Here we could browse the souvenir shop, get a cold drink, visit the interpretation centre, and sit in the shade and watch the world go by.

We took a different route back, and didn’t see any lions but did see various animals including (more) elephants, caracal, zebra, buffalo, warthog, jackal, ostrich, and lots of different birds.

In all we spent a leisurely 8 hours in the park – there is a speed limit which is enforced by huge speed bumps and the quality of some of the roads. It was an excellent day and a great experience, and I am really grateful for Joyce and John driving me around.

In the evening, I chilled out and packed my bags ready for the long journey home.
 

Two sides of the same city

I didn’t manage a lie in, but was free to chill out round the house while Joyce and John went to church, as it was also their AGM afterwards which they could not get out of.  I contemplated going for a dip in the pool, but having dipped a toe in decided it was far too cold!  Although the weather is fine, the days are short and there is not enough time for the water to heat up.

At lunchtime, Joyce and I took a food delivery to the local township which is part of their church mission.  We were greeted by an enthusiastic little 3 year old boy, and two friendly dogs.  It gave me a chance to get up close and personal with the side of the city that many ignore.

This was in great contrast to our excursion in the afternoon.  We had an exquisite Sunday lunch buffet at the Kipling Brasserie in the large, new and exclusive 5 star Boardwalk hotel.  We walked off dinner along the beach, and I dipped a toe in the Indian Ocean.

Hello Port Elizabeth

It was quite an early start to get a taxi to the airport for my mid-morning flight to Port Elizabeth. The roads were quiet and I could probably have had another hour in bed … as it was, I had lots of time to scope out the left luggage and bus route for my detour in Cape Town on the way home, wander round the shops, and spent an hour browsing the web in a coffee shop, my first skinny latte for two weeks.

The flight was on time and uneventful. I had a window seat so enjoyed fantastic views along with southern coast of Africa. Joyce and John were there to meet me at the airport.  As I only have a few days with them, we decided to make the most of the time and in the afternoon went to an animal sanctuary about half an hour drive away. The city has a completely different feel to Cape Town, and the landscape is much more English. “African Dawn” was a really nice little place that seemed well managed but there were only two other people there which seemed strange for a weekend – better advertising needed!  There were huge aviaries with hundreds of birds, a whole flock of the rather scary secretary birds, a jackdaw that barked like a dog and chuckled and had us in hysterics, several large cats (cheetah, cerval and something else I need to get the name of), a lazy old crocodile, a couple of cheeky chipmunks, and lots of parrots.

In the evening, we just caught up over a meal at home.
 

Bye Bye Robben Island

An earlier than usual start - up for breakfast, finish packing, clear the rooms and a final sweep up and mop around before loading everything into the backie and going round to the harbour by 8:00am.  The boat finally arrived from the mainland, and by 9:00am we were underway on the Nauticat, a glass bottomed tourist boat. This meant the journey back took more than an hour ... and there were some quite big swells.  I took a travel sickness tablet, sat outside in the fresh air, and watched the horizon - and despite feeling a bit weird I wasn't sea-sick - yeah!

I managed to get an earlier check in to the hotel, and this time got a great view over the harbour and towards Table Mountain.

In the afternoon I spent a few hours bimbling round the V&A Waterfront area, buying presents and chilling out. I bought myself a bath bomb, and treated myself to a well earned (and needed!) bath, then met up with the gang for a final meal together.

We had a lovely meal at a typical local restaurant on the Waterfront called Karibu which I would highly recommend. I had the bobotie.

Penguins Day 11 - Thursday 16th May

Our last day working on the project :(  The day dawned dull and misty as yesterday, and sleep had been interrupted by the fog horn across the bay sounding every few minutes, so it was a bit of a subdued start. Our normal 8:30 am start was delayed for half an hour or so to see if the weather cleared up. We were doing a moult count in the morning – not much point unless you can see the penguins.

Armed with binoculars we set off just after 9:00 am. David and I accompanied Katta on the route from the bottom end of the island to the harbour then along Sandy Beach. It was pretty miserable, but like yesterday it was also quite warm once you got walking.  There weren’t many penguins about either … probably all having a lie in too whilst the weather was so poor!  Then all of a sudden we came across a group of penguins, and two of them were copulating (sorry, no photo!).  I did however take a picture of the beautiful iridescent abalone shells which are found all over the beach here (sadly also now endangered due to over harvesting), and the pretty chukar partridge that I am sure Geoff would love to shoot! 

Much of the rest of the day was spent cleaning the house and packing our bags. There was some talk of getting the 6:30 am staff ferry back to the mainland in the morning. Luckily after numerous phone calls it seems we will be able to get the 8:15 am instead – so not quite such an early start, but we still need to get all packed up and ready to leave tonight.

In the afternoon Kelley wasn’t feeling so good and Nancy and David wanted to go to the harbour shop, so I went off on a beach clean-up myself, returning to the rocky shore on the bottom edge of the island.  I was on my fourth bag in less than 100 metres when Katta and Richard drew up in the backie.  We filled up the last two bags then drove the rubbish round to the collection site. The amount of rubbish was quite appalling, but with the island being right in the middle of the bay it gets hit on from all sides.
Over a cup of tea I quizzed Richard about how I might be able to come back. Until I finish my degree there are obviously limited opportunities, but there are both internships and volunteering slots at SANCCOB that are definitely worth exploring.

After dinner, I washed up and Kelley and I gave the kitchen another final scrub up. The house is looking rather better than when we arrived.

Penguins Day 10 - Wednesday 15th May

On the way to this morning’s task we had to take a detour, as Richard spotted a swift tern stuck in the fence in the village. It is a plasticised wire fence and it seemed to have flown in and got its head caught. Richard scaled up the 10 foot fence and rescued it. It was stunned but alive, and may have had some damage to its head and wing. We returned to the house to get a bird transportation box. The bird was then dispatched on the next ferry to the mainland, where it would be collected at the port by someone from SANCCOB (The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) who would hopefully nurse it back to health and release it back into the wild.

After that dramatic start to the day, we did a repeat of last week’s chick conditioning round, so I went with Leanne again. We followed the same route, though this time it included a few new nests where the chicks were too small to measure last time, and a few empty nests where the P4’s had already fledged … a bit of a relief as some of them were a bit of a handful last week.

En route we saw a rather grand peacock, a small herd of Chuker Partridge that are endemic to the island, and another lovely caterpillar. The caterpillars here are similar to the drinker moth in that they are predominantly black and very hairy, though there must be several different species as they have different colourings.

It was quite hard going this morning. We started the round at about 9am and didn’t finish until 1pm, so were out for 4 hours. It was a grey, very humid morning which made it feel more tiring.  It is quite hard work trying to hold squirming penguin chicks safely without hurting them or putting yourself in the firing line.  Leanne had a technique of putting one chick in between her legs whilst we measured the other – which works well until the chick decided to projectile poop! Luckily it hit it’s sibling rather than one of us. I think I did a bit better today as I only got pooped on once, and though I was pecked at a lot, I didn’t get properly bitten.  I did manage to spray paint myself though rather than the chick as it was a particularly good squirmer.

The round was quite successful. We got to nearly the end and measured a chick that seemed quite underweight compared to its peers, but after a quick phone call to Katta decided it was within the normal range. The parent was still with it in the nest, and in any case Leanne seemed confident that it would last a good few days if it wasn’t being fed, so it could be rescued next time if necessary.

However, at our last nest we were greeted with the site of a dead P4. There were no obvious signs of attack or disease, and it seemed a healthy size and weight. It was also the ‘alpha’ first born and stronger chick. The parent and other P4 chick were still in the nest a few metres ways, and seemed fine. We measured the live chick and it seemed healthy, so it’s a bit of a mystery why its sibling died.

We got lift back to the house and had a late lunch and rest before our next task.  In the afternoon we returned to the Lepers Graveyard to deploy another dozen or so nest boxes. It was quite hard to find some of the existing/potential nests from the GPS co-ordinates given, so in the end we just sited them at likely spots (identified by footprints and poo).

In the evening, I prepared the veggies for the barbeque then had a quick shower before catching up on some notes. After dinner, we shared a few photos then got ready for an early night.

Penguins Day 9 - Tuesday 14th May

In the morning, Kelley and I joined Katta doing the nest round through the woods off Cornelia Road, a route that we had not done before. In fact, Katta was also trying to survey some closed nest boxes at the same time, so Kelley and I got on and did a lot of the round ourselves. The route took us into an abandoned building, where we found a P0 barely out of the egg.  Some of the route took us in between the old gun enplacements, which I am sure Robert would have found interesting. There were stairs leading down to various underground tunnels that would have been exciting to explore. There seemed to be a lot of nests on this round with eggs or very young chicks. One nest had an E4, a code we had not used before. This is the stage before P0 where the egg has just barely cracked, and you can hear the chick ‘pipping’ as they try to break out.

After lunch we went to the Leper Graveyard just off the main road to place some new nest boxes. The whole island is going to be cleared of invasive plants, which makes up most of the vegetation now present. Therefore the nest boxes will provide alternative shelter for the penguins. The idea was to site the nest boxes this season so that they penguins can scope them out and start using them before the vegetation starts to be cleared at the end of the breeding season. We were given GPS co-ordinates of existing active or abandoned nests, and had to site the new nest boxes adjacent, so it was a bit like a treasure hunt.  Hopefully the little guys appreciate our efforts.

For the last hour of the day, Kelley and I went on a rabbit count round the island in the backie. This is a bit like the game count … but for rabbits. We only counted along certain routes, and only 10-20m in from the edge of the road. We counted zero rabbits en route, though I did see one by the church once we had finished. I also saw a pair of crowned lapwings which were pretty; plus a dead tortoise which was not so nice.  Overall though, it was not quite as successful as the game count.

On the way back, we stopped at one of the logger birds and were privileged to watch as Richard and Katta removed the data logger from one of their tracking penguins.  Richard expertly reached into the nest for the penguin, wearing a neoprene cut-off from a wetsuit to protect his arm. The data logger was strapped onto the penguins with duct tape, which Katta carefully removed. They then weighed the bird and measured its beak, and also took a couple of feathers for DNA and isotope analysis.   Once released, it happily returned to its mate and chicks in the nest.

After a quick shower back at the house, we tucked into another delicious meal of chicken fajitas made by Nancy and David … which meant I was on washing up duty again.

In the evening, we were given a slide show of one of Nancy and David’s previous trips – a tour of New Zealand and the Antarctic. I think Robert would approve: the trip was apparently popular with the Brits because it took in both Scott and Shackleton’s huts along with Indeterminable Island.  Given my history with sea sickness though, the thing I would not be so keen on would be the 4 weeks spent on a boat with up to 15 feet waves.

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.

Penguins Day 7 - Sunday 12th May

We had a day off today. It was quiet in the house without Nancy and David, so in the morning we just chilled out, read, caught up on emails, etc.  After a late lunch, Kelley and I went for a walk around the bottom of the island, on a penguin photo shoot. At the other side of the village, we went down to Sandy Beach and immediately saw a group of penguins loafing around. We watched them for a while, then made our way slowly along the beach to the harbour, where we managed to catch the souvenir shop open, bought a few presents, and treated ourselves to an ice cream.

After that, we found the penguin boardwalk, which ends in a bird hide just the other side of the harbour wall. Again, we were treated to a group of penguins hanging out, and some more coming ashore. There were also cormorants on the harbour wall, and ibises in the background. 
At about 5pm we made our way back through the village, and walked through to far side of the island where there are good views of Table Mountain across the bay. We were lucky to see yet another group of penguins coming in from the sea, with the sunset casting a red glow on the mountains.

It started to get rather chilly when the sun went down, so we walked back round to the house to find that Richard had made a delicious beef stew.

A very relaxing day, leaving us refreshed and eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s tasks.

Penguins Day 6 - Saturday 11th May

Today we discovered that while it’s easy to get off the island, it’s not that easy to get back on!

It was our day off, so we took the morning ferry back to Cape Town. Nancy and David disappeared to find the train for their overnight trip to Simonstown.  Kelley and I got the tourist bus round to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, where we had a wander round and then some lunch. The gardens are really beautiful.

The tourist bus took the long route back to the waterfront, but the drive round the peninsula coast was quite spectacular. We arrived back in Cape Town around 4pm, and had a really quick whizz around the shopping mall to buy essential supplies consisting of an internet dongle, wine, chocolate and shampoo.

We got to the ferry terminal in plenty of time for the 5pm staff ferry back to the island … but they only had Kelley’s name and not mine. You have to book tickets two days in advance and get the form signed in triplicate to be able to travel. It was literally a case of ‘your name’s not on the list, you can’t come in.’  After about half an hour we were getting very frustrated. I was at my wits end, because all my stuff was on the island, and I was preparing for a sleep in at the ferry terminal as I had nowhere else to go. Luckily, one of the island tour guys recognised Kelley and managed to convince the officials to let us both through.

Even better, when we arrived on the island Katta was waiting for us at the ferry terminal and gave us a lift back to the house, saving us a long walk with all the shopping. We had a quieter dinner with just five of us present, then I attempted to get the internet dongle to work … if you are reading this, I was probably successful.

Sad news of the day – Richard reported another penguin run over, which makes three this week L

Penguins Day 5 - Friday 10th May

In the morning Katta, David and I had quite a long round to follow, recording the occupants of artificial nest boxes set up by MCM.  It was quite a nice walk, but also long and it turned into a hot day.  The majority of the boxes were empty, so it wasn’t as interesting as the previous day.  We did struggle to find a few boxes too, so it was a relief to finish and have some lunch.

I was feeling decidedly hot and bothered in the afternoon, with a headache threatening, so while the others did a tour of the prison I lay down for a few hours. Unfortunately the gardeners were still working outside so I didn’t get much sleep, but I did feel a bit more rested in the afternoon and went to make another nest box outside.

When the others returned, I helped Nancy with some data entry so we are all up to date with keying. After dinner I read the Biodiversity Action Plan that I found lying around, which was quite interesting.

Penguins Day 4 - Thursday 9th May

Our first task this morning was measuring and weighing chicks. We were advised to wear old clothes, and were issued with gloves … We split into small groups, which meant that I was 1:1 with Leanne and we took a route from the other side of harbour in the area around NPR.  It was exhausting work but really great to get hands on and up close to the chicks.  This involved crawling through the bushes, distracting the parent (if present), and grabbing the chick(s). If there were two chicks, they had to be taken together and put back together so that the parent did not get confused. We had to be careful putting them back, so that the chick was close enough to the nest to make it back. If there were other adults nearby, they could attack them. Also, the parent could attack them, and I did have to intervene on one until they had settled down.

I got pecked, bitten, clawed and pooped on but it was worth it. The smallest chicks we measured were P2s.  They fur on the body was really soft and downy, just like a fluffy toy. The down on their flippers was equally soft but shorter and like velvet.  They were quite easy to handle, and generally well behaved. The older, larger P4s (blues) were much harder. They were almost fully grown, had a wicked bite, and some did not want to cooperate at all.  Having to handle two at once was quite a handful.  The chicks were spray painted blue or green to indicate which was first born (one egg hatches a day or two before the second). However, the chicks can overtake one another in terms of development, for example one may get preferential feeding from the parents, so the colour coding helps keep track of which chick is which.

It was a long morning. We set off at 8:30am and didn’t get back to the house until 1pm, having trekked through the brush in warm weather. On route, we saw a mole snake and some awesome spiders, both of which I avoided.

In the afternoon we just did a short task – a census walk. The involved covering a smallish area as a group, walking in a line in a search pattern and recording all the nests we found – whether active, abandoned or potential. This gives an idea of the overall population size, as not all nests are studied on the nest rounds, and only a small proportion are measured/weighed.

For the last couple of hours we made nest boxes. These are triangular penguin huts made out of wooden struts and a plywood walls.  The design works as they are being habited, though they can get warm in summer.  We managed to make 11 between us, before it started to get too cold and dark and hard on the knees.

We had a braai in the evening, with grilled sausage, ribs, corn and butternut squash followed by marshmallows and chocolate. A nice end to our toughest day yet.
 

Penguins Day 3 - Wednesday 8th May

On the way to this morning’s drop off point for our nest rounds, we came across two dead penguins right in the middle of the road. One was by the side of the road and had probably been clipped by a car. The other was very much squished in the middle of the road. It was not a nice sight, and I think Richard was quite upset.  There are not that many people living on the island, and there is nowhere to go in a rush, so why can they not slow down and let the penguins (and other birds) pass?  They were deliberately left in the road so that the first coach of tourists of the day could see them, get upset, and maybe someone would react. Apparently traffic calming measures have been requested, but no action is being taken. And as there is no way to tell who did it, no-one is penalised even though they have killed an endangered animal.
 
Another morning spent checking nests, but on a different route and with a different companion. This morning, Nancy and I checked the ‘Sandy Beach’ route with Richard. The first hour was a bit of struggle to find the right nests, as the route was in between sand dunes and bushes on the shore, and less linear than the day before.

My job today was to use the poking stick to lift the penguins and check for eggs and chicks. This was harder than it sounded given the depth of the bushes, and I didn’t want to harm the birds.  I also had to ID the adults, which was quite hard to do. We came across quite a few birds that were not recorded, so we took new photos.

We also re-opened a closed nest, and also found a day old chick – a P0 – which was very cute.

The route ended at the harbour so we had a quick look around the souvenir shop and used the facilities which waiting for a lift. The other group finished around the same time, and so one of the post-grads picked us up in the truck. We took the long route back to the house so that we could get a tour of the island, passing through the second swift tern colony near the quarry and circling up round the other side of the island. The red and white lighthouse is a good indicator that we were close to home.  We saw fallow deer and springbok en route, as well as several ibises down on the shoreline.

It started to rain when we got back, so we had another chill out hour after lunch while some of the students went off and completed a task.  By mid-afternoon the rain had stopped and it was a beautiful clear day. We returned to Sandy Beach with bin bags and rubber gloves, and picked up over a dozen bags full of trash.

Later in the afternoon, an hour before sunset, Richard took David and I on a ‘game hunt’ while the others did some data entry.  The aim was to monitor the deer population on the island, so we drove quite a circuitous route around the island, including some off-roading (which was quite uncomfortable on the back of the ‘bucky’). We saw lots of fallow deer, and fewer numbers of springbok and steen deer.  We had lovely views of the sunset on the west side of the island, which I am sure my camera won’t do justice to. We had plenty of time to stop and take photos as the bucky was over-heating …

Back to the house for a quick shower. Davide the post-grad student from Sicily is treating us to gnocchi, so I’m excused cooking duties tonight.  It gets dark around 6pm, which makes me feel quite sleepy … hopefully no nightmares about being chased by leopards tonight!

Penguins Day 2 - Tuesday 7th May

I woke a little earlier than the allotted 7:30am alarm call, but generally slept well.  We had an informal breakfast and were ready at 8:30am to set off on our first task.

Richard, Kelley and I were dropped on the road just past the harbour, and following a route called NPR-N we checked the nests for eggs and chicks.  As these are checked at regular intervals every 5-6 days, you know from the last visit what should be there.  In most of the nests, we found what was expected. The eggs and chicks all coded and the visit recorded.  Eggs were coded E0 if new (very clean and white), EU for an egg of unknown age (it’s hard to tell the age if older than a day or so up to hatching), and EA for egg abandoned if there was no adult there.  The chicks were coded P (for precocious?). P0 is new-born to 2 days old, with eyes still shut. P1 is small, young and fluffy. P2 is larger, with the parent still able to cover the chick under their wing. P3 is becoming larger and starting to lose down around the face. By P4 the chick is nearly fully fledged, with blue/grey more waterproof feathers.

If necessary we used a big stick to gently lift the adult penguin to see what was lying underneath.  We did find one new nest, in one of the new nest boxes, so labelled that up. There were also some other penguins ‘loafing around’ that might have been looking for a nest site.

We also tried to ID the adult penguin(s) that were on the nest. There was normally just one parent present, whilst the other was off fishing.  We had a book of photographs to compare to. They have distinctive spot patterns on their belly. When they are on the nest and the belly can’t be seen, there are often identifying features on the face and neck.

On the way, we had to drive through a colony of swift terns nesting literally in the village. It was like a scene out of Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’. There were several dead birds in the road, and we had to dodge several others.  There are two visiting post-grads studying the relationship between weight and size of head, to gauge parameters for healthy birds. As we returned back to the house for lunch, we stopped and watched for a while as they collected the chicks up, weighted them in bags, and measured their head using digital callipers. They were then released and scampered off back to the colony. – the birds, not the post-grads.

We walked back to the house for lunch, and had an hour to chill out afterwards before our next task.

In the afternoon we did a molting check along the coast. As opposed to checking nests, we were checking out the groups of penguins hanging out along the coast. These were normally juveniles and adults who had returned from swimming from mid-afternoon onwards.

We saw lots of other birds including: guinea hen (blue head and a little crest), spur hen (more grey), peacock, swift tern, kelp gul, kestrel, black oystercatcher and an African sacred ibis … as well as lots of penguins!

Penguins Day 1 - Monday 6th May

Had the best 8 hours sleep last night, and after breakfast at the hotel I had a wander around the V&A waterfront which is literally on the doorstep.  It was still coming to life, but looks like a cool place to be.  I am going to head back down there in a few minutes once I have checked out.  I am meeting the rest of the group at the clocktower at 1pm to start our adventure!

This morning I visited the Two Oceans Aquarium, which had lots of different creatures on display. Some of them I have never seen before, as they are indigenous this area.  I found the massive spider crabs especially unnerving, and there were lots of poisonous creatures ... along with the great white sharks, the waters around South Africa are not somewhere you want to be swimming!

Of course, I had to go and visit the penguin pool, and check them out.  No doubt I will get chance to get up close to them in the next few weeks. Hopefully they don't bite too hard!

Met the group at 1pm at the clocktower and we had lunch at the adjacent café.  The ferry to the island is broken, and there is only a smaller replacement service, meaning we had to wait until 5:30pm for the next boat.  We spent a few hours slowly browsing some of the African craft markets for presents and souvenirs.

When we got to the ferry terminal, we eventually loaded all our stuff up (reminiscent of Shuna trips!), but we had to wait for someone before we finally set off around 6.15pm just as it was starting to get dark.  The crossing took around an hour, and it was fairly calm but quite cool as we were sitting up top in the top. There were great views as Cape Town disappeared in the distance.

There was a 4x4 pickup waiting, but not enough room for us and all the luggage, so we loaded the luggage and set off walking. By now it was pretty much pitch black so we didn’t see much of the island. The pickup came back for us and carried us the last half mile or so up to the house.

The house is bigger and more comfortable than I imagined, with separate living area, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. I am sharing a room with Kelly, and there is plenty of space to organise our stuff.  We had a light dinner and a briefing in the evening, then retired to bed, anticipating our first proper day.

Cape Town tourist

The plane journey was a bit of a nightmare. We boarded at Heathrow on time, then had to sit on the runway for an hour whilst the engineers looked at a hydraulic leak.  Not very comforting, and I was fidgety before we even set off!  I must say it was the longest flight I have ever been on, and despite it being overnight I didn't get a wink of sleep.  I can highly recommend the film 'Life of Pi' though!

The taxi ride to the hotel was uneventful, but it was quite cool to see flamingoes hanging out in lakes at the side of the freeway when I have only ever seen them in zoos.  I made it to the hotel by around 10am and they manage to check me in and allocate a room straight away, which was great. After a quick shower and change, I took the sightseeing bus 'blue' route for a hop on hop off tour around the Cape Town area.

My first stop was World of Birds - not a huge site in terms of size, but that is good because it saves your feet!  There are a maze of aviaries that you can go into and mingle with the birds - which is fine when its just a small parrot, but a bit more disconcerting when its an eagle owl or vulture!  They also had meercats and penguins. It was lovely and shady, so a relaxing way to spend a few hours away from the midday sun.

On the recommendation of a lady I met on the plane, I decided to take advantage of the clear weather and good views and go up Table Mountain.  The views were absolutely spectacular. Part way around I met a brazilian air stewardess called Sandra who, like me, was dithering about scrambling across to another areas to get better views to the west. It was well worth it, and nice to have some company for a while.

We made it back to the cable car with ten minutes to spare before the last run down.  I got a taxi back to the hotel just as the sun was going down over the city.  I then had a delicious meal in the hotel, and tried ostrich for the first time.  Now, time for some sleep zzzzz.

Leaving on a jet plane

Well I made it to the airport on time. The only thing I have forgotten so far was to set up my phone to work abroad and after a quick call to Orange that is now sorted. It's a sunny afternoon here in Manchester and I am just about to get on my first plane. Feel a little nervous but looking forward to my adventure.

...

Three hours to kill at Heathrow Terminal 5. There are only many swanky shops you can look at without getting bored. I has a play with an iPad in one of the stores and now I want one! It's definitely on my wish list for when my shares mature. I decided to treat myself to an early dinner at Wagamamas, then I think I will try and find a quiet corner and read my book.