Penguin Place Conservation Reserve (cont.)

I think all the build up to our tunnel exploration adds excitement to this excursion.  There’s no other way to explain how we react when we have our first view of  the canopy-like huts designed to simulate the kinds of homes/nests the penguins could have built in their original natural habitat.  And in the foreground---penguins!

penguin huts  (nest boxes)

We had just seen the penguin nest boxes when our hushed and cautious travels are rewarded by the arrival of Mitch.  At least our guide says his name is Mitch;  he also tells us  he knows where Mitch is going.  

We’re off again, silent trench runners.  We get to the next destination before Mitch, and when he arrives, he stops to preen. And preen.  And preen.   Apparently this is a critical activity the birds use to spread protective oil along their feathers.  Mitch preens for quite a while. I am starting to wonder if he might just be a little vain.  

Then along comes another penguin, and this one is carrying a branch; turns out it is for his mate who waits in a nest/box just off to the side.  I know that sentence may not sound exciting, even if you read it aloud with emotion.  But it is.  Really.  It’s the equivalent of making a downpayment on a first home.  Our penguin friend with the nice-sized twig bypasses preening Mitch and  proudly drops the twig at his mate’s feet.... sort of.  It’s somewhere near the nest, anyway..  Frankly, I am beginning to wonder if Mitch is really preening or if he’s is just a fussy father-in-law skeptically supervising the new nest construction.

In the video below, you can see the male penguin trudging  homeward.  You get a sense of what we humans are doing, trotting through a covered trench, fighting claustrophobia.   Here’s how Gary describes it: “Ok, For the viewers at home, we’ve been swallowed by an enormous penguin and I’m currently navigatin’ down its gullet.”

  

               Navigating the world of the yellow-eyed penguin   (if you have trouble seeing this video here, check        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UEPJXgwisg)

penguin home

penguin love

Mitch supervising (or preening?)

At the time we visit the Yellow-Eyed penguins, tours like the one we’ve been enjoying are the source of all funding for the conservation project. Between the land-owner’s contribution of the land, his efforts to re-grow native plants to help redevelop the penguins’ habitat, and the dedication of all those involved in the project (from trench diggers to guides) this is one very impressive conservation effort. 

Learn more about our adventure at this site:

http://www.penguinplace.co.nz/