Penguin

2. Being an Adelie chick is hard. This chick ventured out of its nest only to find it had invaded other penguin territory. The adults of the other nest areas began pecking at the chick (pictures 1 and 2) which only made matters worse as the chick got turned around and could not find its home. Finally the chick's parent found it, fended off the others and stood by to guard it (picture 3).
 
1. Today an egg got loose from one of the nests in the first picture. As I watched, it slowly rolled down through the group of nesting birds until it stopped at the bottom of the hill. It lay there for several minutes before a penguin came along, examined it, thought about nesting it between his feet, sat on it for a few seconds, then got up and walked away. Five minutes later, a Skua saw it swooped down, and the egg was gone.

 

Drama, Everyday a New Story
6. A summer storm hit the colony Jan 7, 2007. Strong cold winds and lots of snow. Adult penguins have no trouble withstanding this kind of weather, but chicks are more vulnerable. If they are still small enough, they can crawl under their parents, but many are too big and must survive on their own. Luckily this storm did not last long, the sun came out and none of these chicks were lost.
 
5. This chick has strayed away from the nest. The mother does not want to leave her other chick alone, but is anxious about the wandering one. She checks her nest then comes to call her lost one. The chick hesitates then decides to obey. Back at the nest the mother greets her chick and all is well.
 
4. The banded female from Nest #1 in our study (picture 1) has returned after 10 days at sea on a foraging (finding food) trip. Her mate was left to keep the eggs warm for those 10 days and he probably has been around the nest since early November. It could be he has not eaten in over 3 weeks. Hungry as he is, he must do a bit of housekeeping first. More rocks are needed to make the nest just so, and he dutifully brings his mate the necessary number before she grants him leave (picture 5). Finally, down the trail he goes in search of his first meal in a very long time (picture 6). How many days do you think he will be gone? (Nov 30, 2007)
 
3. Penguins can fly after all. The floating piece of ice this penguin was sitting on, was slowly moving back and forth, towards and then away from the piece he wanted to get to. He sat for some time as in picture 1 and contemplated the distance. When it was right, he launched himself into the air and made the leap.
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