Cape Royds Nest Check 2012-13

Cape Royds is a small colony of about 2100 nests. It has declined in size since 2000, when there were 4000 nests. The decline was due to a large iceberg that grounded about 60 km (40 miles) north and caused McMurdo Sound to be completely ice covered. This made it difficult for Royds penguins, who had to walk much longer distances than they like. Therefore, many penguins left Royds to find nests in colonies closer to open water. In 2007 water was much closer, only a few kilometers away, penguins started to return to Cape Royds. In 2008, the open water was again about 75 km away and the penguins had to walk further to get here, many decided not to, and there were fewer nests. About half of the nests that were started were lost as the brooding parent could not wait for the foraging parent to return. Hunger forced them to abandon the eggs. The open water was about a 2km from the

colony at the start of the 2009 season and made it much easier for the penguins to reach the colony, but for some reason egg laying was delayed by several days. This also delayed hatching and meant that many chicks would not be ready when the winter conditions closed in. In the 2011 season we had the biggest chicks we have ever seen. The ocean was close and the food plentiful. Every season presents new mysteries to solve, join us as the 2012-13 saeason unfolds.

Click HERE to see archived penguin family histories, and weather statistics,

 

Cape Royds Nest Check | Bird Biography-Nest History

This concludes our Adélie Penguin Nest Check for 2012-13. We wish all the chicks good luck as they continue to mature, grow their adult plumage and find their way to the ocean to feed themselves. Come back Nov 2013 for a whole new season of penguin fun at Cape Royds, Antarctica.

Click HERE to see the Weather Archives

DATE TEMP WIND SPEED PRESSURE (inches Hg) NOTES
Jan 20 -2oC 26 mph SE  29.41 clearing and windy
Jan 19 -3oC 35 mph SE  29.53 storm, high winds and snow
Jan 18 -1oC 11 mph SE  29.47 clear and calm
Jan 17 +1oC 12 mph N  29.06 clouds and breezy

 

Click on any picture to see a larger version or the Nest # to learn more about the penguin family.
Nest #1 Male #1050, 11 years oldThese birds have been named by Suzy Harper's class in Paris Texas. The male is Jack and the female is Jill. Their last name is Frost.

Dec 25, the first chick has hatched, and is named Rosie by Gina Fensterer's children in California. They have named the second chick as well, his name is Tim.
 
   

Nest #2 Male #4235, 6 years old The male has been named J.J. by Kristen Bert's class in Washington DC.The female has been named Skipper by Emily Perry's class in Howard Co MD.

Dec 19. The two chicks have been named by Kristen Bert's class in Washington DC.

   
   

Nest #3, Band #4393, 6 years old. We do not know if this bird is a male or female. Maybe we will find out as the season progresses.The banded bird (we belive is the male) has been named Colby, the non-banded bird is Popper. These birds have been named by Ms Schaefer's and Ms Horn's class at Scott Elementary School in Mascoutah IL.
   
   
Nest #4 Male #4762, 6 years old. This pair has been named Bobo and Maisy by the Girl Scout troop at Sea View School in Edmond Washington.
   
   

Nest #5. Band # 4746, 6 years old. We do not know if this bird is a male or female. Maybe we will find out as the season progresses. Nov 28. The pair has failed to lay an egg.

Nov 29. We are switiching our cameras to a new pair, #3563. She is a 10 year old female and has been nesting at Cape Royds for several seasons. She already has 2 eggs. The pair has been named by Ellen Bergstrom's class at Grayslake Middle School, Grayslake IL. The female is Snowlflake, and the male is Chubbs.

Dec 28. The egg has hatched. There is only one and her name is Clare, named by Gina Ramsey's class in Scott City , Kansas.
hilton group penguin nest
This is the Hilton group. They have a protected nest among many other breeding pairs.  The female with 2 eggs
Nest #6 Male #0919, 14 years old. This pair has been named by Jennifer Ersler's class at Grayslake Middle School in Grayslake, IL. The male is Squirt and the female is Sprinkles. Reinhard Max's class in Germany has named this chick Balou.
   
   
Nest #7 Female #3943, 8 years old. Male #4856, 5 years old. The female has been named Mary by the Vonsild school in Denmark, and the chick has been named Pingo by the same school. The male has been named Pocholo by Jose Manual Saez Lopez's class in Spain. Dec 6. Pocholo has been on the nest for 3 weeks without food or water and Mary did not return. He has left the nest to feed. Dec 7. Mary has now returned, but to a different nest. We do not know when this egg was laid, but we will continue to follow her and her new mate.
   
   
Nest #8 Female #2851, 11 years old. This pair was in our study last year. Students in Mrs. Lorraine Leo's classes in Jackson School in Newton, Massachusetts named the female Penny. Students in Mr. Mikhail Timonin's class in Tarkanovo Secondary School in the Republic of Mordovia, Russia named the male Vasya. Dec 6 is a sad day. This nest is lost. We do not know what happened but both eggs and the adults are gone.
   
Nest #9. Dec 7. Female #4311, 6 years old. First attempt at a nest was last season, but she did not raise a chick. This year the eggs were first seen Nov 25th. We hope this nest will be successful in raising chicks this year. They are in the Lakeshore group and on the flats without many large rocks to protect them from Skuas. Let's wish them luck. Students in Mrs. Lorraine Leo's classes in Jackson School in Newton, Massachusetts named the female Maddie Marie. Students in Mr. Mikhail Timonin's class in Tarkanovo Secondary School in the Republic of Mordovia, Russia named the male Mitya. The chicks have been named Willow and Artie by by Suzanne Tefs class in Willows , Calif.
  Can you find them?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jan 20, 2013 Picture of the Day. This is our last picture for the 2012-13 season. If you would like to see all the pictures from this year go HERE.

New Clothes. This Adélie Penguin chick has almost completely lost his chick feathers and grown a set of adult ones. This is the last step in their maturing before he can keep warm and dry in the water as he looks for food. Many of our chicks below are beginning this process.
Daily pictures of each nest

Nest #1 Jill is here with Rosie and Tim.

 

 Nest #2 David and Richard are close to the nest area,Skipper is close by.

 
Nest #3 Dec 7, This nest has failed. There are no eggs and both adults have left. This adult is neither Popper or Colby. We are very sad at this development, but will add another nest to our study. See our new Nest #9. We do not know what happened.
 
Nest #4 Dec 25. Maisy is gone and the 2 eggs have rolled out of the nest. Maisy could no longer wait for Bobo to return, she was too hungry and left. I do not believe that is Maisy on the nest and for sure it is not Bobo. We are sorry Bobo did not return in time, but will watch the nest of the next few days to see what happens. See the picture-of-the-day for Dec 25 HERE to see what happened to one of the eggs.
 

Nest #5 Snowflake is here with Clare. She is growing.
 

Nest #6 Sprinkles is here today with Balou. You can see he is starting to molt.
 

Nest #7 . Pocholo II is here with the Pingo, who is showing us his new adult feathers which are starting to come in under his wing.

 

Nest #8 Dec 6 This nest is lost. Penny and Vasya are gone and so are both the eggs. We do not know what happened. Skuas probably did not get this nest, so it may have been some fighting among the neighbors that caused the eggs to roll out. We are very sad, and hope you will select another nest to follow.

Jan 9, Penny is here and alone. I have been checking the nest and this is the first I have seen her since Dec.
 
Nest #9, Maddie Marie is nearby.Willow and Artie are on the nest by themsleves.