Penguin Island is different at every visit. Depending on the season, the weather and the tide, there are different things to see. At this time of the year (April) there is some courtship activity going on among the Little Penguins, and we managed to see and hear a few in their burrows. They are nocturnal on land, so we didn’t see any moving around. In the Penguin Discovery Centre one of them gave a wonderful display of its braying call, which is part of the courtship activity. We saw them showing off their fast swimming action in the tank (using their wings) which allows the wild penguins to swim up to 200km in a day to catch fish and squid. Returning to the nest in the breeding season, they regurgitate some of it for their two chicks.
Boxfish Photo: Paul Crouchley
Walking around the boardwalks, we saw Silver Gulls sitting on their green, blotchy eggs. There was a big flock of Crested Terns, with their “mullet haircuts” resting on a rock, and from the high lookout we saw a colony of pelicans and some Pied Cormorants. Later, while some children were snorkelling, Fairy Terns were diving for fish close by. Back at the picnic lawn, Buff-banded Rails nosed around, looking for scraps. King Skinks were seen all over the island, possibly looking for insects or eggs to eat. Bottle-nosed Dolphins were seen in the bay, and one boy had a close encounter with a Blue Manna Crab while snorkelling.
Along the beach on the western side we saw rock crabs scuttling through the cracks between the limestone rocks among clusters of blue periwinkles. The children had fun exploring the limestone “caves” or overhangs with their fossil roots and solution pipes. The island is formed from a huge sand dune that formed when it was part of the mainland ten thousand years ago. Among the piles of kelp and seagrass on the beach were sea squirts and cuttlefish bones.
On the boardwalk Photo: Paul Crouchley
The Latin name for the Little Penguin, Eudyptula minor, means “Little Diver” It’s the world’s smallest species of penguin. The nesting boxes we saw are used for scientific research – access through the lid of the box is easier and creates less disturbance than in natural sites.
Unfortunately the tide was too high to allow us to explore the reefs or walk along the eastern beach, and the water was too murky to make snorkelling worthwhile. And the Bridled Terns that can be seen in spring and summer had evidently left for their annual visit to the tropics. However, someone commented on how there were interesting living things to be seen wherever we walked on the island. It is worth making visits to Penguin Island at different times of the year.
Mike Gregson