Gentoos!

As mentioned in the last blog and recorded last year the gentoos had a complete crash last season meaning that I unfortunately missed out on studying one of my main species! These crashes have happened before but these tough little penguins still come back the following year and try again, usually faring better. Luckily this was the case this season and we have had gentoos chicks to work with!

Even when this small the chicks were bigger than I had been able to see last year!

Having missed out on them last season seeing them all run around this year makes it all seem like I am on the island for new again and it was all very exciting.

Snuggling up in the nest

Unlike macs, who lay 2 eggs but will only hatch 1 chick the vast majority of the time, the gentoos usually have two chicks hatch and seeing them being brooded by the adults as they gradually get bigger is a great sight.

Getting too big for brooding but not big enough to be left alone

So cute!

Happy family

Once the chicks get too big to be brooded they begin to venture about the colony, huddling together for warmth and safety from predators they begin to redefine the word cute!

Beginning to venture out, but still being watched over

Huddling together for warmth, safety and cuteness!

They may be without an adult but siblings stick together still, especially when one is too scared to see the world and hides under its flipper!

As they grow the chicks become quite boisterous, it is particularly funny watching them when the adults come ashore as the chicks won’t just stay still and beg for a feed like most other species, they will in fact chase after the adults, often doing a complete lap around the colony, before the adult gives in and feeds the chick. This is a method to help ensure they are feeding the right chick as others that aren’t their own will give up sooner, but mainly it is just a hilarious sight!

"Leave me alone!"....

...."but I want food!"....

...."come back, feed me!"

"Sooooooooo full!"

As we have had gentoo chicks this year I was able to actually study them as well, there were two surveys of chicks done in January, a count and some weights.

Counting in the nest is ok...

...but counting when they move out and run around is much harder!

The first survey was the count, there are 7 colonies across the island and we had to ascertain how many chicks had survived in each, having already counted the nests earlier in the season knowing the number of chicks now, when they are near fledging, allows us to determine breeding success.

So many chicks ready to fledge, but just how many? That's what we were finding out :) (Photo courtesy of James)

Counting thousands of chicks a couple hundred at a time is not easy when they are constantly running around and moving! So the job requires quite a few people all gathered around a group within the colony and trying to count. When counts are of a mass of birds like this it is repeated many times to make sure the numbers are within an accurate range of each other before moving on to the next group.

Group together and count a few hundred in one go, not that easy! (Photo courtesy of John)

But counting so many gentoos is simply amazing and we all loved the experience! The weights follow the counts by a couple of days when a sample of the population is checked for how healthy they are before fledging, based on fledging weight.

A happy team after some good work (Photo courtesy of John)

Working with the gentoos ultimately had a moment of realisation for me though. Despite having the excitement of being able to work with them this year, when I couldn’t last year, I realised that the counts and weights were in fact the last work to be done with gentoos this season.

More huddles...

...more safety...

...more cutness!

This makes them my first study species that I have finished working with in my time on Bird Island and that comes with the knowledge that the next two months are going to be filled with lasts and goodbyes. It is going to be quite an emotional farewell, this island and its species are so special, and 18 months is a long time to be studying here, that knowing the end is close comes with some very hard moments!

Now the chicks are moulting and will be ready to fledge very soon

But with so much still to do in the final two months and so many amazing things to still see that we are definitely going to be making the most of every last opportunity!

Everybody does it!

Playing with stones and already practising nest building!

A seal comes for a view of the colony as well