Everyone Loves Penguins!

I'm not sure what it is about penguins, but I haven't met a single person that doesn't love them! 

It has been a few years since I visited Cape Town and the penguins at Boulder's Bay so was very excited to be going back there and going with Chris for the very first time. However, we didn't go to Boulder's Bay this time as some very good friends suggested a different location somewhere much less touristy and very much quieter, in fact it is the same place that I photographed the Rock Hyrax.

African penguins (Sphensicus demersus) are adorable birds also know as black-footed penguins and jackass penguin due to its call, they are only penguin species that breeds on the African continent with the majority of breeding sites located on offshore islands. There are only a handful of mainland breeding sites two of which are located in the Western Cape. Interestingly there is no fixed breeding season for the penguins with breeding peaking in Namibia between November and December and in South Africa between March and May, they build their nests in sheltered locations in depressions under boulders or vegetation. These wonderful penguins pair for life and return to the same nest site year after year with records showing some penguins being together for ten years! 

We visited in April so there was quite a bit of activity and a few baby penguins around being looked after by one of their parents while the other was out at sea feeding. 

Seeing the chicks was a first for me as all the other times I've been it has been just at the beginning of the breeding season or just at the end so it was a real joy to see these little bundles. 

But I also wanted to captured some different images of their lives on this rocky coastline from getting to the sea and getting in it to dealing with the slippery rocks. 

Unfortunately these beautiful penguins are struggling and are currently listed as endangered on the IUCN Redlist with only 18,000 breeding pairs left in South Africa with the population plummeting by 70% between 2001 and 2013. These penguins face numerous threats including oil spills and increased predation, but by far the biggest threat is over fishing. The parents must travel out to sea to forage but are having to travel further and further to find enough fish to feed their chicks due to depleted fish stocks, but many are not able to travel these distances before their annual moult begins. This means chicks are abandoned and often starve to death, but there are people out there rescuing these chicks and hand raising them ready to be released back into the wide. If you would like to learn more about their plight and what is being done please visit SANCCOB.

They are such wonderfully charismatic birds and I could spends hours, days, months watching them come and go and all their antics but we only had a short time in Cape Town and there was much more we wanted to see, but I will definitely be going back for a much longer period soon!

For now it's bye from me and the penguins. Have a lovely weekend, next up will be a little chameleon we found on a visit to the bush. xx

South Africa Part 1

Hello, I'm a bit late in posting from our trip to South Africa, but things have been a bit hectic and I only had a short time at home before I had to re-pack and head out to Romania to put the Nat Geo research to bed. But now I am back home I am playing catch up with a few things before the pop-up shop opens in just a couple of weeks time here in Frome, but more about that later.

So, South Africa was calling and although I have visited many times, this time I was going with a new perspective on my photography, as well as for a special celebration for our 1st wedding anniversary and the wedding of Meagen and Matthew and to catch up with all our family out there. As mentioned in my previous post I had a new companion with me on this trip, the Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 lens, many of the images were taken with this lens (except the lizards in this post and the chameleon and butterflies in South Africa Part Two) and in the next post I will include the link to my thoughts on this incredible lens.

After a brief stop over with family, Chris and I jump back on the plane and headed for Cape Town for a week to see some penguins and visit some vineyards and to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. I have to say it was a very much needed week and we were very lucky with the weather with only the odd bit of sea mist in the early mornings. First up were the penguins and anything else we could find, here are just a few images for that first day!

Next up we headed off to Table Mountain in search of some lizards and great views, we were certainly not disappointed especially as there was not a cloud in sight until we were back down in Cape Town to visit the aquarium and find some dinner. I haven't been to the Two Oceans Aquarium for a few years now and I have to say a lot has changed but for the better. Everywhere you looked there was information not only about the species but also the threats they face and what is being done to conserve them, there are certainly a fair few places that I can think of that would benefit from taking a leaf out of their book in terms of informative displays! Here are just a couple of photos from Table Mountain.

We had a few more days left to explore and relax which included spending a day visiting vineyards for our anniversary and some very yummy food! So I will leave with a few last images from our adventures in Cape Town and in the next post will share our adventures back up north near Jo'burg and Pretoria.