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Hi Birders
Robin & Allan Benson and myself
made the trip from the NSW Central Coast by car to Port MacDonnell S.A, the
fishing port 20 km from Mt Gambier, to see the King Penguin on the beach below
the Cape Northumberland car park. We departed here at 6 am Friday 27 February
and arrived Saturday morning 10.15 am, to a car park where a number of satisfied
birders were having morning tea. They pointed to a spot about 100 m away
where from a low cliff one could look down and see the Penquin, about 30 m
further along the beach in a small overhang. The Penguin was seemingly asleep
standing up when we first arrived, but from then and over the next one and a
half hours was preening away the old feathers. Judging by the foot marks on the
receding tide line, it had not long returned to the site from the
water.
There was not much else to see at the
site. Singing Honeyeaters were present in the heath and dunes and just offshore
were three small stacks covered in roosting Black-faced Cormorants. So after
taking a few photographs, especially once the sun found the Penguin, we too had
morning tea and then departed. There were about 20 people at the site, with a
number coming and going. No-one went past the barrier erected on the beach and
the bird was not disturbed. We then did the touristy thing at the Blue Lake at
Mount Gambier (first visit for us) and returned back home. There was a sign in
the carpark that said "Sydney 1200 km"! It was sad therefore to read on our
return home that on Monday the Penguin was unwell and so was taken into care and
that it died the following day.
However, we would like to thank the
people who advise Biridng-aus of the Penguins presence, and to also thank those
people who cared for the bird both on site and when it went into care. Willdife
carers play a very valuable role in the community and we are conscious of the
good work that they do.
On our way to Port MacDonnell via the
Glenelg Highway, we were pleased to see 4 Red-tailed Black Cockatoos near
Casterton, and then a bit further on 4 Brolgas in a roadside
paddock!
Alan
Morris
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