PHILLIP ISLAND (10/09/09)
From Melbourne we hired this nippy little car for the day to drive down to Phillip Island, home to one of Australia's largest penguin colonies.
Phillip Island is home to many species of sea birds. This is a sea gull nesting colony.
The far tip of the Island is called the Nobbies and has this boardwalk along the cliff tops. The penguins normally only come in from the sea at dusk but Adam had been here before and knew that if you kept looking under the paths you might be lucky enough to find one.
Sure enough after spending a little time craning over the rails we found this individual sitting right under where we had just walked. The species found here are Little Penguins, the smallest species in the world. This one was probably only about 20cm (8in) high.
After the first one we found about another seven. It was exciting to see them and be able to photograph them in the daylight as we were going to view them in the dark later where photography is strictly prohibited. That night we went to a viewing platform by the beach and watched over 400 Little Penguins make their way out of the sea, up the beach and right past us up to their burrows on land. It was a truely unforgettable experience and one which Liz still hasn't got over.
Do you know why the seven penguins were left on their own all day?
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