Logger retrieved!

The loggerbird seen coming ashore yesterday was at its nest today. The GPS-TD logger could then be retrieved.


Kate took the penguin out of the nest and brought it over to Emilee to hold, where all the processing equipment was already out and ready.

Kate peeled the waterproof tape off the logger.  Then the logger could then be taken off and the remaining strips of tape were quickly and carefully peeled off the penguin's feathers.

Bill measurements were taken indicating that this penguin is the female of the pair. The female African penguins have narrower and shorter bills. The penguin was measured, weighed and then returned to its nest and small chicks.

Back at the research house the data was downloaded from device. It took several attempts with different tester batteries before the data downloaded properly. The GPS-TD collected 2595 GPS fixes as well as 201856 data sets of temperature and pressure. 

Here is where this penguin went foraging on 27 July! What a thrill to get the logger back from this penguin and to see where it had been. 

Loggerbird spotted!

Amazingly, the latest penguin to be equipped with a GPS-TD logger on 25 July was seen swimming ashore late this afternoon at the south-east end of Robben Island opposite Sobukwe house. Tomorrow we will check this bird's nest to try and retrieve the device. Hopefully, if this penguin is back and we retrieve the logger we will be able to see where this penguin went foraging. Over the last two field seasons of GPS-logger deployments on Robben, this is the only time that a penguin with a logger has been seen coming ashore!

Can you spot the penguin with the logger device? The GPS-TD logger device looks a bit like a black backpack with a yellow top. Play the penguin version of Where's Waldo? 

Here is a picture taken of this bird at its nest before it was equipped with the logger with its two small downy chicks. The head of one chick and the behind of the other can just be seen sticking out from under the adult penguin. The nest is just south of what was once the maximum security prison on Robben, now a world heritage site and museum.

Hopefully, this penguin which has returned to Robben Island from the sea, makes it home to its nest tonight! 

The last month has been a whirl of penguin field work. 

During the first two weeks, the fantastic 5th EarthWatch team of the year assisted with 5 GPS-TD logger deployments, thanks to help of the volunteers Doug and Frank, the leader Nola and assistants Corlia and Jordan.  Here you can see the team helping Kate to measure the partner of a loggerbird and its chicks.

The day the team left, another deployment was conducted with the help of Mario, the Environmental Officer of Robben Island Museum, and Emilee who conducts Bank Cormorant nest monitoring on Jutten Island. Then the next week, a big effort was made to get as many penguins equipped with loggers in the sea during an acoustic pelagic fish survey which took place around Robben Island.  We had the good fortune to have 4 penguins at sea during the survey. More details of those penguin tracks coming soon. 

Here are the tracks from two breeding adult penguins foraging at sea yesterday, 2 July.  The data was collected from penguins in the field this afternoon with the help of the fifth EarthWatch team of the year. These penguins had GPS-TD loggers attached to their back feathers for one foraging trip. The devices are removed once the penguins return from the sea and are then taken to the research house for the data to be downloaded.  They are like waterproof backpacks that record location, pressure and temperature.  The penguins from which the loggers were retrieved were measured, photographed and weighed. Tomorrow, their nests will be visited to measure their partners and chicks.

Here are the nests of these birds:

Artificial burrows and wooden nest boxes are one of the ways in which people are trying to provide African penguins with more nesting habitat to increase penguin breeding productivity.

Penguins foraging

There were three penguins with nests on Robben Island at sea on the same day last Thursday, 28 June, with GPS-TD loggers.

They went foraging in different directions!