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Along the wild south-east coast of the South Island seabirds shrill and
swoop in the late afternoon sun. Far below, yellow-eyed penguins come ashore, singly, or
in twos and three, after a long day of fishing in the chill South Pacific.Glistening wet,
webbed feet a bright pink, these yellow-eyed birds of the sea scramble from the frothy
waves onto the slippery rocks or ride the surging surf onto sandy beaches. Soon they set
off with trundling gait to make the exhausting climb up steep sand dunes or over grassy
headlands. Trudging nestward through the blustery twilight some penguins travel more than
a kilometre before reaching nests secreted away in scrub or straggly remnants of coastal
vegetation. By nightfall the breeding communities echo with trills and vibrant calls of
penguins greeting each other at their isolated, hidden nests. Ringing
above the roar of the sea, the piercing calls of this tall, handsome bird were well known
to the Maori. They named the singer "Hoiho", the noise shouter. |
