The Penguin With Messy Hair

This young penguins unconventional hairstyle could be that of a typical rebellious teenager.  And like any proud parent on this first day of school, his mother appears distinctly unamused by her son’s unruly plumage. Unfortunately, there is little either can do about the unkempt mop of hair this young penguin is sporting after he took longer to shed his baby feathers than the other youngsters in the colony. But that didn’t stop his mom trying to peck and pluck his ‘hair’ into a neater shape.

Most of the other young penguins had already grown a set of adult feathers but this late developer needed a helping hand. The young King Penguin  had already grown majestic black and white feathers on his wings and stomach. But instead of a golden crest on his head, sat a tuft of downy brown fluff. The picture was taken in South Georgia by Sjoerd van Berge Henegouwen, 45. Sjoerd, 45, a criminal defence lawyer from Maastricht in The Netherlands said: ‘I kind of got the feeling that the parent penguin was worried about the chick being so late in the season with its moulting process. ‘The moulting process happens to the adult birds as well as the young penguins, they either get new feathers or exchange their down for feathers. ‘For the adults this starts towards the end of the subantarctic summer, for the youngsters however this process starts earlier. ‘The penguin in the photo is halfway done with moulting its down, but he is rather late already. ‘Some of the younger penguins are long done with shedding of their down and turning into real adult King Penguins.’

Penguins Take A Mud Bath

Considering the amount of time they spend outdoors in some of the roughest environments the world has to offer, penguins usually manage to remain remarkably dapper. However, this penguin decided to throw decorum aside in a dash for the sea, swimming across a lake of mud in its path and cloaking its usually impeccable black and white plumage in brown slime.

In fact, the bird was so thoroughly covered that it could have been trying to pass itself off as a chocolate penguin.

A huge colony of penguins were gathered on a place called Salisbury Plain in remote South Georgia when a huge mud lake poured across the ice and separated them from the water. Thousands of the cute creatures decided to be sensible and take the longer route around the muck so they could reach the ocean.

But a plucky handful decided they were not going to let a bit of mud get in their way. Instead, they jumped in and made a swim for it. However, they no doubt quickly regretted it.  Within seconds the King Penguins were covered from beak to webbed feet in oozing slime. When they emerged from the pool they looked like they had been dipped in chocolate as they were completely covered in the mud. Eventually they finally reached the sea and the embarrassed penguins threw themselves into the ice-cold ocean for a much-needed wash.

A Personal Perspective of Penguins in South Georgia

Posing for their close-ups, these are the penguins who live on the remote island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic. And while pictures of the inhabitants of Britain’s most outlying colony are common – these are possibly the most stunning ever taken. British photographer, Nick Garbutt, became very friendly with his subjects after travelling to witness the massive colony, made up of around a quarter of a million birds. In one image, taken in natural harbour Salisbury Plain, he can be seen directly in front of two king penguins.

In others, they troop to the shore and back to feed their hungry offsprint, while one pair put on a spectacular display of courtship – almost creating a mirror image of each other.The king penguins are shown to be intimate creatures, and greet each other by rubbing their stomachs together and arching their beautiful gold crested necks.

Garbutt, from Cumbria, took a three week voyage on a ship called the Vavilov.  He sailed from Ushuaia in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego, to the Falklands and from there to the remote island. The voyage also took him to the Yalour Islands and Peterman Island off the Antarctic Peninsula.’There was curiosity on both sides,’ said Nick.

‘I also felt exhilaration from being surrounded by the sounds, smells and sight of such a large mass of birds. ‘It was a really immersive experience.’ Nick was able to take the amazingly intimate shots through careful observation and physical rigour. ‘Birds were constantly moving between the colony and the sea with different individuals and groups were going back and forth. ‘Often when one sets off, others seem to follow and they trudge the same paths as previous birds. ‘Every so often little lines of penguins form as they plod down to the water’s edge. I watched this for a while with several groups, then inched my way in on my belly towards the line they were walking. ‘I was able to approach to within a metre and the penguins just walked by.

‘Sometimes they’d be inquisitive and look at me and occasionally even look at their reflection in the wide-angle lens. ‘It was quite overwhelming to be surrounded by all these birds that were also so bold and confiding as subjects. Nick was also struck by the lonely beauty of the South Georgian landscape – an emerald wilderness thousands of miles away from motherland Britain. ‘The island wildness left me feeling insignificant,’ said Nick. ‘As if I was standing on the edge of existence.’ King Penguin colonies are present all year-round on South Georgia. During winter months the penguins have the beaches to themselves. From early spring, which falls in November, they share the beaches with huge colonies of elephant seals. There are several king penguin colonies on South Georgia. Salisbury Plain is second largest colony on the islands, with over 250,000 birds in total. South Georgia is a British Dependent Island administered from the Falklands.

Headless Penguins?

There are times when we would all like to literally hide our heads for one reason or another. But, the Penguin Post has learned our impossible dream is a daily reality for these two King Penguins on the South Atlantic island of South Georgia.

Thanks to their double-jointed necks, the ‘headless’ pair can merrily go about their business with optional heads on or heads off so to speak.

When a penguin needs a scratch or two on some hard to reach part of his body, he simply bends his head completely over and attacks the area that is that needs a scratch with his beak. Such dexterity guarantees there is no such thing as a ‘hard-to-reach spot’… and most importantly for us makes for an amusing natural image. The King Penguin is the second largest species of penguin, second only to the Emperor Penguin.

Mainly found in the South Atlantic and the northernmost waters of the northern Antarctic, there are believed to be around 2.23million King Penguins and their numbers are increasing.

Penguin Doesn’t Pick On Someone His Own Size

The Penguin Post has come across what may be the feistiest penguin north of the South Pole.  It seems that this King penguin found a giant elephant seal blocking his path to the water, he stood his ground and then gave the elephant seal slap with his flipper.  It wasn’t long before the giant beast let out a huge roar giving the spunky penguin an incentive to find an alternate route around him.  The altercation on the South Atlantic island of South Georgia was captured by British wildlife photographer Robert Fuller, 38.  He said: ‘Several seals had just come out of the surf and were lying on the shore blocking the penguins from getting to the water. But this young penguin was full of bravado.”  Perhaps had he access to a slingshot things would have turned out differently.

 

I'm waddling here, I'm waddling here!