South America's largest Penguin nesting ground Punta Tombo has a colony of half a million Magellanic Penguins. Fifty miles down a Dirt Road off Ruta 3 - and SO worth the journey!
Adult Magellanic Penguins are 24" to 30" tall and weigh 3 to 6kg. They swim as far as 600 km from their nests to feed themselves and catch food for their chicks. To hunt fish they can dive to 50 meters deep underwater. They mate with the same partner every year.
The boys arrive at Punta Tombo first in September, reclaim their nest from previous years and wait there to reconnect with their girl, who recognises her fella from his call alone! We heard a lot of calling!!
At the end of the breeding season, when their chicks are fledged the Penguins migrate over 6,000 km from the Patagonian coast back to Brazil.
Half a million Penguins all coupling up means 250,000 nests - so Punta Tombo is a major conurbation in Pingu Land. We were amazed at how we could walk amongst the Penguins and their nests, it was a pleasure and an honor. The Rangers asked us not to walk too close as the Penguins can get a bit "pecky"! It's the breeding season right now, and many of the Penguins were courting! We spotted lots of Mr Ps or Mrs Ps keeping a close guard on their eggs. Apparently Mum and Dad take equal shares on choosing a spot to make home for the season, building nests together, looking after the eggs and nurturing their chicks.
Males have a bigger forehead and thicker beak than females. And females generally weigh less than males. Hard to tell though - see if you can separate the Boys from the Girls?
It really was an amazing experience to walk amongst half a million Penguins! Somehow it didn't seem quite right that whilst they were getting on with their harsh lives and battling Mother Nature's daily challenges - birds of prey constantly circling above - long danger ridden swims to catch fish - we were strolling through snapping away! It was indeed an honour - another David Attenborough moment!!
Jumbo lunch Tombo style!
