"Where Now for Man Raised By Puffins?": Return of the Macs

While the Gentoo Penguins have been around all winter, although in much larger numbers recently, the Macaronis have been out at sea since April.

I've been out preparing for their return - painting and measuring transect lines within the colony that we'll use to estimate numbers and setting up the gateway that weighs them as they return to feed young.

The return date of the Macs is pretty consistent year to year so I knew that when I was out doing some measuring there was a good chance I'd see the first one back. And so I did. There it was, standing half way up the colony looking nice and clean with big impressive eyebrows.

Numbers seemed to double each day for the next week until the colony was swarming and bustling with birds. These will be the males, returning first to establish sites and build nests. The females are out at sea still, feeding up so they've got the energy reserves to lay their eggs. They'll be back in the next fortnight though.

It's been pretty rough the last few days with some big swell and waves smashing over the rocks. That hasn't stopped the tough little Macs though. Neither has the Leopard Seal patrolling at the bottom of Big Mac. You have to admire their resilience as they ride the waves up the rocks, struggling to get a foothold before it ebbs back and drags them down past the kelp and into the danger zone.

Once up on the rocks they have a shake and a preen. Check their feathers are still in order and they're looking good and then start walking up the narrow route onto the wider 'motorway' up through the colony and back to their nest site where they can start shifting rocks around and arguing with the neighbours.