Valda and Jess at the Fox River Market

The Penguin Trust’s stall at February’s Fox River Market was popular with locals and tourists. The new penguin t-shirts were running hot with lots sold. We still have most sizes if you would like a t-shirt – they are $25 and can be purchased through info@bluepenguin.org.nz.  Thanks to Valda, Jess and Kerry-Jayne who looked after the stall and passed on lots of information about penguins to visitors.

James & Emily Chisnall show off their penguin house

Sections are running hot at Penguinville with over 25 groups of children building a penguin “house” in the first three days.

Penguinville is part of the Driftwood and Sand Sculpture Festival.  Children build a penguin house on their own beach section with prizes being awarded on Sunday for Most Natural, Best Construction, and Most Creative.

It is proving to be very popular with children with over half the sections gone already.  Local children and those as far away as Denmark have built penguin houses in the last three days.

“We are delighted with the children’s response to Penguinville, it is a great way of making them aware that penguins live on our West Coast beaches and the houses we have seen so far show some wonderful creativity,” says Trust Co-ordinator Robyn Janes.

On Friday there will be a penguin painting workshop at 9.30am.  Register at the caravan on Hokitika beach, cost is $12 per child which includes a life-size plaster penguin.

Mens t-shirt

The Trust has t-shirts in all sizes (including childrens) for sale.  Contact info@bluepenguin.org.nz if you wish to purchase.  $25

Geoff and Jock setting up Penguinville on Sunday

As part of Driftwood and Sand Sculpture Festival and Trust is running Penguinville at Hokitika Beach from Monday 23 to Sunday 29 January.  Penguinville is a chance for the kids to build a penguin house and learn about blue penguins habitat.  $2 for your own section at Penguinville, prizes for the best construction, most natural and most creative penguin houses will be awarded on Sunday at 2pm.

Ranger Reuben talks to the Greymouth Scouts

In December ranger Reuben Lane spent some time with the Greymouth Scouts at the beach teaching them about blue penguins and their habitat.  The trust is happy to talk to groups and school children about penguin conservation.  If you wish to arrange a talk contact the co-ordinator on info@bluepenguin.org.nz

Reuben puts up the speaker

A sound-system broadcasting blue penguin and sooty shearwater calls has been erected near Cape Foulwind to attract more of the seabirds to the area.

The West Coast Blue Penguin Trust is behind a project to increase blue penguin and sooty shearwater numbers nesting near Cape Foulwind.  It will take four to five years for a nucleus of both species to establish and then the public will be able to view the birds returning to their nests at dusk.

Solid Energy has committed to funding the first two years of the project.  It is also supported by DOC and the Buller Council.

West Coast Blue Penguin Trust Chairwoman Kerry-Jayne Wilson says the sound system was erected this week, a year ahead of schedule.

“It is great to be this far ahead with the project already.  By broadcasting calls more birds should be attracted to the small colonies that are already there.  Already a couple of the nesting boxes we have located in the area have been used which is a really positive sign,” she says.

Sooty shearwaters are almost extinct on the mainland of New Zealand and there is no public penguin viewing on the West Coast of the South Island.  It is hoped the area will become a tourist attraction in time.

Ian Davidson Watts & Jo Halley watch Sky find a burrow

The West Coast Blue Penguin Trust and DOC have successfully used a Kiwi dog to help sniff out blue penguins at Cobden, near Greymouth.

The Trust is working with the Grey District Council to establish whether blue penguins are breeding in the area of the northern breakwater ecological project.

Grey District Council’s Environment Manager and Blue Penguin Trustee Ian Davidson-Watts says Kiwi Dog Sky was taken to the area yesterday and did find evidence of penguins.
“We are delighted that Sky found penguins still breeding in the area.  It means we can now start planning how to incorporate them into the northern breakwater restoration project.  Hopefully we will be able to build up the penguin population and install a “nest cam” so in the future the public can see penguins and their young in a natural burrow without disturbing them,” he says.

Four year old Border Collie Sky was first taken to some known penguin burrows in the Camerons area so she knew what she was sniffing for and then taken to Cobden.

Trainer Jo Halley says Sky is taught not to go near penguins in normal circumstances.

“This was an experiment and she did really well.  Once we showed her a penguin and she had a good smell she knew what we wanted her to look for,” she says.

“Sky sniffed out the penguin burrows and then showed us where they were by cocking her ears and basically locking her eyes on the burrow.  Her mother is a Kiwi dog and her son is training to be one, it’s a 6^th sense they know how to find what we’re looking for”.

The penguin population has decreased in the Cobden area and the Trust had worried that penguins may have been wiped out in the area by dogs and vehicles.

“Sky has shown us that penguins are persisting with the area despite the threats from dogs and cars.  I just hope people keep their dogs under control in the area so we don’t lose the few we have left and can build up the population,” says Dr Davidson-Watts.

The Greymouth northern breakwater restoration project led by Grey District Council is aiming to develop the lagoons and coastal habitats near Cobden as a community asset for recreation as well as an attraction to tourists wanting to know more about the wildlife and cultual heritage of the Grey District. The council is currently preparing a concept plan for the area.

Inger Perkins

The Trust is delighted that Inger Perkins has agreed to become a Trustee, replacing Rebecca Gibson who has moved to Great Barrier Island.  Inger works at DOC in Hokitika and has been a long-time supporter of the Trust and its work.

She grew up in Kent, the garden of England, and says she became interested in conservation when locals attempted to dig up the fields that surrounded her town and turn them into gravel pits.

After completing a joint honours degree in Geography and Geology at Bristol University then a Leisure Management Diploma, via various sports management roles, she managed a 220 acre estate and golf club, where she re-discovered a love for nature and sustainability, introducing and implementing an ecology policy.  But she wanted to travel and lost her heart to New Zealand when she visited in 2002.

“I volunteered for three months for DOC at three offices including Fox Glacier and just loved it.  I went back to England and worked for a renewable energy agency but when I was offered a job back on the West Coast a year and a half later, I jumped at the chance,” she says.

Until she moved to New Zealand, Inger always thought penguins only lived in Antarctica.  Now she lives on Hokitika Beach and it still amazes her that they live at her back door.

“I still can’t believe how lucky I am to live on the West Coast between the ocean and the mountains.  The scenery is so stunning and to have penguins and other wildlife so close is great.”

Inger has spent much of her time at DOC as a Community Relations Ranger but recently begun working for the mining division.  Her many skills will be extremely valuable to the Trust.