The Little Blue Penguin Hunt (and Glow Worms too)

UPDATE: Dara and I went back by the nest on Friday (Oct. 28) and saw the chicks once again and took this photo:

Last night the girls and dad headed 20 minutes down the coast to a  little stretch of beach near Charleston where little blue penguins come ashore after dusk.

We went down a bit early to get a look at a pair of chicks nesting near the shore.  The two fluffy (and stinky) balls were cute, but not active and we didn’t spend a long time checking them out to avoid disturbing them.  After a stop at our friends’ cottage for some hot chocolate, we headed through the bush down to the beach to start our lookout for the adult penguins.

Our girls did their best to remain patient and quiet while we sat and waited.  Armed with glow sticks and a head torch, we sat.  And sat.  As the waves hit the shore, we neither saw nor heard any penguins.  So, we decided to head back the through the bush and up the road to a couple of muddy banks where the glow worms live.

(terrible photo)

Then it was back to the beach for one more attempt at finding penguins.   We checked out many rocks, crevices and hidden spots.

Finally, we heard the tell-tale squeak and shined our light out at the edge of the water to see a little blue paddling along, trying to find her spot to come ashore.  We all got a good look (but no photo)–it kinda looked like this:

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*Stock photos (not mine).