Lifting up penguins' tails

When Daniel (higher predator scientist) said he needed someone to count penguin eggs at Maiviken so he could go to Prion Island to count albatross chicks two thoughts went through my head:

1) Is there some way to temporarily incapacitate him so I get to go to Prion Island and see the Wandering Albatross chicks?
2) If I offer to count eggs does that mean I'll get to lift up the penguin's tails to have a look under them for eggs?

The answer to both the above questions is no.  Or at least I lack the imagination to come up with a morally and ethically acceptable strategy for the first one, and the answer to the second one is definitely no.  Despite this I did still offer to go and count eggs, as any excuse to avoid packing up my stuff is good with me right now and I do love the penguins.  Also, Daniel told me I'd have to move with ninja-like agility between the penguins to avoid upsetting them and I do so love pretending to be a ninja.

It is ALWAYS sunny at Maiviken!

We both thought it was best if Dan showed me exactly what it was I needed to do so I didn't mess up his study and we headed out on a sunny Sunday morning on the hunt for eggs.  Whilst I didn't get to lift up their tails, I did have to make the little guys stand up off their nests, which is not always the easiest thing to do.  Some of the nests that needed checking were in very steep and slippery tussock grass (why they chose to nest here I have no idea) and I just couldn't get the idea out of my head that I might fall over, land on a penguin and his/her egg and have to live with the ensuing guilt for the rest of my life.  This distracting thought didn't help with the ninja-like agility and I slipped and slid all over the place, but luckily not onto a penguin.  Satisfied I might just about be up to the challenge Daniel took the new museum staff down to Tortula Cove to look at the seals and Sooty Albatrosses and Ella and I headed up a slope that I'd been eying up for some time.

Puppy Lake - soon it will look remarkably like fur seal pup soup in here

Gentoo penguins - I should probably have taken some better pictures!

After many months of snow-covered hillsides we had both somewhat forgotten what it's like to climb scree.  The battle soon commenced and we made our way slowly up to the ridge with a fair bit of huffing and puffing and possibly a bit of cursing.  This exertion was soon forgotten when we got to the top and looked out over the turquoise ocean, down to Maiviken and up East Cumberland Bay to the Nordenskjold Glacier.  We then found a sheltered spot in the grass with a view out to sea and lay in the sun for while musing over how ridiculously lucky we are to live here and how leaving is going to be very, very hard.  Then we realised time had passed rather too quickly and we had to get back to base sharpish in order to sort out costumes for the Halloween party that evening.  Luckily it is far quicker going down scree than it is going up it and we were soon marching over Deadman's Pass and back to base.  For anyone interested, I totally failed with the costume and cut 3 holes in a sheet and went as a ghost....

Looking down Spencer Ridge towards Mai Point at the tip

The entrance to East Cumberland Bay with a tiny yacht coming through

Maiviken seen from above

East Cumberland Bay with the Nordenskjold Glacier at the far end

Left to my own devices the egg counting went well (as in I didn't squash any) and I will be forever grateful that it gave me the opportunity to watch one penguin pick up a large piece of mud and grass and dump it unceremoniously on his mate's head.  The mate in question seemed entirely unfazed by her muddy hat and just continued to sit in exactly the same position making no effort whatsoever to shake it off.  Penguins are amazing!