Snares Island Penguins

These are the two Snares Island Penguins currently in the
penguin hospital on the peninsula. The one on the rock is
a healthy male brought in during his seasonal moult by an
over-zealous tourist. Peeking out from behind him is the
little female we rescued from the beach on Saturday night.
From this angle you can see how the bones on her chest
still stick out, though her shiny new feathers are doing a lot
to mask how underwight she was.

This is the female taking a walk. When we picked her up
this whole side of her body had almost no feathers.

Here she is smiling for the camera (I like to imagine). She
still has some fattening up to do, as well as a bit more
moulting, before she'll be ready to head back to Snares Islands,
but on the whole is one very lucky little bird!
Penguin Place, Otago Peninsula, Dunedin, New Zealand,
March 3, 2011.