Those of you who have been following our posts for a while will remember this nest: it's the same pair that we caught mating - sort of - the ones that did the tango and brought nesting material. Here they are with their first egg. One of them is on the nest guarding - but not incubating - it while the other is nearby. They often park right next to the camera - effectively photo bombing it.
The yellow-eyed penguins lay their two eggs about 3-4 days apart but the chicks hatch usually on the same day. The first egg is guarded but not incubated until the second arrives. They then lie on them properly for about 6 weeks until the chicks hatch.

This is a box with a kind sponsor in a part of our colony we have recently opened up for the penguins. The penguins loved it and moved right in. They are an experienced pair and have two fertile eggs and we are looking forward to posting some baby photos soon. Not long now!

We have many more special penguins but we wanted to feature some of our special nest boxes and thus acknowledge our sponsors for generously donating to our charitable trust which allows us to continue our work for the penguins.
So first up is a box sponsored by Alina and Silas, a couple of kids from the other side of the planet who wanted their names on the yellow-eyed penguin breeding box all the way over here. There is never a guarantee that penguins will pick a sponsored box but in their case it met with the penguins' approval and here is dad with his two eggs. So thank you Alina and Silas for your kind donation. Soon there will be baby photos to post too!!
If you want to know more about sponsoring a nest box or a penguin please visit http://www.penguins.org.nz/donate.html to see the options. All donations are gratefully received and go to the penguin work in full.

It has gone quiet in the yellow-eyed penguin colony for now with the breeding pairs busy incubating their eggs. Until we can post cute baby photos of their chicks that are due to start hatching in about 2 weeks, we will introduce you to some of our special penguins - special for different reasons.

This is Diana. She is special because she is a two-year old who has been through our rehab facility as chick (before fledging) and twice as a chick post-fledging (she couldn't work out how to catch a fish but she was clever enough to come home and get a top-up from us) and then a year later as a juvenile through the moult she got another wee top-up. So, lots of help but the ultimate reward came when she laid an egg the other day with her frazzled boy-friend (an experienced older male who had to defend her against the attention of at least 3 others males who also wanted to breed with her!!) 
We were very happy with one egg but a few days later she laid a second egg! (as a two-year old it is unusual for yellow-eyed penguins to lay two eggs: one egg is the norm.)
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So a toast to Diana, who has defied death at least 4 times in only 2 years of life and broken the 1-egg-laid-by-2-year-old-females rule. May it long last, may these and all future eggs be fertile, her chicks strong, her mate competent and faithful and may she live and breed to a ripe old age (rehab facility just up the hill if required!).

The courtship of yellow-eyed penguins involves a lot of snogging - as evidenced in the previous posts - but they are also bring their mates gifts - the penguin equivalent of a box of chocolates or a bunch of flowers. Nesting material if of course needed for their nest and some pairs build big nest with all the different bits of vegetation that they can find in their surroundings - some are big, some are small, others are huge and bulky! They are very industrious at this time of year trying to impress their mates! Enjoy!