Diesel Dick

This is Diesel Dick, founding father of Katiki Point Yellow-eyed penguin colony in North Otago, New Zealand. He was found diesel-oiled, and Janice and Bob Jones, then living at the lighthouse, cleaned and rehabilitated him. Diesel LOVED Janice and would always come up and say hello to her when she was in the colony. No one else ever mattered to him as much. He was rehabilitated many times over his 26 years and it was a year ago that we last saw him. He was inspecting some work we were doing in HIS colony: he marched through a gate that was to keep out NZ fur seals, had a look on the beach, marched back up and we took one last photo of him here in all his glory. He has many, many descendants in both our colonies - his genes live on - and the legend that is Diesel Dick will always be with us! What a bird!

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