Although the rain had stopped over night, there were strong southwesterly winds on our second day in Portobello. Fortunately, these are the best conditions for albatross and we were able to see a large number of Northern Royal Albatross in flight. We also saw a nesting site with one adult and a chick.
On the rocks beneath the Royal Albatrosses, a group of Stewart Island Shags were nesting. On the cliffs around the corner was a nesting ground for Spotted Shags.
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| Stewart Island Shags |
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| close-up of spots |
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| Spotted Shag |
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| Little Blue Penguin |
Later that night, we made our way down to Pilot Beach right next door to watch for Little Blue Penguins. At dusk, the first three came ashore and waddled up the hill to their burrows. After waiting another 10 to 15 minutes, a whole crowd of them appeared and made their way past us up the hill. Unfortunately, it was too dark by that time to get a good look at them although some walked by within feet of where we were sitting. It was also much too dark to take any pictures but I did get a few of some in nesting boxes earlier in the day.
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