Getting ‘up-close’ to the guardians of Middle Island’s Little Penguin Colony – Maremma Project Presentation, 21st April.
Approaching April, high tides and some welcomed rain marked the end of another breeding season for the Little Penguins at Middle Island. It was also time to air out the life jackets, and wrap up the fortnightly monitoring for another few months while the penguins travel larger distances to source food over winter and frequent the colony site much less often.
The volunteer team crossing to Middle Island for the final Little Penguin Count of this season
The Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Group, Warrnambool City Council, and Nature Glenelg Trust would like to say a huge THANKYOU for all those that volunteered their time and effort to assist with the little penguin monitoring over the past season. It has been a great experience to be involved in a program that has such an overwhelming amount of community support and ownership…For this season alone, there was a contribution of 280 volunteer hours to undertake the breeding monitoring and arrival counts!
Maremma Project Celebrations-Sun 21 April
To celebrate another successful year, and as part of the ‘Up Close Biodiversity’ Events 2013, the groups are jointly holding an End of Season Presentation for the Middle Island Maremma Project, 3pm Sunday 21st April at the Harbour Pavilion (Click here to view Invitation Flyer ).
A number of presentations will put into context the fox predation issue, the concept of the guardian dog project, the little penguin monitoring progam, and the many collaborations and volunteer input that have lead to the project successes and rebuilding of the colony. There will also be an opportunity to meet the maremma dogs and learn about what it takes to train and care for the guardians of the little penguins.
This would be a great way to catch up, with light supper provided and drinks available from 5pm. Even if you are busy during the day, please feel free to come by from 5pm onwards. RSVP is not compulsory, but it would be appreciated if you could send Lauren an email if you are planning to come along, at .
With not much time to rest, the Little Penguin Monitoring will commence for the next season in early October, and a calendar will be sent out shortly before via the Little Penguin email list. If you are interested in being involved with future monitoring, and would like to be added to this email list, please also send an email to the address above.
