NESTING: this fairy (little) penguin is making the most of her Palm Beach Rotary-supplied nesting box.
LITTLE (Fairy) penguins are using the nesting boxes made for them by Palm Beach Rotarians — most notably Des Mant. Past president Rick Dawson got the “great news” on June 8 from researcher Erin Clitheroe — and this photograph proving it , Erin — who is working towards her PhD at Murdoch University’s School of Veterinary and Life Sciences — wrote that she was back on the island last month to do a little bit of extra field work and had “put some temperature loggers in the new nest boxes”.
Rick, a former wildlife officer, and a small party of Rotarians transported 20 nesting boxes onto Penguin Island in late July last year. Rick had initiated the box-making project because the old boxes on Garden Island — which were falling apart — had no allowance for good ventilation and penguin chicks has perished as a result of heat exhaustion in previous heat waves.
The new boxes are the Ritz of nesting boxes ,with air vents on the sides and raised insulated roofs allowing hot air to rise and dissipate. The were carefully designed with Erin’s aid and made of sturdy plywood by Des Mant (who began his working life as a cabinetmaker). Less-skilled Rotarians were allowed to paint the boxes’ exteriors after they were completed. The new boxes also feature small corridor entries to mimic the tunnels which would lead into underground burrows, the birds’ natural nest sites.