And so we reach the end of another year having faced many challenges and frustrations which we have shared with you along the way. There have been lots of positives too - Leigh Penguin Project has been involved in various initiatives to raise awareness and we look forward to our ongoing participation in community events.

This year we also formalised our relationship with NZ Penguin Initiative so we now have a more structured framework to work within and also their extensive knowledge and guidance.

Recently we hosted our supporters at Penguin Random House for the second year running. They love to put a group together, leave their desks and experience first hand how things are going for our korora. We very much value the relationship we have with Penguin Random House and thank them hugely for choosing to sponsor us. Madeleine put together a full day programme involving a mix of fieldwork and a lunch where we shared our stories with them and reflected on the difficulties penguins, along with so many species are now facing.

Great timing too, to showcase the newly finished Coastal Walkway. Earlier in the season, we’d had several korora in both nesting boxes and natural sites but sadly they abandoned their sites with no new chicks. It is common when a first clutch of eggs are unsuccessful the penguins can produce a second clutch.

Luck was going our way this time as we had birds visible. And there was hope that they might be sitting on another clutch of eggs. Our guests were thrilled. Obligatory photos were later taken underneath the Penguin Street sign before we all headed off back to the coast with bags to comb the area for any rubbish. It’s surprising how much we found.

A good reminder to ourselves that we can all make a difference to the chances of korora survival by remembering to grab a bag when we head to beach walks and throw in any rubbish - korora will swallow small bits of plastic and become tangled up in netting etc all of which will kill them. It’s good to feel that even in these small ways we can all make a big difference.

Anecdotally I’m told that more dogs are on leashes now so that’s also very heartening. Thank you for your interest and support of the project.

Mary Mangan for Leigh Penguin Project

[email protected].