Africa is not typically thought of for its Penguin population. Near Cape Town, at a place called Boulders Beach, is a large colony of African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus). They nest in holes in the dunes and occupy the beaches and rocks, setting off out to sea to feed. For a small entry fee, you can get extremely close to the colony either on the beach or along boardwalks. It’s a fantastic place for photographing the penguins and other shorebirds such as African Black Oystercatchers.

We were lucky enough to have a soft, overcast sky for the duration of our visit. It made the job of correctly exposing black and white birds much easier, and removed the harsh shadows that would have made getting nice compositions difficult. I wrote a post a while back about why diffuse light is wonderful for photography.

If I had to choose one word to describe these penguins, it would probably be ‘hilarious’. They’re not too well suited for terrestrial movement, and spend a lot of time waddling and falling over each other. In the water, however, they turn into sleek little torpedoes. Boulders Beach is situated so that you can view them leaving to feed at sea, and returning in rafts – surfing along the waves until they tumble on to the sand.

It was nest building and chick rearing time, so we saw many penguins wandering around with beakfulls of nesting material – sticks and leaves – and digging holes. Some already had eggs, and some had chicks huddling next to them. It was nice to be able to witness them at every stage of the process in one day.

These penguins are resilient little birds, when you think about it. They get pounded by surf, dashed against rocks, and they just bounce back and waddle on up the beach, completely unconcerned. I thoroughly enjoyed the two opportunities we had to observe and photograph them – both at Boulders Beach and Betty’s Bay. I may well do another post just about the Betty’s Bay colony, as it was a very different experience.