Motuara Island is home to the Little penguin and there are many man-made nesting boxes scattered throughout the island for their use. Each nesting box has a lid that you can flip open to see inside. Our guide said it was okay to peek inside as long as you didn’t touch or frighten the birds. Many of the nesting boxes we spotted were empty, but we did find one with some Little penguins inside.
Since Motuara Island is a bird sanctuary, that means you have to be still, quiet and patient if you hope to see any birds. We did see a few (other than the penguins) and I even managed to snap some photos of them. But it would have been easier to photograph the birds if I had a zoom lens. Instead, I had to slowly move toward the birds without making eye contact so that I could get close enough to snap their photo.
As we departed Motuara Island, I even managed to get some shots of seals—one on the beach and one in the water.
