It was mid-morning on Robben Island and Pieter was feeling sleepy. He had been up all night, getting down to some serious 'braying'. The other penguins had gone out to sea for the day, but Pieter was just about fit to doze, when . . . . 'Hullo.' Pieter came to with a start. He turned to see a female penguin speaking to him. 'Er, hello' he replied nervously. 'You're Pieter aren't you?' enquired the female. 'Yes' he confirmed. 'I was just dozing off. I didn't get much sleep last night.' 'No, nor did I' said the female. 'Someone was making such an awful noise all night that I didn't catch a wink.' Pieter felt his cheeks turn to a pinker shade of black. He coughed a little and confessed 'Er, um, sorry, that was probably me', looking away as he did so. In so doing, he missed seeing the half smile on the female's face. 'What's your name?' asked Pieter. 'Razor' she replied. 'Razor?' he repeated. 'That's an unusual name. How did you come to be called that?' 'Have you ever seen a biologist?' asked Razor. Pieter shuddered. His stomach-pumping experience was still fresh in his memory. 'Yes' he said. 'Well next time you see one', continued Razor, 'take a look at their fingers. Then you'll understand why I'm called Razor!' Pieter grinned. He was taking a liking to this female! 'Are you paired yet?' she asked, knowing full well that he wasn't. Pieter was startled by her forwardness. 'Um, no, actually, not yet' he replied.

Well things took their course and before you could say Spheniscus demersus, Pieter found himself at the end of a burrow, sitting on two, white, ovoid objects, staring out at the daylight beyond the burrow entrance. What did Razor say? 'Sit on those eggs and don't shift until I come back!' Pieter sighed. When would that be? Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by sounds from outside the burrow. Next thing Pieter knew, a horrible face appeared at the entrance and a stick came snaking towards him, sliding beneath his breast and gently lifting him up. 'Yep, two eggs' came from beyond the burrow. The stick slid away again. Pieter thought of making a break for it but decided he was better off staying put. The sounds faded away. He again heard footsteps outside the burrow: Razor was back. Pieter went out to greet her and tell her of his latest encounter with the biologists. His relief at seeing her turned to joy when he learnt that she would sit on the eggs all the next day while he went out to feed. Perhaps being paired wasn't so bad.

So it went until one day, on Pieter's return, he discovered that one of the eggs had disappeared. In its place, nestling beneath Razor's body, was a tiny, brown, fluffy chick. Before long, the other egg made the same transformation and in no time at all, the two chicks had grown into ravenous eating machines. Later, Pieter was again visited by the biologists. This time, a hand gingerly inched its way along the burrow towards him. Pieter noticed that it bore a blood soaked bandage around the wrist. 'Ah, I see you've met the wife then!' he quipped. The hand stopped. 'Er, two downies, adult present' came from above, and the hand quickly withdrew. 'Aren't we supposed to weigh them?' 'Phoow, probably still too young, I'd say.' 'Did you get the ring number then?' 'Hmmph. You try. That's one mean sunnofabitch in there . . . .' The sounds faded away.

The chicks continued to grow and their down gave way to a blue-grey first plumage. Pieter and Razor both left the burrow to forage during the day, to find enough food to satisfy their chicks' increasing appetites. Eventually, the job was complete. The chicks fledged and Pieter was quite ready to relinquish his parental duties. He wondered what Razor would do. 'See you back here next year' she said, before disappearing off to sea. 'OK' said Pieter, and with a warm inner feeling of achievement went to join a group of penguins lazing on the beach.

Frank o' Lin & Will o' Warbler
Toobey Shore

Originally published in Bird Numbers, February 1998.
© Avian Demography Unit, UCT.