I observed, again, that molting birds are less likely to be friendly, or even to simply avoid me as I clean. Guanero is about half-way finished with his molt and did not want me to come near him and was defensive of the area in which he had chosen to rest. The other penguins simply walk away from me or retreat to the water. Another exception is Tortuga, about the same age as Guanero but pre-molt, who sometimes attacks the hose as it is in the water, or comes up to my scrub brush and attacks it. She usually gives up fairly quickly however.
Inside, as I felt the air chilling my drenched clothing, I cleaned the rockhopper side of the exhibit. The rockhoppers are usually quite boisterous. As the call, they shake their head back and forth. It is interesting. They usually start calling when another penguin does so too. They both put their beaks together and aimed down and then slowly begin calling, and as they reach their crescendo, their beaks are high in the air and their heads are turning rapidly back and forth. I encounter this as I infiltrate their designated spot to clean. Also, these are the only penguins who enjoy being misted by the hose as I clean with it. If I aim the spray just right so it bounces off a crevice and mists onto the birds, they lean into the mist and stand still and enjoy. The kings and gentoos never really have any reaction to my hose other than getting away from it as quickly as possible. However, the kings and gentoos put up with the built in misters that come on to help keep the exhibit clean. A gentoo penguin, number 22 I believe, happened to be in a little cove on the rockhopper side and quite disturbed by my cleaning so much that she fought back quite a bit as I scrubbed where she had been standing. She didn't seem too thrilled with going into the water and definitely wanted me out of there. I cleaned quickly and left.
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