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From our scientist, Hiltrun Ratz, PhD
scientist@penguins.org.nz |
A little while ago we took Molly's chicks Sonic and Rubik into rehab because they were home alone regularly at quite a young age and we were concerned that something had maybe happened to Molly - we had seen her mate. And then we saw two adults near the nest and were able to identify Molly - and we are so relieved. These two can concentrate on their upcoming moult and we'll raise the chicks. No worries!
It really is cuteness-overload with these two: Shaju, their father, was home this time and the chicks ventured outside the nest box during the day. No doubt they will soon be exploring further and further away from their nests and will encounter Laird next door, Lemonstreak and Moonstripe and Pooyasha and TimTam - they are all close neighbours. Fortunately we have started to micro-chip everyone before they get too mixed up!
She has been a busy lady and the result are a couple of very chubby - and adventurous - chicks. This is a photo from a couple of week ago and since then the chicks have taken to wandering - and so we also wander about trying to find them!
This young-ish female has had a change of heart - again - this season and is breeding with a different mate. They are raising two chicks (the second chick scarpered into the bushes) but she is a protective mum, and no one was going to mess with this lady!
She lives with her mate in Wild 3 and they are raising one chick. As a singleton it is usually still guarded by one of the parents - in this case Logan Bear is peering suspiciously at the visitor!
There were two chicks raised by Dylan and Poppy, but this one got a wee bit injured - nothing bad - and fell behind so we decided that it was best to bring it into rehab. We already had Sonic and Rubik there so it was not on its own. It's sibling is doing well in the colony.
Yep, we have our first rehab chicks: These two were freshly sponsored and named but unfortunately our weekly weighing revealed that they had not put on any weight at all for a week - hadn't lost any either. We concluded that it is likely that only one parent is feeding, and we found dad. Haven't seen Molly for a while, so we hope that she has given up rather than come to a sticky end. This chicks are fine, they have each other and salmon for breakfast and dinner.
These two are our most adventurous pair of chicks in the colony and the first ones we had to search for - at a time when everyone else was still in or next to their nest box.
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