|
Facebook news
From our scientist, Hiltrun Ratz, PhD
scientist@penguins.org.nz 
|
|
|
These two are Thor and Eric's boys - and they have been hiding under a tree down a slope for last few weeks, very difficult to check on them for their weekly weigh-in but also hard to catch on camera. Here they are peeking through the foliage, a quick photo and we were on our way again. It was the last time we saw them: 20 February. Like the others they are off for the next chapter in their young lives. Good luck, boys!   These two are adventurous and clambered onto this heap of vegetation and are perched proud as pie there. It turns out they are both girls, and we last saw them 20 February, both were beautifully fat and now off on their own learning to catch a fish! Good luck, girls!  This wee female - actually not so wee, weighing in at 8.2kg at the start of the moult!! - is super special, not just to her sponsor, but to us and the St Kilda vets. Why? She is Stitches daughter and Stitches had a severe injury a few years ago now that the wonderful St Kilda vets fixed, so she lived and bred, and now Danielle, who she raised last year, has come back to moult. Maybe next season Stitches will be a grand-penguin?!?  turned out to be a girl, weighed 5.5kg and was last seen 15 February - now she has left and is looking for adventures at sea. Peanut and Ming have done a fab job with her - now it's time to fatten up themselves for the moult. Well done all around (especially Ming, who has had her share of trouble in the las year or two!)  These two are great at hiding - but now they are gone. This is the last photos of them together from about 3 weeks ago. Sam is a female (5.5kg on the last weigh-in) and last seen on 10 February, Sim is undecided (5.9kg on the last weigh-in) and last seen on 15 February. They were wonderfully fat and have a good chance out there. Good luck and come back if you need a top-up!  Our first chicks have started to fledge. It is always kinda sad to see them go after worrying about them for three and a half months. Portia here weighed 6kg on her last weigh-in and last dose of anti Malaria meds so she has a great start to her life thanks to Eire and Noelyn. She was last seen on 12 February. We don't know if she is a boy or a girl - a little undecided on this one. Good luck, buddy, come back if you have trouble.  He is the first to be this far through the moult and we forget how stunning the birds are with their new feathers. Pink is busy preening here and soon he will be on his way for his first meal in four weeks. He still looks pretty chunky, so he has done exceptionally well for his first moult.  It is the moulting season and not just for yellow-eyed penguins. We have two out-of-towners in rehab now, first a Fiordland crested or Tawaki and then an Erect crested (juvenile). Penguins are very social and we have them housed with three chicks: in sequence of appearance in the video: Aloysius, Snowflake and Felien (who joined the rehab crowd because his mum got Malaria and needed a break (doing well) and dad Rio was only breeding for the first time, so we didn't want to stretch him into solo-parenting.) It's all good and happy families here! This chick certainly has her own mind and sits where she wants to sit - yes Pekepeke turned out to be a girl - and that is not with the neighbours on either side but under the bushes where she can watch for mum and dad to come home.  It turns out this chick is a boy - here trying to hide behind a thistle. Is it working??  |
Archives
December 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed
