|
Facebook news
From our scientist, Hiltrun Ratz, PhD
scientist@penguins.org.nz 
|
|
|
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??  We get quite excited around this time of year because we see our chicks from last season return to moult. We do need to pop them on scales to make sure they are fat enough to make it through 4 weeks of fasting, and that means we can id them. This is Hooli and he was raised by Anna and Stewie Junior! Yeah - he is back!  This chick is good at hiding - making photos difficult. Not to worry, Rossi is doing very well with both parents (Spencer and Penelope) breeding for the first time, and this week Rossi turned out to be a boy, no doubt about it. He is also rather big: 6.3kg now. Since taking this photo, he has lost the down but not the habit of hiding!  are the two on the right, a little bit older than their play-mate. We are only certain that Logie is a boy, Rosie is sitting on the fence, and but their playmate is a girl - her name can be decided now!  This chick is keeping us guessing as to whether it is a boy and a girl: s/he is right on the line and could stay this size and be a girl, or grow a bit more and be a boy! At this stage only s/he knows what'll be!  She was sponsored last year and has returned to moult. She is doing very well, is super-fat and is hanging out near the nest site where she grew up. Lesley and Chris are her parents, still busy with Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. She was sighted (sorry no photo) sitting with them and neighbour kid Storm on one of the rounds - they are her siblings! She has since moved away a bit presumably for some peace and quiet!  While he might still have a bit of fluff on his head, we measured him this week and he is definitely a boy: already at only 87 days his head is well into the male size. Looks like Anna and Stewie Junior have raised a strapping lad!  These two chick being raised by Hollie and Rocco don't often sit right next to each other now so two photos were needed to report their progress: doing fab!
It's odd, Felien and Skipper live quite close to each other and Fluffy is right down the hill but they don't hang. Skipper could also hang with Storm, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, but it seems maybe safer not to wander too far. He is of course well loved by Jackson and Hazel as his lovely round belly shows!  |
Archives
March 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed
