​Hello friends and family
This week has been shaded by missing chicks. We had one go missing at nest 140 and we had no idea what happened to it. Then on Thursday morning we could not find 3 more. We were very worried, but with no sign of predation, we did not have enough information to act. All the rest of the chicks are making good progress. At the same time, we have trapped 8 ferrets and 2 cats. So far this season we have found 40 predated storm petrels – this number must surely put this colony at risk. 

​Predators that are not hungry are doubly difficult to catch. Aaron shot 80+ rabbits in 2 nights when he was here – not even making a dent. Ross from the farm estimates 10,000 rabbits have been shot on the farm in the last 3 years. Our best chance to control the predators is when young ones are dispersing from the nest. 

​All that changed on Thursday evening when Daniel and I went to the Moeraki colony to check for the missing chicks. We found the 140 chick that had been missing for a week. This is the benefit of micro-chipping – we can identify individual chicks even if they have wandered far from home. We also located 2 of the other missing chicks. On Friday we found the last missing chicks so all is well for now.

Friday is our day off, so we went to the Waitaki river mouth. We went on the north side and it has changed a great deal. It now flows straight into the sea so is not quite as dramatic. We got our drama from buying a new element for the stove – over $140 – ridiculous!
Kaitlyn and Anne called in yesterday on their way back to Christchurch and it was great to see them.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
The weeks are flying by. On Sunday the boys did the trap round and on Monday we went to Oamaru to update the groceries so Daniel could cook his favourite, Nachos for dinner. Jan, Robbie and Elaine joined us on Tuesday and we micro-chipped another 6 chicks and took blood samples from 13 penguins. The Juvenile in care had a positive blood slide for Malaria so her treatment was begun.

​Our micro-chipping of the chicks has been very timely. The chicks are getting adventurous. At the Moeraki colony they were in groups of 3 or 4 , or in the neighbour’s house, and we were able to positively ID them before we took blood samples from the oldest ones. At the moment, they are growing their first feathers. This means that they are shedding fluff in every direction, up our noses included, and all over the gear. Such fun!

​On Wednesday we weighed and dosed the Katiki Beach chicks and then headed to Trotter’s Gorge where we climbed to the highest point. It was great that we went in the morning as the weather cracked up in the afternoon and our weeding efforts were rewarded by a shower!
Thursday was monitoring day and we checked the chicks here and then went to the Moeraki colony where the last of the chicks was micro-chipped and all were weighed and treated. We were finished at 11:30am. A tribute to the smooth running of our team! One chick was not thriving, so we brought it into care – it threw up a tablespoon of worms so there is something wrong.

Fun Friday saw us heading south to Dunedin after the morning feed to visit tunnel beach – where I have not been before, and we needed the tide to be out. What a remarkable spot – well worth the climb down and then up. After chores, we had lunch at St Claire’s and then headed out to Penguin Place to meet up with the team there. Both Daniels were very impressed with their set up and it was good to see our transferred penguin with the bald patch, swimming with her new friend! Still no signs of moulting. The it was dinner at Ironic café and off to the airport to deliver Dan on his way home. He has done some fantastic work on apps for the penguins, and we can’t thank him enough!
We arrived home to greet Aaron, who has come to help with rabbit control. Hiltrun came up yesterday and did more mowing.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
Summer arrived this week. It was shorts and tee shirt weather and Dan went swimming at Keepers Bay. On Tuesday we did the rounds and saw a new Juvenile at home as more and more of the chicks go post guard. We caught 2 ferrets in the traps so will be checking the traps regularly.

​Wednesday was my morning at the TopTip, and Dan went to the airport to collect Daniel. After we had checked the live traps, they went for a swim. A southerly front came through and so the temperatures dropped to a more comfortable level. There is a huge problem here with the internet speed being about zero for most of the day.
The team came out on Thursday and we micro-chipped 22 chicks. Jan, Robbie and I inserted the chips. We have Daniel training as a holder and Murray training too. Dan tested the new app in the field. He also set up a barcode reader so there are no transcription errors in our new data set!

​Friday was fun day so Daniel, Dan and I set out on a trip up to central. With 3 drivers and a new car to get used to, it was a great day. The first stop was St Bathans for morning coffee then Wanaka for lunch. We were home in time to feed the penguins before dinner at the Moeraki Tavern. What a great day we had! It was summer in central Otago, and it was green.

Yesterday Hiltrun joined us and we micro-chipped more chicks. We now have only the 8 youngest left to do. We saw Mrs 167 again so are hugely relieved that she is still alive.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
Happy New Year.
The wee chicks were so hungry when they came in that they were feeding from the hand on day 2 and by Monday morning, I did not even need to climb into the pen to feed them. They are eating as much as an adult penguin and would even eat more, but their meals are measured to make sure that they do not get over fed. The adult was feeling better by day 3 of his Malaria treatment and showed this by jumping out of his pen. Some penguins are jumpers – this is okay. We run a rehab not a prison! We let him go on Tuesday when his meds were complete.

​Cousin Daniel arrived on Wednesday, so I took the opportunity to go to Dunedin and get his help to buy a new computer as my laptop is struggling with simple tasks. He installed it for me on Friday while I was going to Christchurch to get my PHEV. I am starting the New Year in style – long may it last!

​On Thursday we brought in a sick Juvenile and a shrinking chick. Both are now recovering in rehab.

Hiltrun came up yesterday and did the rounds. I got called out to a sick penguin on Hampden beach, but sadly it died. It was a starving fledgling, either a Little Penguin or a White-flippered Penguin.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
I hope your day went well yesterday.
The week began well with healthy looking chicks. Some are going post-guard, which means both parents are out fishing when we come around in the morning. This is to be expected at this time of the year. There are other penguins at home in the colony and we check them out in case they need a helping hand. Murray joined us on Tuesday and rose to the challenge of putting pills into penguin mouths.

​On Thursday we were reminded why we weigh the chicks weekly. The chicks in nest 167 had not put on any weight. We happened to have some small fish with us and fed them at the nest.  Both chicks were very hungry. We left a camera on the nest to see if any parents were coming home over night.
We also picked up Mr 51 who had been home for several days and was underweight. Sure enough, he tested positive for Malaria. This is what killed his chick a month ago. 

​On Friday I checked the camera and only one parent came home and only briefly at that. I brought the chicks into care. When I went to get them, there was a feral cat there, within 3 m of the chicks, being harassed by the gulls. All of those gull chicks have been predated.

​2021 has been a difficult year for the penguins here at Katiki Point. We started with 25 nests but 9 have failed and we have 20 live chicks, a fledging ratio of 0.8, not even enough for the penguins to be replacing themselves. At the Moeraki colony we have 26 chicks from 18 nests, a fledging ration of 1.4 which is okay. 

It has also been a difficult year for the team with 2 members walking away from the penguins because they choose not to be vaccinated against COVID. We are left feeling betrayed and keep blaming ourselves for not seeing it coming. We are determined to stay optimistic.
Have a great week and a Healthy and Happy New Year
Rosalie
​

​Hello friends and family.  Season’s Greetings!
I wish you and your family a safe and happy Christmas. After a difficult year I have much to be thankful for. From Endometrial cancer and too many dead chicks, to wonderful support from my family and Penguin Rescue team members, it has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride. 

​On Tuesday, Jordana and Jim joined Robbie and I to do the weighing and dosing of the chicks down the hill and a check of the Moeraki Colony. It started out a bit damp but soon cleared to a sunny afternoon – great to get the washing dry.

​Then the rain started. On Thursday, Robbie and I squelched our way around the reserves. With all this rain, the grass is now chest height and full of wet pollen. It was on with the dryer when we got home – 26 stinky pillowcases were not going to be left in my flash new laundry!

The chicks are all making progress at the moment, some faster than others, but having the nest boxes means they stay dry which is a real plus. The chicks now have nice, thick down but it is not waterproof. Currently they are easy to find, but hard to see. Hiltrun came up and we did the rounds yesterday. It was sunny with a stiff breeze which dried out the grass in no time.
Have a great week and a wonderful Christmas
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
Nasty November is well and truly over, and we now have delightful December. This is when the chicks are at their cutest. Each time we do a monitoring round, we seem to save at least one chick. On Tuesday we came to nest 129 and there were 3 chicks there! Two were in the box behind a parent and one was just outside. It had come from the nearest box, still quite a difficult journey and it would not have found its way home. We also found 2 chicks, home alone. Deploying a trail camera revealed that they did indeed still have 2 parents – must have been a communication error!

​On Wednesday Elaine and I went to Dunedin to catch up with the wonderful people working to unravel the mystery of the chick deaths. It was very inspiring to meet with them and hear their ideas on how to progress improvements for the penguins.

​On Thursday we almost got speed wobbles. The tasks at hand were to check the traps at Katiki and weigh and treat the chicks at the Moeraki colony. Down the hill we found all the chicks were fine but came across a very sick Juvenile that we brought into care. There was nothing caught in the traps.

​When we got to the Moeraki colony we found a wandering chick and then ran out of treatment so had to go back, where we found another 2 small chicks home alone. I put a camera on their nest.
On Friday I got up early and travelled to Tauranga to help Maria celebrate a special birthday. On Saturday, 10 of us went to Rotorua and did the Canopy zip-line experience. It was great! In the evening we had an excellent party with live music from Paul and Daniel. I had only about 4 goes at Karaoke and stopped before I made a total fool of myself!

The team cared for the penguins, and I got home last night.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
We have turned the corner with the chicks. They are now out of that neonatal danger zone and getting cuter by the day. The next step in their lives is to venture outside the nest and we are looking forward to this as the nest boxes smell very bad. 

​We are now getting into the routine of weighing the chicks once a week. We do one reserve on Tuesday and the other on Thursday. On Tuesday it was Robbie and I, but on Thursday we were joined by the biodiversity staff from Oamaru. It is great talking to them about ways we can work together to make the Waitaki a better place to live for humans and other species.

​My other task this week has been to prick out the tiny cabbage trees. I am transferring them from a tray where they sprouted to individual tiny pots to grow on for a few months. I have hundreds of them so am doing about 30 a day to get through the task. 

On Friday we were advised that the big chick that died last week was from Malaria. Having a known cause is better than not. We will make a plan.
Have a great week!
Rosalie.
​