 nearly full size! Hello friends and family The week has been dominated by Janice’s funeral and rain. We have had proper rain and the ground is wet. All our plants are thriving! We have had thunder. When the storms pass straight overhead, I am relieved that the lighthouse had a lightning rod and so we are safe from lightning strikes doing any damage. Chris and Hiltrun came up during the week and we weighed the hospital chicks. The heaviest is 6.6Kg. We picked up a sick chick on Wednesday and it died on Thursday so we are now down to 48 chicks altogether, 18 of which are in care.  The next feed is ready I released the Little penguin between the showers on Friday and we picked up a skinny juvenile YEP. The skinny juveniles seem to have fungal throat and need treatment before they can eat comfortably.  Our oldest chick. It will be leaving home soon Saturday was a day to play catch-up and get the mats and sacks cleaned. I put the juveniles into the berry pen down in the garden. This has enough room for them to move around as we fatten them up to moult. We have a place prepared at the Moeraki colony for them to sit while they complete their moult.  Having some time off. Just one day of sunshine makes such a difference!
Have a great week Rosalie  Hospital chicks love to stand on boxes and look important By Monday, all the new penguins were feeding from the hand and would normally be moved out of the hospital into the garden pens but with the weather forecast being so dire, I decided to leave them in the shelter of the hospital until after the storm had passed. Paul from Kaik 2 came on Monday and we discussed biodiversity and he came to the Moeraki colony to see our work while I rescued another thin Juvenile penguin that had been in the same spot for 3 days and only weighed 4 Kg.  The new entrance way under construction On Tuesday I had to take the truck into Dunedin for its annual service and warrant. I took the opportunity to deliver a trailer load of timber out to Chris’s place and was very pleased with myself as I have not driven with a trailer for some time. The exercise went to plan and the bonus for the day was meeting up with Ben for coffee in South Dunedin while the truck was in the garage. He is an inspiring man with great skill and vision.  Very cute pup Wednesday was my day for checking on all the chicks still out in the reserves and they were all looking OK. It was wet. I managed to stay on my feet in the slippery conditions which soon dried out as we had a day of gale force winds on Thursday. On my trip to Oamaru I saw upturned campervans and trailers – not a day to take my camper for a run.  Titi in the reserve Friday was the day that Barry phoned to tell me that Janice had died in the early afternoon. Her suffering is over but her great work lives on. The vision she had, the trees she planted, the penguins she saved have thrived. May she rest in peace.  Home time Make the most of your week!
Rosalie  Hospital chicks just hanging about Hello friends and family The week got off to a great start with dinner with Doug and Robyn. They are wonderful hosts and it was great to catch up with them, we are all so busy!  Our Pohutukawa but where is the sunshine? I have had plenty to do with 24 penguins needing to be fed. They have all settled well but feeding / preparing the next meal still takes 2 hours a day. My focus this week has been on weeds and so whenever I could I got out with the Round-up and took to them. The weeds are prolific this year and growing quickly because of the wet season. We can’t keep on top of them with the grubber.  Staying in the house to build confidence I skipped my usual trip to Oamaru this week as my shopping list was too short to justify the drive. I did get as far as Hampden on Wednesday to collect milk for cheese making, catch up with Elaine and report the donation box break in to the police. I have been harvesting plums which are delicious.  Lots of seal pups Chris and I completed the 70-day weigh of the chicks at Moeraki on Friday afternoon and of the ones here on Saturday morning. We brought in a total of 6 and there are now only 3 nests left to check next weekend. I spent yesterday working on the new penguin sub-division which provides a safe place for the penguins to live.  A White-flippered penguin in care Have a great week!
Rosalie  And where is the fish? Hello friends and family The year got off to a cracking start with the arrival of the Lees McCrae College Wildlife group on Monday. There were 22 people in the group and we had planned an itinerary which was fortunately flexible, as nothing went to plan.  Moving into the new sub-division By the end of their visit on Wednesday afternoon, they had transplanted tree ferns to the penguin habitat, seen the hospital penguins fed, explored a reserve and planted some flaxes. Their vet checked out all the penguins in care and had a lot of useful advice. While they were here we had gale force winds – strong enough to blow the leaves off the trees!  My supervisor Chris and his brother Grant were here to help and we spent a day on a farm in Herbert. On Thursday I visited Janice for the last time before she was transferred to Wanaka to be nearer her granddaughter and new great grandson.  A Nodding thistle in full bloom - great bee food Friday was my turn at the Top tip shop and Chris arrived in the afternoon. We have started the 70-day chick check and as a result brought 4 chicks into care. The good news is that overall, the chick weights have improved in the last 2 weeks. I have been too busy to get many good photos but made the front page of the ODT. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/penguins-take-population-hit  Yes, people do steal from the penguins by damaging the donation box Have a great week!
Rosalie  Growing up and looking fabulous Hello friends and family Happy New Year! I wish you all the best of years ever and that you keep good health.  Yes, rabbits do eat mature trees For me to move forward I must let go of old ideas that had been directing me. The first one is around maintaining the historic reserve. I no longer do it, except that this week I put rabbit guards around 7 mature cabbage trees that the rabbits are ring-barking. This is a gesture of respect for Bob who planted them in the ‘80s, and a wish to keep them alive.  A visiting giant petrel - about a meter long I have let go of the idea that this place will ever be a local asset. This week I brought in the last chick on the historic reserve because it was covered in peck marks and had not put on any weight in the last week. The historic reserve is not safe for penguins. It is not safe for NZ fur seals either and they have stopped breeding there. On the other hand, the gulls have had a good breeding season on the historic reserve this year.  Hay harvesting next door I am excited by the ever-increasing level of help that Penguin Rescue is getting from our wonderful sponsors. This week, NZ King Salmon renewed their sponsorship for the next year. Thank you all.  Growing new feathers I am also up for the challenges that working with these wonderful birds will bring this year.
Bring it on! Have a great week Rosalie |
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