 Moulting in the shade Hello friends and family Paul, Jen, Dot and Olivia headed home on Tuesday morning after a wonderful visit. What an awesome birthday gift to have them here, leaving me with many treasured memories. (don’t nursery rhymes stick in your head!)  Red hot poker season Chris arrived mid-day on Wednesday and Hiltrun late afternoon. It was time to do a count of the current moulters and there were more than 40 down the hill here and also at the Moeraki colony. We now have 10 YEPs in care here and 10 in soft release.  A neighbour checking out the new windows We have enjoyed a couple of summer days and it is nice to head into the shade and do some weeding. With the amount of rain that we have had and the plague of bunnies, the Poro-poro is rampant. Few plants grow so fast and they can block a penguin’s access to their home in a few months.  Seal pup soup. The garden is producing plums, pears, courgettes, carrots, tomatoes, broad beans and silver beet. It is just as well that I have had some help to eat them.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Hello friends and family Gavin arrived on Sunday night and by Tuesday afternoon he had installed a new power point and up-graded the batts in the ceiling of the living area to match the heat pump and the new windows which wait in the garage.  Paul, Jen, Dot and baby Olivia arrived on Tuesday afternoon and on Thursday, with Chris and Hiltrun here to mind the penguins, we went on a mini-holiday for the day. We drove up the Pig route to Alexandra and stopped at the bakery for yummy morning tea. Then it was on to an orchard in Cromwell for real fruit ice cream and fresh peaches and apricots to eat for the next few days.  We lunched in Wanaka and soaked in the hot spa at Omarama and then the last stop was dinner at Portside in Oamaru. We got home at 10 pm after a wonderful day of full sunshine. Gavin was away first thing the next morning.  Our first 5 chicks fledged from the soft release pens on Thursday and now 4 more are there, preparing to go to sea. On Friday night, we got our first fledgling that failed and stranded so now we have 24 penguins in care.  Have a great week
Rosalie  Waiting for mum or dad to bring food Hello friends and family What a busy week! On Monday I did the bees. They are holding their own but not making honey yet – it has been too cold and or windy for them to thrive – except for the lighthouse hills bees that are doing great.  Blooming in the moult On Tuesday I went to town and caught up with Raewyn and Hugh who are both well and very busy too. Wednesday was my morning at the Top tip shop. I forgot my milk bucket so borrowed Owen’s to bring home the milk to make cheese. I did not get far down the road when it all spilt so I have given up on cheese making this week! Then in the evening, I went to Owen’s and caught a swarm of bees. He now has 3 active hives.  The swarm On Thursday Hiltrun and I did the 100 day check on all but a few of the chicks in the colonies. 3 had to come in as underweight, but the rest were magnificent – some over 6 Kg and looking a picture. We saw the first moulting juveniles – also looking fantastic!  Me geared up to deal with it We transferred 5 YEP chicks to the soft release pen and today I will release a Little penguin that has completed the moult. This will leave us with 29 penguins in care.  soon they will be gone! Busy times!
Have a great week Rosalie  A pair of contented penguins Hello friends and family It took a few days for the juvenile Yellow-eyed penguins to settle into the berry cage. They were conflicted between hunger and fear of pain until the anti-fungal medication kicked in. I picked up a starving Little penguin in Pebble bay and he is a talker – having an opinion on his meals and feeding well.  Leaving early to go fishing Our first chick in the field has fledged. We have been weighing the chicks in the field at 100 days of age and they are now at good weights which may mean that the feeding has improved out there in the ocean. We got our first starving pre-moult adult from Shag point which brings our hospital number up to 28 penguins in care. We will begin releasing chicks next week.  the image is black and white because it is taken in infra-red after 9 pm I have not been ranting about the tourist behaviour, mostly because no one seems to care, but they are still arriving in groups after the reserve has closed and staying down in the penguin area until after dark when our cameras can no longer record them, even in infra-red as the photo, taken after 9 pm shows. During January, there were 180 cars in the car park after the reserve had closed at 7:30 pm.  stunning beauty of the Shag river mouth On Friday, we went to the Shag river mouth which was just lovely. There are now seal pups at the mouth and a fine grove of alpine daisy. We have still not had enough warm days to warrant checking the bees but I will do it this week.  the battle continues... Have a great week!
Rosalie |
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