​Hello friends and family
I had a wonderful birthday week with Paul, Jen and Olivia. On Sunday we went to Hampden and watched Olivia in the playground. While we were there, the local Hector’s dolphins put on a great display, surfing and doing a back flip.

​On Monday we went to Riverstone Kitchen for lunch and had a lovely time. I ate figs for lunch, followed by desert. What with feeding 54 penguins twice a day, there is not much time left in the middle to have adventures!

​My birthday choice was seafood mornay and it was above delicious. Jen added a chocolate delight and we demolished a magnum of Rose and French champagne. No problem!

​Jan, Robbie and I completed a penguin marathon on Thursday. We re-located one penguin that was concerning visitors because it was lying down, rescued 2 more and took 8 chicks to soft release. Every penguin movement means identifying, weighing, measuring, taking blood samples for Malaria screening and then washing the gear afterwards. Michael and Shirley arrived in the afternoon and were soon immersed in penguin life – managing fish, rescuing penguins and planting up trees for habitat development. Chris and Hiltrun arrived for dinner on Friday night and we spent yesterday checking on all the penguins and records.

Michael and Shirley left with Hiltrun at mid-day and Bruce and Amanda visited with friends in the afternoon.
I hope it rains all day today so I can blob out!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
The days are rolling into one long sequence of feeding penguins, fish, organising resources and medication. I gave a talk to the Oamaru tramping club on Monday night and delivered a load of cardboard to the Toptip on Wednesday.

​We had a week of wild seas and many of our chicks chose to fledge into it. The sand has been washed from the landings and is swirling in the coastal waters. We have had one chick return already!

​Vicki came and cleaned on Thursday – bless her!  The Council sealed parts of Lighthouse Road on Thursday which will mean faster cars but less dust

​Sue and Merrin visited from Dunedin. This was a great chance to catch up on Malaria information and to discuss where to from here in terms of releasing penguins back into the mosquito environment.

Paul, Jen and Olivia arrived on Thursday evening which was so wonderful. They have been fitting into the spaces not filled with penguin stuff ever since. I so enjoy having them here!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
And so the mayhem continues!

​By Wednesday we had 7 adult YEPs in care – 3 with injuries and one with Malaria; we had 1 juvenile YEP with Malaria and 36 chicks, one with Malaria and one with a loss of appetite. The Malaria is detected by examining blood. Once the penguin has symptoms, it dies. Treatment costs at least $30 per penguin. Every penguin that is moved gets a blood sample taken that we check with the microscope for plasmodium as we need the information in a timely fashion so we can act to save the penguin.

​5 Penguins have died, one confirmed positive for Malaria. The team have swung into action and we are confident that we have done all we can do to manage this penguin crisis. By Friday it was very bleak indeed. I even passed on the Toptip which shows you how bad it is. The Malarone to treat Malaria arrived at the vets on Friday afternoon so we have begun treating 7 penguins, with one more to start today.

This morning we had another dead chick. This leaves us with 49 left. How precious they are
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
Last Sunday we did the first of the 90-day checks and found 10 underweight chicks. We brought 8 of them in and left the other 2 because we took their sibling so they will get all of the parent’s food. We will be checking every second day and doing a re-weigh of all chicks in the colonies on Sunday. This weight loss is sudden and unexpected. 

​To cope with the extras, Robbie came on Monday and constructed pens inside the aviary. This means we don’t have to disturb the settled 11 chicks. By Tuesday we had picked up another 6 chicks plus 2 starving mums who had given up. The aviary had 9 chicks by the end of the day! It did not stop there – on Thursday we had our 3rd starving mum and 2 more chicks. The total was 33.
Robbie came back on Friday to construct a new enclosure by the water tank to house the adults.
It took us both most of the day, but we completed the building on the day. He came back with the Wainak team on Saturday and sorted out the floor with smooth rocks to help keep the penguins clean.

​Our penguin team spent yesterday in the field, weighing all of the chicks left in the colonies. We now have 36 of them in care, leaving 17 with their parents. Some are in because their mums have collapsed with exhaustion and 2 have a dead dad. All of them are under the 5 Kg cut off for 90 days.

We will be busy!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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