 the last 2 chicks before they headed to soft release The week started out hot and dry. I went for a walk down the hill on Sunday morning and found a beached juvenile. I brought it in. Then I went to feed the chicks in soft release at the Moeraki colony. There was a dead Tawaki on the sand. I brought it home and took some blood from it. It had died of Malaria.  malaria infested blood On Monday I cut most of the top of the macrocarpa hedge. I had to follow my own rule for a change and stop when a battery was used up. I still smile when I think of getting it done!  time to go Tuesday was the day for our monitoring rounds. There are only 4 chicks left to fledge so we weighed them all. We also picked up 3 underweight moulters.  forest blossom In the afternoon I drove down to Dunedin to collect the adult penguin with serious leg injuries. It is well on the way to recovery after several surgeries to repair the damage. On Tuesday night we got 30mm of rain. The drought is over.  ready to head south It rained on Wednesday, so I watched the Kapa haka on TV in the afternoon. By Thursday it was down to showers and so we got the rounds done without getting too wet. We picked up Mrs 80 who was waiting for us on the path. We also brought in Mr and Mrs 157 who were underweight going into the moult. We took the last 2 chicks in rehab to the soft release pen. In the afternoon I went to the Bluffs and met Bronwyn there. We took the side by side to Kawariki Bay and released the moulter there from soft release. She already had the attention of a 7.7Kg moulter!  I have finished cutting the macrocarpa hedge. It is 2.7m tall and 22m long. The power supply will be safe for another few years! Yesterday, 2 more Hoiho came in to care which makes 7 arrivals this week. Today I will release the 3 Tawaki. Have a great week! Rosalie   a juvenile erect crested penguin Hello friends and family What a challenging week this has been for the country and our family. Paul, Olivia, and Jen are once again cut off at Hahei, and they had power cuts and internet outages as well. The storm was very intense and widespread. Robbie brought in an Erect Crested penguin from the Waianakarua river mouth.  wild water for the penguins to fledge into Down here we got big seas on Wednesday, but that was the limit of our discomfort. The 5mm of rain was not enough to stop the drought. The chicks in the colonies are fledging. The areas have a different feel to them once the chicks go. By Thursday we had 7 chicks left here and 8 at the Moeraki colony.  The Akaroa chick and a friend are the only ones left in care We saw another moulting juvenile that we brought in, and 5 adults. We took 4 more chicks to soft release which leaves only the 2 youngest here to go out next week.  down here we don't mess with ducks, here are our seals in a row. On Friday we made the front page of the 2 local newspapers with the story of the first incubator hatched chick which came here to learn penguin. It had fledged when Hiltrun checked down the hill yesterday.  a curious Tawaki This is a quiet season. With 8 penguins in rehab, it is a pleasure to feed them. At this time in previous seasons, we have had up to 70 penguins to feed. The feeding out there must be good at the moment. Have a great week! Rosalie  out on the rocks with the seals Hello friends and family On Sunday I hosted Lynn and her family for the day. What a treat to be in the company of bird rehabbers who understand the crazy scene we are working in. A highlight was seeing the first moulting juvenile of the season at the Moeraki colony. Beach searches are now the priority and on Monday I noticed another change. The chicks are on the move. Chicks from 3 nests were on the beach. This is the first step to fledging.  spoonbills in the Otago harbour On Tuesday we weighed the chicks here and they are all doing fine. When we went to the Moeraki colony, we found our first juvenile moulter. It was only 6.2 kgs, from nest 126 and naturally fledged.  a bad feather day Wednesday was the day for opening the soft release pen and the chicks were happy to finally get off to sea. This created a space for the next 2 oldest ones to go there for a week.  ready for the ocean We did not see any more moulters on Thursday when we weighed the chicks at the Moeraki colony. The temperatures had dropped so working in overalls was not so hot! On Saturday we saw 2 unemployed adults looking very pre-moult but no more needing help just yet!  notice that tummy resting on his feet I also finished cutting the big hedge so now can move on to the shorter ones. Have a great week! Rosalie  summer dress Hello friends and family Summer has been kind to us so far, but after the injured penguin last week, I felt the need to check the beaches every second day to make sure we did not have any more out there suffering. I was so pleased when walking past Tickle bay to see a moulter on the sand, under a bush. I was doubly surprised to see it had gone the next day, Tuesday, when we went to check it.  Tawaki We searched everywhere to no avail. I felt the need to show the photo I had taken to prove my claim. Oh, what a surprize – it was a Tawaki! If I had checked when I took the photo, I would have checked it out then and there!  venturing onto the beach The heat wave arrived on Thursday and while I was away rescuing another Tawaki, the team found the missing one – from zero to two! By the end of the rounds, they were exhausted with the heat!  anywhere is a good place to sleep They brought in two more chicks that were losing weight and took the first 4 fledglings to soft release. Still no signs of moulters or other struggling penguins.  Dad was home because the chick would not eat - sore throat Yesterday I did the rounds in the morning. Because we are feeding chicks in soft release, I take the car to the Moeraki colony so that makes for an easy monitoring round, even though it is so hot!  The chick from Akaroa losing fluff In the afternoon, Elaine came and completed the blood staining so we could read the slides of all the chicks screened. We also took blood from the Tawaki – one has Leucocytozoonosis.  2 Tawaki Today I am off on an adventure, hosting friends off a cruise ship in Dunedin Harbour.  Looking great Have a great week! Rosalie |
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November 2023
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