 Why we monitor - this penguin needs help Hello friends and family The week began fine and I resolved to repair the ride-on mower. I inflated the tires and tried to start it, but it did not spark – the spark plug that I have here as a spare is too big, so I will try again next week. In the meantime, Ross mowed the drive for me, so the pressure is off!  moulting together can lead to pairing I regularly check the beaches which does not mean that I find every penguin that needs help immediately – they must be where I can see them. On Tuesday I released the Snares Crested penguin. The Fiordland is on his own but eating well and will be able to go as soon as he puts more weight on.  A giant petrel looking for dead seal pups On Wednesday I went to a meeting with the local operations manager for DOC and came away feeling that we are making progress towards meaningful protection for the penguins that live here. The weather was bad – 35 mm of rain, but it was worse on the west coast, so the tourists kept coming. Jan joined me for the rounds on Thursday morning and we came across a dying penguin. It was Mr 33 who died just after I carried him up the hill. Some kind tourists took him to Dunedin for autopsy. Some more of our breeding birds came home – they may as well as the seas were raging.  Swallows having a break Friday was a fine day and got quite warm for a while. I was able to get the mats and sacks clean which is a very smelly job but the sunshine works wonders and now they are all stacked away, ready for the next use.  Breeders at home to moult On Saturday, I took Chris and Hiltrun in the truck to the Moeraki colony. There were sheep in the paddock and they had pooped on the track. The tread on the truck filled up and we had no traction. After some scary moments we were able to get there and back again. Hiltrun has done the tally – we have had 41 YEPs in care this season and 9 other kinds of penguin, giving a total number of 50 with a release rate of 90%.
Have a great week! Rosalie  farewell last chick, be safe and come back if you need help Hello friends and family The week began quietly with no new birds in until Friday. On Monday I met the new farmer next door and it was a treat to see sheep grazing on the front of the farm again. He is going to help manage our sheep by shearing and dipping them.  moulting together builds pair bonds Top- I did the rounds on Tuesday and all was well with the penguins. On Wednesday after my stint at the tip shop I found one of our hospital penguins dead. It had been in fine fettle the day before, so it was a bit of a shock and now it is at Massey for an autopsy. The rest are doing fine,  clear blue autumn skies We are still waiting for our breeders to begin the moult. I see the occasional single pre-moult penguin in the colony but few pairs yet. I seem to be spending a lot of time waiting for the next thing – the next lot of fish, the next lot of moulters …  This beach is checked most days Chris and Hiltrun came up on Friday night and we did the rounds yesterday. Oh, how the weeds have loved the autumn warm rain. That will keep us busy for a while!
Have a great week Rosalie  The White flippered penguin with badly worn feathers Hello friends and family The week began with wet weather – first very muggy and then a little colder. I was rescuing, transferring and releasing penguins and am left with 6 Yellow-eyed penguins, 4 Cresteds and a White Flippered penguin. The preserving of garden produce continues, and the growth of lawns, hedges and weeds is getting harder to ignore!  Breakfast is ready! Jan came and did the rounds with me on Wednesday and was there for the rescue of a YEP with an eye injury and an Erect Crested starving at Anderson’s lagoon. The vet came on Thursday and checked the 2 injured penguins.  When you go down to the woods today.... Friday was the day that Walter came with his team to harvest the honey for the season. We started with the Lighthouse Hills apiary first and 2 of the hives had fallen over - thankfully the bees had survived but Varroa was present. Walter examined all the hives and made sure they were ready for winter.  Too late to save, major organ damage has happened Yesterday was a dark day – one of the Erect Crested penguins died over night and the other one died too. We found a dead YEP that had fatal wounds and a moulting Juvenile YEP that had died in the Moeraki Colony.  When fat is truly beautiful Just at penguin feeding time I got a call about a bee swarm in Hampden, so Owen and I went to retrieve it. We had no luck catching it – I don’t think the queen was where we were. That was a nice distraction anyway.  Bye honey, I am off to work.. Today I will be releasing the last of this season’s chicks and a fully moulted juvenile. I wish them well.
Have a great week! Rosalie  our new, very thin Fiordland crested penguin Hello friends and family It has been a busy time in the hospital – penguins in and penguins out. The week began very auspiciously with the grader repairing the road – what a difference! I can now travel safely in 2nd gear instead of first gear! Sanfords fisheries have donated us 90 Kg of fish and it will be ideal for the moulters with the munchies. They can be filled up once a day and have salmon for breakfast – hopefully this will make happy penguins.  2 penguins moulting out of the sun The last of the chicks have left the colonies and all the boosted ones are in soft release, they will be gone by the end of the week. This means that it is time to be on the lookout for failed fledgers who wash up along the coast very thin and hungry.  a penguin being the king of the castle I found a dead adult penguin in the colony – it weighed in at 7.2 Kg so was in good body condition. It was sent off to Massey and the preliminary report mentioned malaria. If this is indeed the case, it will be the first bird from here and the first adult. The others have all been chicks and lost at least 1 Kg of weight before dying. Further investigation is required.  the view from the front door As I do my rounds, I notice that we are missing a lot of penguins. This could just be paranoia as it is only early March and the storms will have slowed down the penguins efforts to gain weight to moult but it makes for worrying times all the same. I have been out treating all standing water to kill off any mosquito larvae.  Spotted shags resting after a fishing session The ORC has started putting out carrot bait for the rabbits and within 24 hours, most of it was gone even though we have a lot of autumn growth in the paddocks. I have begun my annual apple harvest and am feeling blessed with abundance in the garden.  one of my veggie patches Have a great week!
Rosalie |
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August 2023
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