 Election year! Hello friends and family Another busy month has gone by and penguins keep arriving and leaving. We picked up 4 on Tuesday. 2 chicks have returned, and 2 moulted females are too thin to thrive. The big weather event passed us by – we only got 1 mm of rain, just enough to be slippery but not enough to keep the plants growing. It was warm for the first half of the week so the cooler day on Wednesday was a bit of a relief.  Yes, seals do climb trees On Thursday we released 8 penguins and brought in 4 skinny ones, including a White Flippered pre-moulter who has been swimming in the bay for about a week. We weighed another 3 that were 7 Kg going into the moult which is Okay. All of this is taking most of our day, and the weeds are making the most of the temporary reprieve!  The island provides a safe roost for so many birds I have been buying some clothes on the internet and am challenged with size. Even measuring includes a few assumptions like – pockets in the trousers! I will probably never learn and who cares how much leg is tucked into your gumboots!  Moulting in the field - a lucky penguin Hiltrun came up on Friday night and on Saturday, after the rounds, we did a bit of an audit – we have seen most of our breeders in the last month, so we are very happy and relieved about that.  The Terns always face in the same direction The terns are such a pleasure to see!
Have a great week! Rosalie  Nearly ready to go! Hello friends and family This has been a quieter week. We have had penguins coming and going and more of them turning up in the colonies to moult. I had a visiting group of American students on Monday who are studying the impact of climate change on the environment. They had a lot of pertinent questions so that was great.  A visiting male sea lion resting on the beach Jan, Robbie and I caught an underweight penguin at Katiki Beach on Tuesday morning – it was hanging out with a dead one which died of Malaria so we have taken bloods and will begin treatment. Wednesday was my town day and very dismal and grey – a good day to get out of the place!  Feathers everywhere Robbie and I released 7 penguins on Thursday and brought one new one into care. It takes hours to do this as we must take bloods, medicate and measure these birds. This is all part of managing Malaria. We can control release dates but not admission dates. Our mandate of minimising handling of penguins is challenged by the new requirements. Generally, we only handle the penguins 3 times – admission, transfer between ICU and pens, and release. Our challenge is to keep this regime yet administer several tests and treatments.  Feathers in the vacuum cleaner! Once we have taken samples, they must be correctly stored and transported – some at -80 oC.  and after - beautiful! Saturday was another busy day, with John and Henry added to our usual gathering. John commented about how busy the place was with science happening all over the place. It is our normal!
Have a great week! Rosalie  Moulting in the drain - the water keeps their feet cool! Hello friends and family Another busy week in paradise! Michael and Shirley arrived back from their south Pacific cruise very happy that they went, and Shirley gave me her sub-Antarctic jacket to keep me warm on winter mornings! They have been helping out with planting, weeding and fruit picking at Hampden.  This pair are moulting on top of the promontory Walter came and harvested the honey on Monday – it was a very poor crop and the unhelpful weather has taken a toll on the bee health. Hopefully, the Verroa strips and some warm calm weather will help restore them to full health.  Newly released from care and home after swimming back Robbie came on Tuesday to help with the rounds. We saw a couple of penguins that may be a bit thin but left them alone as they may be here for some time as they moult, so there is no rush to pick them up. It was my turn at the top tip on Wednesday morning which meant that I did not open the soft-release pens until the afternoon. By Thursday evening, 2 of the chicks were back in care, having swum as far as Hampden, but our net goes even wider!  At last - beautiful clean water On Friday, Michael and Shirley shouted me out to lunch at Fleurs. – lucky me! Then hell arrived in New Zealand. A madman drove past here to Christchurch and manifested his intolerance with a gun. New Zealand was a soft target and so he was able to inflict an awful lot of damage. We need to toughen up.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Moulting can be a tedious process Hello friends and family The big news is that we have no pre-fledge chicks left here – the last batch are in soft release soon to be on their way to sea. They are being replaced by underweight pre-moulters that are coming in too light to survive the moult safely.  3 moutled penguins and a chick This has been a week where fish supply has dominated my concerns. A load due last Friday did not arrive until Wednesday – 5 days of anxiety that I don’t need. I have spare fish – I can rationalise that there will be no hungry penguins on my watch, but once it arrives, the overwhelming sense of relief is undeniable. And then I order more!  What do you mean - in the house? The fish is working its magic and the penguins are swelling up into the moult. They leave the munchies behind and may or may not eat – they choose!  Some penguins are looking magnificent without assistance from us. With 10 pre-fledge chicks into soft release on Thursday, of course – Friday lunchtime I pick up a “fail to fledge” chick that had come back. This is its second return. It will go eventually, in the meantime, we will feed it up again.  Otago Shags enjoying a beautiful day We now have 28 YEPs here, plus 4 White flippered penguins and the Fiordland Crested penguin.
Things are calming down. Have a great week! Rosalie  Just released and checking out the surrounds ,Hello friends and family Sunday was wet enough to get some indoor jobs done. We got 11 mm of rain and it just soaked straight in. On Monday Jan, Robbie and I moved our first two moulted juveniles to soft release, as well as another 4 chicks. We were down to 40 Yellow-eyed penguins here with 10 in soft release, plus one Crested and 5 White flippered. What a treat to see the now adults with their new vibrant plumage.  I think we go this way. On Tuesday I went to Oamaru to do the banking and get fuel and food. Jan came out in the afternoon and we picked up Mrs 87 who had an injured leg. Wednesday was another nasty one and poor Vicki braved the southerly to clean all the pens. One of our White flippered penguins died – sad. The wind was challenging when Jan and I responded to a call from visitors and went down to collect Mrs 90 who was injured.  And the fence wore whiskers - grass blown from the paddocks! Thursday was much better – less wind, but still very cold.  Various stages of moulting - not a pretty process On Friday night the team and friends gathered for dinner at the Moeraki Tavern. It was a fun night with great people. Chris, Hiltrun, Elaine, Amanda and Bruce spent a very nice day here on Saturday – the wind had dropped, and the sun shone. It was back to summer again!  Looking gorgeous - ready to go back to sea with a new set of feathers Have a great week!
Rosalie |
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