 Our beach Hello friends and family We are all adjusting to life in lockdown. As the penguins are so endangered, we can continue our work – highly modified – that is essential at this time of the season. Many of the penguins are ending the moult and with the night-time temperatures dropping, the risk of new malaria infections has diminished so I am able to release more penguins from care. We are now looking for late moulters and ones taking more than a month to complete the moult. We continue to trap intensively. We are working in pairs to reduce risk and are meeting outside rather than in the kitchen. Gloves, masks wipes, sanitizers and soap are everywhere! If I can get outside, I can cope just fine.  King of the castle The reserve has been closed until further notice. Even yesterday, tourists arrived, expecting to see penguins. They are not following the rules on any level. Both gates are locked and will stay that way as the default. The penguins reclaimed the beach within days of being able to.  Protecting people from themselves Yellow-eyed penguins know how to self-isolate and so we can use their position as part of the puzzle of diagnosing disease. Earlier we found Mr and Mrs 211 apart. He was under some tussock at the south end and had Malaria. She had gone through the fence and into the crop paddock, out of sight of any other penguin. She had an infection. Now that they have both recovered, they are back together, at home and relaxing.  going fishing I have started my autumn hedge cutting rounds. It will take several weeks to cut them all but hey – I have plenty of time! Currently we have 11 Yellow-eyed penguins in care and 2 little ones.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Pablo with a sea view! Hello friends and family The penguins keep rolling in. On Tuesday we picked up another 5. They are underweight or behaving strangely so with the risk of Malaria so high, we bring them in so at least they can get tested. The normal ones stay in the wild. On Tuesday the next shipment of salmon from NZ King Salmon arrived and the fish are just the right size for Yellow-eyed penguins so feeding is a breeze. When I try and feed them tiny fish, they look at me as if I am insulting them!  Mrs 139 who had her flipper caught in moulinbechia and it is now moulting On Wednesday I took the truck to town to get a puncture fixed. There is surely panic buying in Oamaru and the Supermarket had no flour of any kind. This is annoying as I normally only go to town once a fortnight so my supplies will run low by then!  Seal pups appear in all kinds of places On Thursday we brought in 2 more penguins – both were taking 4 weeks and had not finished moulting. Their partners had been and gone and still they lingered! We also got the great news that the Council is going to supply the water for the penguin habitat for free. This is the result of the lobbying by Megan, one of our members, fighting for what is right – well done Meg!  A predated Titi - one of 2 we found this week Yesterday Elaine came out and tested the blood of the 7 new penguins in care. 3 had Malaria and 3 have an infection. Interesting blood! Hiltrun came up and released 2 Little penguins and Pablo! We now have 20 Yellow-eyed penguins in care and 5 Little ones. When it was time to go, Hiltrun had a puncture. Thank goodness for the AA – a tow truck came and took Hiltrun and her car home.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Needing a helping hand Hello friends and family Life continues to be busy at the lighthouse. On Sunday the Erect Crested penguin finally left and we wish him well. With live traps in place, and 2 juveniles moulting in the tent, I go to the Moeraki colony every day. On Sunday I walked there and found a penguin hiding under some tussock. This is strange behaviour for a start, and he had a partner that he abandoned. I suspect he will have Malaria.  Hatching a mischievous plot! The team came on Tuesday and picked up 5 adult penguins. They were all marginal. One was caught in Moulenebechia and one had slashed feet. They have all settled well. I went to town on Wednesday and got a watermelon – what a summer treat!  The first ever whole bunch of grapes in the garden On Thursday we found 3 more penguins needing help. It was a glorious day, so we went across to the island – no sign of little penguins – not even feathers to indicate moulting. We checked the traps and the penguins with great thoroughness. Al of this care comes to nothing if we miss the signs and on Friday, I found a dead penguin at the Moeraki Colony. It was Mr 127 so it was with great relief that we found Mrs 127 alive on Saturday – sure enough, she has Malaria.  The Shags in winter mode on the island It took Elaine most of yesterday to collect, prepare and read the slides for all the new birds. We are all busy and keeping up with the logistics is a priority.
Have a great week! Rosalie  another pair of moulting parents Hello friends and family The week started off quietly – nice weather – chicks to feed in the middle of the day, so plenty of excuse to just amble along doing the small easy tasks that caught my attention.  The 'before' shot The team came out on Tuesday and it was great that they too saw lots of fat moulters and no needy penguins. We opened the hatch for the chicks and released 6 penguins from hospital that were also fat and happy. Wednesday was my Toptip day and when I went to feed any lingering chicks, there were none – they had all fledged! There is now only the young one left here in care for another few weeks.  The 'after' shot On Thursday we found 2 of our breeding females from the Moeraki colony needing a helping hand and brought them in. Chris from the Dunedin DOC office came for a visit in the afternoon and was able to meet Nola and Patrick while he was here.  Where's mum? On Friday, I released another 2 moulted juveniles and the water tank arrived. It was very windy, and the delivery man was very impressive with his ability to manage a large, light object in high wind. It is now secure and ready for water.  A Malaria plasmodium in penguin blood Yesterday Elaine and Hiltrun came out and we picked up 2 more penguins. One had Malaria and the other was underweight.
Have a great week! Rosalie  parents going into the moult Hello friends and family The weeks certainly fly by when I am so busy! I can’t remember what happened on Sunday, but on Monday we were visited by the Genome department of Otago University. There is such a wealth of knowledge about bird diseases and other interesting stuff, their visit was such a pleasure!  Free at last It was a working bee day on Tuesday and Tracey, Jules and Robbie came. We brought in a penguin which we found later had Malaria and dosed the soft-release chicks with a Malaria prophylactic. This set us up for Wednesday when Stephen from the ODT came and we opened the soft release pens for 25 of the chicks https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/yellow-eyed-penguins-ready-wild. By the next morning, there were only 3 left! The rest had fledged, and we wish them well!  The Erect crested penguin just before release We released a White flippered penguin and the Erect crested on Thursday and took all but the very last chick to soft release. We re-sited the tent for the next moulting pair and did the rounds, not finding any penguins of concern, but Elaine arrived with one from Katiki Beach in the afternoon. In between, I have done some beach rescues of little penguins – there are many dying along this coast right now. One that I picked up I sent to the Wild-life hospital and it died from its dog bite wounds.  The 3rd Fiordland crested was keen to leave. Hiltrun and Elaine came out yesterday and we did the rounds, admiring fat moulters as we went, and trying to do an audit of our breeding pairs as they all come home to moult.
Have a great week! Rosalie |
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