 What do you mean -penguins don't climb? Hello friends and family The week began with unexpected penguins in strange places. Birds are not famous for their intellect, but they have been outsmarting me with some regularity. When I relay the stories of which penguin is keeping company with which, the team think we could write a drama series. In spite of the antics, most of our penguins have come home to moult. Sadly, we also had an emaciated, unmarked fledgling that died the morning after it arrived.  The new phone's night picture Four of us did the rounds on Tuesday and we found 4 underweight moulters. Thankfully, we released 2 penguins at the same time, so all was well. The rain held off and it was like walking around in a sauna. It stayed clogged in on Wednesday, but the clouds cleared for Thursday when we were joined by the environmental officers from the Waitaki and Otago regional councils. It is very enjoyable having visitors who understand our motivation and hold wildness in high regard.  What we dead to see - marks of a penguin struggling to walk Another 2 penguins came into care and 2 more were released. It was quite amusing that we had to wait at a traffic light to get up the hill! The road repairs are almost completed, in spite of them taking Otago anniversary day off on Monday.  Mr 139 has battle scars On Saturday the seas were Majestic. I have never seen such big waves, rolling in from so far out. I am sure that it has happened before, in a winter storm, but the weather was fine, warm and calm. We picked up Mr and Mrs 139 and released 3 penguins. Mr 303 is due to go today. Have a great week! Rosalie   Kind people helping to save penguins Hello friends and family The week began with the arrival of a starving fledgling. It arrived in style, in a taxi! On Monday morning, the Erect Crested decided that it was time to go and jumped out of his pen and in with the neighbour, who was not well pleased with that. He still had a few stray feathers on his flippers, but his tail feathers were well on their way and now, so is he. Elaine reported an injured shag along Katiki Beach but my searching for it was not successful.  Autumn glory On Tuesday it was good to see a lot of fresh penguin poop, from the penguins who have now moulted and are coming home with full bellies. We have seen most of our breeders return to moult, but the few gaps are concerning. The 3 penguins that we found dead in previous weeks are considered to have died of Malaria.  Modern retirement I went to Oamaru on Wednesday and picked up my new hedge clipper. They are waiting on parts to repair the old one. On Thursday, Robbie and I were joined by Murray and Bronwyn. They have a new electric car, a Leif, that is the best clean option for their lifestyle. We released one penguin and brought one in. It is so fortunate that this is a quiet season so far as I am feeding the rehab penguins lots of small fish. They don’t mind, but it takes longer.  Large guests ono the front lawn Recently another penguin organisation released its first newsletter. Please support them by subscribing. Go to https://www.nzpi.nz/ and as you look around, there will be a pop up to subscribe to their newsletter. Have a great week! Rosalie  During and after - the moulting season is in full swing Hello friends and family The week began with rain which was enough to keep the place green for another few weeks. All excitement was well deflated when we found 2 dead adult penguins at the Moeraki colony on Tuesday. We also brought in a Juvie and Mrs 26 who were both underweight to moult. Every time we do a monitoring round, we face the unexpected.  One of the first breeders in to moult - looking chubby Wednesday was my day at the TopTip shop. There were plenty of people dumping rubbish, but not a lot of buyers so it was a quiet morning.  The Top Tip shop Elaine joined us on Thursday, and we had bloods taken and tested. One of the dead penguins had a heavy Malaria infection, the other was not possible to tell. Fortunately, we did not find any more dead penguins, but we now have 12 penguins in care. In the afternoon I headed down to Dunedin for my one year check up at the hospital, so was able to take the dead penguins down to go for autopsy.  A positive malaria slide - we are seeing too many of these On Friday, after doing this and that, I backed the car into the side of the garage door! How is this possible you ask? It has bells and whistles and cameras and all. It beeps at the rise into the garage, so the warnings are useless. It was easy – I over thought the task and was very pleased when it slipped into the garage just fine yesterday.  Our visiting Sea lion Have a great week! Rosalie  The moult is almost complete Hello friends and family The week began with another rescue trip to Moeraki, this time to rescue a seagull caught in a fishing line. It was a first for me as I was low on petrol so drove the car as an EV for the first time – there was no real difference in the driving experience so I will do it more often.  disturbing companions On Monday my new phone arrived, and I was able to set it up by myself, so feel very good about that. On Tuesday we released the last chick in care and picked up 2 pre-moult underweight passive adults. They will get tested on Thursday.  Another pair of penguins has come home to moult Wednesday was my day for a visit to the dentist, so I tackled the shopping list, picking up my groceries as a click and collect. I will have to do the banking next time. On Thursday we did the rounds and all the rehab chicks have fledged. We didn’t find any penguins needing help, but did find Mr 32 with his shortened flipper, happily moulting with his partner. Some of the failed breeders are coming in to moult but the main lot are busy fishing. They are going out an hour later than when they had chicks to feed!  The Erect crested admires his image Yesterday we caught and weighed Mr Flipper bird and he was 5.5Kg, perfectly okay with only a week to go to complete the moult. He has done well! Have a great week! Rosalie |
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August 2023
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