 Hello friends and family Each day I check the landings for failed fledglings and injured adults. It means that I can get on with stuff, not worrying about birds suffering down the hill. Jan has been coming in the afternoons to help me feed the patients and that makes it easy. The penguins are mostly easy to feed, and we get through the task quickly.  Penguin beach on Sunday On Tuesday we had a storm. The limiting factor is the high winds. When you are walking through bush in high winds, branches break off and so it is dangerous. We cancelled the monitoring round, but my checks meant that we did not have to worry too much. The penguins stay out at sea when it is rough to avoid being pounded by the surf, which reached out about 1km.  The same beach on Wednesday after the storm On Wednesday we went to lunch at Vanessa’s café to celebrate Jan’s birthday. I picked up one of the chicks that had been released last week and released 4 penguins. Robbie found Mrs Kawariki. She was pre-moult and only 4.5kg but has survived!  I'm okay but please help my wife Thursday was our big catch-up day. We released 2 penguins but picked up 13 – 5 from here and 8 from the Moeraki colony. Our breeders are coming home. Some of them that were well underweight were just sitting in their boxes waiting for us. Some were lucky to be found but they all would die without help.  wild water Yesterday we did two more rescues. The first was a chick that had been out fishing for over an month but wasn’t doing very well. It beached in Moeraki and a good lady stayed on the beach with it until I could come, to stop dogs killing it. The second was Mrs 299. She weighed only 4.7kg and had come into moult. Have a great week! Rosalie   desperate Hello friends and family Well, I was right off the mark last week. I checked the landings on Sunday and found an injured penguin on the landing by the hide. On Monday I checked the landings again and found a penguin exhibiting signs of malaria. On Tuesday we brought in 6 new penguins, some with nicks to feet and flippers and some simply underweight. This is a big concern - 27 hoiho in care. I have commissioned the aviary and have 6 penguins in there.  the apples have done well this year I went to town on Wednesday and it was raining from Moeraki to Oamaru all day, but we only got 2mm. In the afternoon, I cooked some apples and while standing at the kitchen sink, noticed that the beaches had turned green – a first in 21 years.  green intertidal zone On Thursday we decided to release the 2 fledglings from down south and to put 2 nearly moulted adults into the soft release pen. What a good idea as we picked up 5 penguins from down the hill, 2 from the Moeraki colony and 2 from the Bluffs. We now have over 30 of them needing a helping  welcome swallows We are all very concerned about this disaster that is happening for the penguins. It is critical that we stay on top of it because if the penguins loose too much body condition it is a long way back. Have a great week! Rosalie  misery in feathers Hello friends and family Thursday night at my house is ‘pie’ night. This means that I have a frozen pie which is quick, easy, and tasty. It requires no thought and is a reward at the end of the week. Once again, I am glad about this!  the reserves are still beautiful Tuesday was straight forward – if gathering up a penguin on the side of a cliff, that requires a rope to access – and it was wet and slippery, is straight forward then it was. We only found 2 penguins that needed help and the other one was waiting for us so easy.  only 3.3kg - maybe the nick on the flipper is the reason. Thursday, on the other hand, was crazy! It started with a fledgling in the gut. This is the first time that it was not me that did the rescue in that difficult spot. Robbie, Murray and Jan were on top of it and the chick came in. Then at the next spot, there were 7 penguins. We worked out who was new and brought in one of them – 6 kgs and starting the moult – death without help. Then we hatched a plan to catch a pair up by the top fence and just as well – it took us all to corner them and they are both underweight to moult so are now in care – Mr and Mrs 41.  free at last - all moulted and happy. We had to commission the aviary for the first time in two years. We have 27 penguins in care. We got one new penguin in on Friday and another on Saturday. We released 4 penguins on Saturday so hopefully, the numbers have peaked. Have a great week Rosalie  The moulted tawaki are stunning Hello friends and family The penguins are coming home to moult thick and fast. We check their weights and if they are light, we bring them in to give support during the moult. Step one is to find them. A penguin that does not want to be found is quite likely to moult undisturbed as we do not check every possible place.  Jan watching the tawaki orient themselves The ones that want help, sit on our regular path and wait for us. They are too easy to catch. The worst case was a premoult female weighing only 4.4 kgs. She was on the path here but had her nest at Katiki Beach. She has settled well. The biggest penguin was a breeding male, on a rock, weighing around 8 kgs. The problem was his chick was up the hill waiting for food. We brought in the last 3 chicks to top up and then release.  the little penguin wasted no time in getting back into the water By the end of rounds on Thursday, we had 22 YEPs in care, plus a little penguin and the erect crested. Pre-moult penguins are usually easy to manage in care as their hunger outweighs their fear, and they learn quickly to feed from the hand. This makes the whole job easier. The chicks, on the other hand, are not fledging because they have sore throats. Once that is cleared up, they too feed from the hand and feeding time becomes a pleasure, not a stress.  the erect crested penguin being released Hiltrun came up on Friday and we released the erect and the little penguin. She also took the Akaroa penguin down to Penguin Place for swimming as they have an in-ground pool. Yesterday it rained so I preserved apples. Have a great week! Rosalie |
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October 2024
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