 The new Rock-hopper is very curious Hello friends and family I enjoyed having only 3 penguins in care for two days and then on Monday Jan phoned about a penguin stranded at Moeraki – it was a Rock Hopper, and then later in the day we rescued a Juvenile penguin from Hide Bay. I talked to Julia from Penguin Place and she said that they had about 20 penguins in care, so I will keep a look out for stranded penguins up here.  Mr and Mrs 91 working on their pair bond just before release Kat came up on Monday afternoon to talk about penguin injuries and to offer to help us prepare for next season. She is a treasure for the penguins! On Tuesday I removed the Varroa strips from all the bees and Wednesday was quiet. Thursday was my day for personal maintenance – I had 2 immunisations and a tooth extracted. The immunisations were free, but the tooth extraction was $225 – if I had known it would be that expensive, I would have pulled it out myself!  The hospital before the upgrade Jan came out on Thursday afternoon and saw a penguin struggling in Harry’s Bay. It was Dianna who had an injured leg – when we picked her up she was bleeding profusely so we bandaged her to stop the bleeding. She is making progress and can now stand up.  Our new flock of gannets On Friday Chris came up and we met with the Ngai Tahu team and their planting consultant. We advised them of how much the penguins are struggling near the people. Even though there were no chicks down the south end of the colony, all the females except one, needed help to survive the moult. The upside of Friday was that our new flock arrived!  I think I will live in this box Yesterday was a wet one so I caught up with some computer work
Have a great week! Rosalie  A rare sight these days - a YEP juvenile having a rest Hello friends and family I got the autumn hedge round done on Sunday which left no barrier to starting the painting of the rear wall of the house and the garage. I started the water-blasting on Tuesday afternoon but then the wind came up too strong to be up a ladder to do the top of the walls. It is still waiting!  Another rare sight - an empty car park I was off to an early start on Wednesday – the penguins decided to hold a concert at 6 am and DOC came to take drone footage of the reserve for the management plan. I made the penguins wait until the droning over the house was finished before I gave them breakfast.  Checking out a nest box to pass the time while moulting Thursday was my town day and I was reminded of the challenges of shopping in Oamaru. I started at Spark for my new modem, but even though I had phoned earlier in the week, they did not have one. Then I went to the locksmith who was out of the type of lock I was after. I sorted out billing difficulties with the vet and then to the dental technician who was running late so I got the groceries instead and then went back.  Our girls have a visiting bloke with the black face Chris and Hiltrun came on Friday and we released 6 penguins back to the reserves. They were all in great shape to get on with life in the wild. I only have 3 left and they will be gone when the weather settles during the week!  Autumn beauty in the garden It has been a mild autumn so far and there is a lot of growth about. Weeding will stay at the top of the list for a while.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Interesting feather style for a moulting penguin Hello friends and family The week began fine and Chris planted more trees and Jan and I re-baited and re-set all the traps in both reserves. By Tuesday the cold southerly front had moved in and I lost the internet again. After several phone calls and lots of mindless code written down, I finally gave the modem a bang on the table and it went again. Needless to say, I will need a new one!  Glorious weather early in the week Thursday was a great day here in New Zealand – the government is stopping off shore drilling. What a great day to announce it when much of Auckland has had its power supply reconnected after a short but furious storm hit the city – a wake up call that has been heeded! I hope the halt includes the development that is planned off shore at Oamaru as that is in the middle of the penguin range.  Snow on the foothills, later in the week. We have received a copy of the public notice from Ngai Tahu about their intention to prepare a Reserve Management Plan for both the Historic and Wildlife reserves here at Katiki Point. Penguin Rescue did all the work in both reserves under the authority of DOC from 1984 to 2014 and has since managed the Wildlife reserve for the benefit of the penguins, as was intended when the reserve was established, building on the guidance of the draft management plan developed in 1987.  cruising penguin and changing weather Who knows what the future holds for the largest Yellow-eyed penguin colony on the South Island?
Have a great week! Rosalie  The Fiordland penguin tasting freedom. Hello friends and family The week began with the first two YEPs referred from local beach patrollers. Both Stewart and Max found penguins that needed a helping hand, thank goodness for their help! By the end of the day I had gone from 2 in care to 6!  A visiting young NZ Sea lion Monday was not so flash – another dead YEP in the colony. It was sent off to Dunedin on Tuesday. The compensation came on Thursday when two great things happened. The chick with the flipper injury has no broken bones and has started swimming therapy and Stitches is back.  A new pair checking out the real estate Chris and Hiltrun came up on Friday evening and on Saturday we did the rounds. We brought in 3 new patients who were all underweight and released the Fiordland Crested penguin and Mrs 16 who weighed in at over 8 Kg. We wish them a long and happy life.  The juvenile exercising her flipper At this time of the year, most penguins will have moulted so the stragglers are checked closely as these are the most likely to need help.  A moulted pair having a day at home Have a great week!
Rosalie  The female on the right has finally come home to moult - at least 10 days later than her mate Hello friends and family HAPPY EASTER This week began with 3 penguins dying so that was very challenging. Elaine took them all chilled, to the DOC office in Dunedin so that they can be autopsied to find cause of death. It is good practice to double bag dead birds and then transport them in a box or chilly bin. I have run out of big bags, boxes and bins this season with so many deaths. I am now washing the plastic bags that the fish come in to use for the next one – let’s hope there are no more.  Will these two bond? We hope so Chris stayed over until Wednesday and we were able to plant 15 trees and attack a lot of weeds. Adrian came up and took Chris home which was very kind of him. We have had enough autumn rain to make the ground quite soft for digging so more planting will be on the list.  Moulting alone - maybe waiting for his mate who is still feeding The breeding penguins are very slow to come into moult. Many of the males are at home, moulting alone, and one by one the females are returning. There is a lot of calling in the colony as they check with each other to find who is home.  There are seal pups playing in the pond formed in the rocks Chris and Hiltrun came up on Friday night and yesterday we released 4 penguins. I am now down to 3 in care so that seems very easy. Some of the penguins that we released were such a pleasure to help with good weight gains and no complications.  Moulting is a social time for the penguins and there is a lot of calling in the colony. The hospital is now cleaned and disinfected for the next needy penguin.
Have a great week Rosalie |
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August 2023
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