 Foot bird is making slow progress Hello friends and family On Sunday, Walter and George came down from central Otago to harvest the honey. It was a month later than usual and the top boxes were empty. This tells me that this season the bees stopped storing honey by the end of January. Every season is different and there is a lot of local variation too.  Bees everywhere There was not a lot of honey, but it is a great relief to have the job done. I will go back in 6 weeks and remover the Varroa strips. The team came out on Tuesday and we all noticed how the wildlife is returning to Katiki Point. Gulls, Shags, seals and penguins are more relaxed here and we do our best to not disturb them.  A Kereru in the Moeraki colony - first sighting ever! We have set an audacious goal for the winter – to plant 500 trees at the Moeraki colony. This will include protecting them from wind, rabbits and sheep which is where the effort must go in to ensure they survive. Now I will plan the logistics, making sure that we do the complete job all at once, rather than having to go back to finish it off.  Flipper bird is gaining weight On Thursday, Patrick joined the team and trapping was the main business of the day. He brought me out a ‘care pack’ provided by the Moeraki Whanau for local residents to help with the lock-down. It had toilet paper, cleaning materials, gloves, and soap. Thanks heaps – what a great initiative to lift people’s spirits.  I am being watched I went down the point on Friday morning to check on a couple of little penguins that are fishing in the bay. They do not look flash – tired feathers. It took a while to sight them. In the meantime, I was visited by seal pups, saw gulls (2spp) shags (3 spp) white fronted terns, a gannet, and the penguins. I realised how seldom I pause in my busy-ness to enjoy nature.  Not the right colour for a little penguin Yesterday, Patrick, Anne and Robbie did the trap rounds and the sun shone. I managed to cut another hedge and shift a few more rocks – all good!
Have a great week Rosalie  Fat and fabulous! Hello friends and family Today marks 18 years that I have been living here at the lighthouse. When I came I expected it to be difficult and it has been, but the actual challenges are not those that I expected. The wildlife here is simply stunning. Each day brings its own rewards and I feel privileged to share this place with such amazing creatures.  Every feather gets checked I hope Easter brought you a diversion from the ongoing Covid-19 disaster. I was able to have virtual meetings with the family so that was a bonus. We are all challenged by the need to keep active and I am reminded how lucky I am to have the coast to walk.  Snow on the hills behind oamaru I had my weekly trip to the supermarket on Sunday so I could go to the tip at the same time. This week my extra rubbish was broken plant protectors. Next week I might dump all the old hoses. On Tuesday the team came, and we checked the traps and released Mrs 139. This leaves me with only 2 penguins in care, so I am not even putting on overalls as they both feed nicely and I do not have to worry about getting covered in fish or poop. It was also time to put the winter duvet on the bed as a cold southerly blast dropped the temperatures below 10 degrees.  The potato harvest from the Broccoli patch The team is very intrepid and did the rounds on Thursday and Saturday. Things are quiet in the colonies. We have seen a couple of stoats here by the house but have not caught them yet!  resting high because of rough seas Have a great week!
Rosalie  Eye candy - a healthy pair of penguins Hello friends and family We are moving into the hard yards for self–isolation and it gets stranger by the day. On Sunday we got a call from a lady at the north end of Waianakarua who saw a penguin with an injured foot. I asked Robbie to uplift it and he was so pleased to meet this caring lady and then very concerned when a local told him that the penguin had been there for 4 days. To us this is callous, but to the local it is business as usual. The penguin is currently fighting for its life.  beautiful autumn sky On Tuesday the team did the monitoring round and it is such a pleasure to see the penguins able to behave as normal. At this time of the year, they can relax and socialize. The beach is criss – crossed with footprints as they gather and disperse as the whim takes them. They play at the waters edge before taking off like bullets into the surf. How cool is that?  Yes, the big hedge is finished On Thursday, most of the penguins were out fishing and the sight of 4 predated Titi chicks was somewhat balanced by catching 2 more Ferrets. Robbie planted 3 Kakabeak shrubs and found that the ground is still too dry for any big planting efforts. Anne brought us a feed of mushrooms so that was just excellent!  no rush today I am slowly making my way through the list of jobs around the place. Doing 5 loads of rocks a day is too much so I will cut it down to 4. Today is my grocery trip and it will be the first time I have left the place for a week. I have been able to catch up with the family on Zoom which is awesome!
Have a great week! Rosalie  Together again Hello friends and family Sunday was a glorious day and so I was happy – cutting hedges, sorting penguins and their crap, picking grapes and generally enjoying myself.  Grapes after 14 years! Monday was wet – a different story. I sorted out my clothes – I have a lot that are perfectly Okay but I will never wear, so they can go to the charity shop, and I have some that are past their use by date and they can go to the landfill. We can drop off 2 bags at the resource recovery park in Hampden a week for free and so I will make the most of this opportunity!  reclaiming the beach Jan, Robbie and Anne came out on Tuesday and we did the monitoring rounds. The penguins have certainly noticed the lack of people here and stay on the beach until mid-morning, socializing and preening before heading out to go fishing. We released 2 more penguins so were down to only 9 in care. After tea I went to Oamaru for my groceries – click and collect happens on their timeline so I went off, not really knowing what to expect.  Having a day at home I was very impressed with Countdown Oamaru. On the way there I got a text to say my order was ready, and an instruction to click a link when I arrived. I was able to walk into the supermarket, around the counter and straight out again with my trolley. It is my plan to shop in Hampden from now on to support local businesses. I noticed on my way to Oamaru that autumn had arrived. One of the great joys of living in the south is having four seasons. The poplars and willows are stunning.  Keeping gentlemen's hours My Wednesday trip to town to get the ‘flu jab never happened because the surgery had run out of injections, so I expect to go this week. The team were back on Thursday – another quiet day – foggy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon and little wind. We are trapping a lot of predators and on Friday I renewed the rat poison under the house and the freezer. Another feature of Autumn.
Have a great week! Rosalie |
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