 just socializing in their glorious new feathers Hello friends and family On Sunday I was pleased to welcome my niece, Astrud with her family, who visited in the morning and then shouted me dinner at the Tavern in the evening. It was an early start on Monday as I went down to pick up Cousin Daniel from the plane at 9 am. He is a tech whizz and with his help I was able to get a new TV decoder and a hands-free unit for the car. He also brought with him a music keyboard and the logos for the car.  my glorious new feathers Tuesday was monitoring day. We released 2 penguins and picked up our first returned chick who weighed in at only 4.2 Kg. He seems quite bright and very hungry – the blood tests will tell the full story. The weather was glorious.  Thursday was a repeat of lovely weather and Dan and I spent the afternoon watching a pod of 100+ dolphins make their way slowly north. At 4 pm the southerly front arrived, and the wind came up and the temperatures dropped. We got 10 mm of rain overnight so will stay green for a bit longer. Friday was town day and Hiltrun came up on Saturday. We released another penguin so are now down to only 3 in care. It was another glorious day, and the dolphins were back, but further out past the reef. Dave called in with a feed of fresh Blue Cod. Yum.  a foolhardy seal pup Friday was town day and Hiltrun came up on Saturday. We released another penguin so are now down to only 3 in care. It was another glorious day, and the dolphins were back, but further out past the reef. Dave called in with a feed of fresh Blue Cod. Yum. Have a great week! Rosalie   Hello friends and family Happy Easter The week started off with glorious weather and even weeding was a pleasure. On Tuesday that changed, and we got 8 mm of welcome rain. I decided to go on a wild penguin chase for the day, so Robbie did the rounds on his own and saw 28 penguins here and 8 at the Moeraki colony. They do like to stay home on a rainy day!  The morning commute It was back out in the reserves on Thursday. We released another penguin so are now down to 5 in care. In the afternoon we continued with preparing for sheep in the Moeraki reserve, in glorious sunshine. It was so nice, I started on the rock moving in Robbie’s rehab. This involves throwing all the rocks out of the pen, lifting the grates, waterblasting everything and then returning it to normal, ready for next season.  Abundance - thousands of gulls waiting for Krill for breakfast Friday was also glorious, so I was motivated to continue cleaning. Let’s hope it lasts until the job is done. Yesterday I did the rounds with Hiltrun and walked home from the Moeraki colony. There are a few penguins at home, mostly relaxing. Have a great week! Rosalie  It's good to be home Hello friends and family The days are drawing in and the penguins are very happy to be fed at 4:30 pm. There are very few left at home during the day in the colonies, so we are starting our winter work programme.  Lady Falcon On Sunday Elaine came out in the morning to do the bloods and in the afternoon I did very little. On Monday I did the trap round and put in long lasting bait to keep them useful for longer. Tuesday was cold when we set out to do the rounds, but as soon as we got out of the wind it was much better. We picked up an unmarked, un moulted female who has Malaria, so she has started her treatment. This was one of those rescues which was more like a self-admission. As we were doing the rounds, she called from within the scrub until we responded. Otherwise, we would never have found her.  Kakabeak flowering in April I went to Oamaru on Wednesday and while I was away, one of our penguins escaped. It remains a mystery, but I am sure he will find his way home. It is a few years since our last escapee. By the end of the rounds on Thursday, we were down to 11 penguins in care. Now that the night temperatures are below 10 degrees more can go because the mosquitoes will be dormant.  Yes, I was ready to come home On Friday when I went to do some work in the Moeraki colony, there was our escape artist, at his nest, with his partner, looking like he was in charge. Yesterday when Hiltrun and I did the rounds, the highlight was seeing a falcon. It has been a few years since we have seen her. I am sure that she has been back in the meantime but stayed out of view. We also caught three more ferrets, bringing the total for the week to 7. Scary stuff! Have a great week! Rosalie  The morning commute is now at gentlemen's hours Hello friends and family The week began with a great start – Nicky from the “Fishwife” in Moeraki came out and donated $1000 towards Penguin Rescue. I was so grateful it made my day. I took the bloods down to Dunedin on Monday morning and in the afternoon, got half of the big hedge topped. On Tuesday Robbie, Murray and I picked up 3 more penguins in need of a helping hand. One of them had been in to moult for 2 weeks but not started yet. Then after everyone had gone home, the fish arrived. There were 3 good things about this fish – it fitted into the freezers, it is all free-flow and most of it is a good size for the penguins which makes feeding them so simple. This month I celebrate helping penguins for 20 years On Wednesday after doing yard work at Hampden and picking peaches at Elaine's, I submitted our banding data to the national data base for the team for the season, so I felt good about that. All went to custard on Thursday however, when we found 2 dead adults on the landings, trying to get home. We took bloods and they will go to Massey for autopsies. We suspect Malaria. We also released 2 penguins and brought in 2. So far, they all fit into 3 enclosures and so the aviary has remained closed all season. I did a count – we have had 60 Hoiho and 6 others in care so far this season.  beautiful new feathers On Friday I finished the big hedge. It was only 7 months from its last cut, but we have had amazing growth this season which has encouraged the lawns and the hedges. Sigh!. Hiltrun came up yesterday and we only saw one penguin at home! She continued with the weed eater in the afternoon.  Have a great week! Rosalie |
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