 Slowly making progress as they recover from illness and injury Hello friends and family Winter has stayed away this week. On Tuesday we were in tee shirts as we erected new tree protectors at the Moeraki colony. Robbie carts and bangs in the Y posts – 30 of them -Jan weeds and puts the wire circles on and I tied them in place. 200+ to go! Marian delivered our next supply of prime beef in the evening.  As near as the rain got! On Thursday Robbie and I began the process of preparing the hospital floor for concreting. This has become necessary because we are keeping the penguins through the moult and have feathers to contend with. It would be fair to describe the ground underneath the stones, that the penguins live on, as putrid. I will remove some of the rocks for re-using and the rest will stay under the new floor.  Playful pups As we ate our lunch, we could hear the rats racing in the ceiling. Sure enough, when I checked, they had eaten all the bait, so I put more out. It has been a bad year for rats in the reserves, but them moving in here is not a good solution.  Yes, seals do climb trees! The 3 penguins in care are all making progress. I am sure that they benefit from the company and they can hear the penguins down the hill calling.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Having a day off! Hello friends and family After the excitement of the conference last weekend, and a cold front going through, I blobbed on Monday and other than Yoga, stayed home. On Tuesday we had Jules and Trudi visit to discus penguin nest boxes. We walked around both reserves and I explained how we got our penguins into the nest boxes. In the afternoon, David Clark, our local MP called in with his new PA Amy, and we were able to tell him of our grave concerns for penguin welfare after this terrible season. How great is that!  Enjoying the sunshine I extracted the miticide strips from the beehives on Wednesday – just as well! Thursday brought a cold southerly and I had another inside day. One of our 2 hospital penguins has tested positive for Malaria after a course of Malarone and so I will start it on a new drug to try and clear the plasmodium from the blood.  beautiful sunset On Friday I picked up our oldest chick – it had fledged naturally and returned home when it became unwell. Robbie came out and held it for blood sampling. It does not have Malaria but does have an infected foot. Yesterday was very pleasant – 20 degrees C in Oamaru – so I shifted rocks from the Hugo wing. Cleaning it has been a challenge, so we will concrete the floor and put in good drainage.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Do you know the way to the ocean? Hello friends and family The week began grey and cool so my plans to check the bees was put on hold for warmer weather. This gave me a quiet start to the week, and I was pleased to go back to Yoga on Monday morning as an indoor activity. On Tuesday Jan, Robbie and I did the rounds and cleared some fallen branches so we can walk around without ducking all the time. We released some penguins and Jan did the cleaning.  Juvenile Whio at the Issac conservation reserve On Wednesday Robbie and I went to Oamaru to speak to the people at the Observatory retirement village. We took the opportunity to call in to Streaters and the steel people in pursuit of a new donation box as our current one was broken into again during the weekend. I am sure that it was the same people as last time as the damage was targeted.  Autumn glory outside the hotel After doing the monitoring rounds with Jan and Robbie on Thursday, I was off to the annual WReNNZ conference. This year it was in Christchurch and I spoke about our Malaria voyage on Friday morning. This gave me 2 relaxing days listening to the other speakers and I came home on Sunday afternoon.  A swan at Willow bank in Christchurch Attending a WReNNZ conference is always inspiring as the people who help our wildlife are my heroes! Trail blazers in the conservation of our threatened species.
I was heartened to hear that the government has decided to proceed with the better of the 2 poor choices to protect our coastal waters. Have a great week! Rosalie  Welcome home Hello friends and family I returned home from my 2 week break last Sunday. Chris had kept everything humming along while I was away and there were only 3 YEPs in care on my return. The holiday I had was a family gathering in Hahei, on the Coromandel, to celebrate birthdays. I had a wonderful time – great place - great views - fun fishing – yummy food and lots of catch up time with the whanau.  Mt Ruapehu crater lake out the plane window I started Yoga in Hampden on Monday morning. I will try it for 10 weeks and see how I feel about it then. Robbie came out on Tuesday and we did a thorough check of both reserves and the traps. The day was glorious and once again, we were treated with passing dolphins frolicking as they headed north.  The fabulous view at Hahei Wednesday was my day at the Top-tip shop. The week has been warm and sunny, so it was a pleasure to catch up with local news and relax for 3 hours. Both Jan and Robbie came out on Thursday and we got more Cabbage trees protected and a broken penguin nesting box replaced.  The Shags show a mathematical bent with their neat array on the beach On Friday I did some prep for the conference next week and Hiltrun came up. Yesterday we did the rounds and saw a handful of penguins relaxing at home for the day and picked up the first cast (penguin regurgitation) of the season. Winter bliss!  New residents in the reserve - Kingfishers! Have a great week
Rosalie |
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