 A penguin heading out after 10 am - in no hurry at all! Hello friends and family This was my week for painting the ceilings of the lounge and the kitchen. The ceiling in the kitchen was pale blue and in the lounge it was deep dusky pink. I spent Monday and Tuesday cutting in from the edges with a brush. The ceilings have panels with batten boards running across them so that meant a lot of cutting in. By Tuesday afternoon I was able to do the first coat of paint on the panels with the roller. By then I was wondering why I had not taken a “before photo”!  A visiting Pied Shag I went to Oamaru on Wednesday and took the opportunity to visit Janice at Kakanui. She was not having a great day and so I lingered longer than I had planned which meant there was no time for painting on Wednesday.  The morning after the night before. On Thursday I wanted to do the second coat with the roller and so the wet drizzly day was all that was needed to motivate me to get it done. It took all morning, and if I wasn’t over it, I should have given it a third coat – dark dusky pink does not go under white easily! Never mind, I am happy with the result and am glad that my sore neck is preventing me from examining the other ceilings too closely.  A bit of group contemplation. Chris and Hiltrun arrived on Thursday evening and we spent Friday and Saturday working in the reserves. As we usually do, when the penguins come home we leave the area. In the winter, we often don’t see the penguins, we only see their footprints on the beach to let us know that they are coming and going.  One of the local residents enjoying the morning sun This season has been different because we have deployed trail cameras at the main landings. We get to observe their social interactions without disturbing them It is wonderful.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Home time! Hello friends and family Monday was my day to go back to the specialist and get the paint for the ceilings. Chris came up on Tuesday and worked in the reserve while I did my turn on Wednesday morning at the Top tip shop. It was a cold wet morning but I was busy enough for the time to fly by.  This is my patch. While I was away last month, we got 85mm of rain – wonderful – but with only 10mm so far this month, we have started watering the trees again. The ground is wet to about 10cm so we won’t be planting just yet.  A plump Little penguin - maybe hoping to breed. Chris and I did a rescue of a penguin roosting within 5 m of state highway 1. As you can imagine, the penguin was not safe there. This strange behaviour may have been a result of the wound he had on his left flipper or because he was so thin. Never mind, we will rehabilitate him, do a soft release and maybe he may move to a safe place.  The culprit! I have moved 2 juvenile penguins to the soft release pens and while they are there, I collect sea water to serve their fish in. I often arrive to an upturned bucket and yesterday I caught the culprit in action. This pup climbed into and out of a pen with a 1m high fence to check the bucket out. (yes I did get water in my gumboots when I refilled it!)  An early riser off to go fishing. Have a great week!
Rosalie  Penguins returning home on Harry's Bay landing Hello friends and family The week began with glorious weather. It was cold and crisp, with frost in the shady places but sunny and calm too. The long weekend was quite social and I enjoyed catching up on what is happening for my friends in their busy lives.  Penguins leaving at Okahau point Hiltrun arrived on Tuesday night and we enjoyed 2 busy days of penguin work. There is a lot of evidence that the penguins are feeding well at the moment and they throw up collections of bones and stones. We collect these for Chris’s diet study.  A young Gannet probably blown over from Australia by their storm. They are spending the days fishing so we only get to see them on the trail cameras. They show that the penguins move in a co-ordinated pattern of departure and return home. It is a loose arrangement and the juveniles fit right into the group as if they were proper penguins! .  Penguins gathering before going fishing Paper work dominated the week. The YEP stocktake report has been published and with 90 pages of cross-referenced bullet points I am finding it a difficult read. It requires close scrutiny. First impressions are that it will help save the penguins provided its recommendations are resourced in a timely fashion
Have a great week! Rosalie  ...and what do you want? Hello friends and family. The week has flown by. Monday and Tuesday were showery and when I drove to Okahau Point on Tuesday to deliver 2 penguins to the soft release pens, I skidded coming home so walked there for the rest of the week.  Home time after a great day's fishing. I have many domestic tasks waiting for wet weather to get my attention so I was able to clean up the shelves in the back porch. 15 years of accumulating resulted in a couple of treasures, a bucket of rubbish and a bucket of stuff waiting in the shed for a new home. I even defrosted the big freezer!  waiting for mum. Hiltrun arrived on Thursday evening and as we began to plan her visit, it became clear that we would need to write a list – crazy when this is our off season. We had a great time – rescued another penguin, collected about 30 penguin casts for Chris’s diet study and cleared some dead trees to make a new nest site.  A New Zealand Falcon Yesterday was a magical day – clear skies, warm and calm. We did the rounds down here then did some paper work. After lunch we went to Okahau point, taking 2 more penguins and opening the gate for the 2 already there. We now have 3 penguins in care here. We saw the falcon again. It was enjoying the afternoon sun and took no notice of the flock of Rock pigeons that flew by.  The Snares Crested about to leave for home. It is also time to pack up the hothouse for winter by retiring the tomato plants and bringing in the frost tender Pohutukawa and Lemon trees. Then it will be time to prepare for spring!
Have a great week! Rosalie |
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