 A very proud penguin Hello friends and family. On Monday the team attended the pre-season meeting in Dunedin at the DOC office. It is always great to catch up with the other penguin people and to hear that DOC will be looking into other treatments for Diphtheria. The new one will require sub-cutaneous injections so we will be getting training before November.  Our men in black! We did the rounds on Tuesday and found 9 single eggs here and 3 at the Moeraki colony. We are under way! By Thursday we had 14 nests here and 7 at the Moeraki colony. Bronwyn joined us for the rounds on Thursday and then, after lunch I headed south to spend 2 nights in Dunedin with the family.  Our group with the Governor General The occasion was my investiture into the New Zealand Order of Merit, and it was an awesome event. It was held in Larnach Castle and conducted by Dame Patsy Reddy the Governor-General. The ceremony was orchestrated by experts and all went off without a hitch. A very classy event indeed!  The attention to detail was very impressive Hiltrun and Elaine did the rounds on Saturday and found 15 nests here and 13 at the Moeraki colony.
Have a great week! Rosalie  At last - our first egg of the season Hello friends and family This week it was time for me to put the Varroa strips into the beehives. Most of the hives were strong, but the apiary south of here was dead. This is the apiary that was blocked off from access by a field of corn. When it came time to harvest, the corn was higher than my truck, so I left it unharvested and untreated for Varroa – wrong thing to do. I have removed the honey which was being robbed by other bees and will see if it attracts a swarm this spring. If not, I may close it down.  Spring abundance in the garden It was great having the three of us for the working bees on Tuesday and Thursday. Yet more Cabbage trees are now protected. We will not do anymore planting until we get significant rain. We visited the island and there are no Little Penguins there. The colony survived there for the last 30 years but now it has failed. I suspect Malaria is the cause.  The seal pups are now old enough to go swimming The big day for us this week was Saturday. Hiltrun came up and we did the rounds together in the morning – 2 eggs here at Katiki! The new season has begun. In the afternoon we went to the Moeraki hall and held the inaugural meeting of Penguin Rescue Incorporated Society. We soon will have a legal entity that can enter into contracts with others to help save penguins! I feel hopeful for the future.  A shy juvenile checking me out. Have a great week!
Rosalie  Waiting, waiting, waiting.... Hello friends and family It was a cold start to the week this week. I was able to complete the accounts for our Charities report without feeling that I should be doing something else. Robbie came out on Tuesday and we were joined by Ralph from Brazil. He is a penguin expert, and a Malaria expert, so it was great to talk with him as we did the monitoring round. He said that our methods fit in well with best practice around the world.  sunset through the lounge window I was on Top-tip duty this week – covering for Jan who is now back home from Alaska. It was sunny and windy – a pattern repeated on Thursday. As it was just me, I walked the coast and was pleased to see penguin sign in 4 bays between the colonies.  The Top-tip is a hive of industry This Friday (20th) consultation about the future of Yellow-eyed penguins closes. You will find the consultation documents here https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/penguins/yellow-eyed-penguin-hoiho/a-strategy-to-support-the-health-of-hoiho. Please have your say. It seems futile responding to all these consultation processes, but responses are counted and do make a difference.  Checking out a different nestbox The draft Management plan for Katiki Point is also now available for public consultation. Your can view it here http://moerakirunanga.nz/news/news.htm and make a submission. On Saturday 21st September we will hold our inaugural meeting of Penguin Rescue Inc Soc. It will be in the Coronation Hall at Moeraki at 3:00 pm. The agenda will include apologies, presentation of the annual report, signing the register, election of the committee, general business. Please come if you can!  Ahhh - spring. Have a great week!
Rosalie  A rare sight - a huddle of penguins! Hello friends and family The week began with clear skies, little wind and warm days. It was a case of shedding layers until early evening and then putting them back on again. I worked around the section on Sunday and went to town on Monday.  Spring joy Robbie and I did the rounds and there were a lot more penguins at home, so we were able to beep them and start our season’s records. We also delivered trees to plant – believing that we would get the promised rain, but by Wednesday I was watering the plants on hold here. Eventually we will be able to begin our season’s planting.  This is my place It was also the start of lambing on the farm. What a delight to see them frolicking for the first time. On Wednesday I did my stint at the Toptip. There was a traffic jam at 9:00 am but it was quiet after that. We got the trees planted on Thursday, but they needed watering.  Unpaired Shags Hiltrun came up on Saturday and we set out to do the monitoring and came across 2 cyclists on the Pa site. Things improved after that and we saw a lot of male penguins at home in their nests – it won’t be long now! The highlight was seeing 4 juveniles on the landing at the Moeraki colony, just hanging out with a couple of adults.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Daniel and I have a politically correct penguin selfie Hello friends and family The 10th international penguin conference continued through until Wednesday afternoon. The major themes centred around the oceans; are there enough fish? Will climate change wipe penguins out? What about overfishing? The overall care and concern for penguins was wonderful. It was estimated that 80% of the planet’s penguin researchers were gathered to share ideas and knowledge.  Mr 178 takes a break from nest building It was a very well organised conference with prompt changeovers, great food and timely breaks so the audience could focus. The whole thing was run on a smart phone app which saved a lot of paper! We had attendees visit here to see penguins before heading to Fiordland to see crested penguins. A train load went to Oamaru to see the little penguins there.  The lovely Barb fed the penguin and brought me flowers I did the rounds on my own on Thursday as Robbie has a new grand-daughter and Jan is still in Alaska. The penguin boys are staying home and beginning to build nests. What a treat to see Mr 27 hard at work. He is one of our oldest penguins and has arthritis in his left foot. We treated him for Malaria and helped him through the moult – he has survived.  The Shags have built their nests and are waiting patiently. The weather has been so mild that I have had to mow the lawns and my mind is turning to the spring planting of the vege garden.
Have a great week! Rosalie |
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