 Proud dad Hello friends and family We have stopped the slide! We now have 38 nests which is the same as last season. For the first time in 8 years, our numbers are holding. I am confident that we will get more, but for now, knowing that we are not facing yet another decline is fantastic! Hiltrun and I found the 38th nest yesterday – 2 young penguins - she is 2 and he is 3. You can be sure that they will get the very best care.  Clematis blooming in the moeraki colony We also put out the dummy eggs yesterday. These are placed in the nests of spare males to keep them from trying to steal the neighbour’s eggs. We did this now because some of the breeding pairs are very stressed – not incubating yet and running away. We put out 9 eggs here and 10 in the Moeraki colony. I will be keeping a close watch to make sure that things calm down in the colonies. Some of the males may yet attract a partner so we can uplift the dummy eggs if they are not required. There are still 3 pairs thinking about breeding.  still waiting Yesterday we had the annual meeting of Penguin Rescue Soc Inc and there was about 20 people there. We had a guest speaker who spoke about dogs and wildlife, Hiltrun presented the annual report and Patrick agreed to join the committee. Jennifer and Will were wonderful hosts and the Moeraki hall was once again, a great venue. I was able to get the data show working so was pleased about that! One of the attendees complimented us on holding a very interesting AGM.
The meeting supported our decision to develop an App for penguin monitoring and approved the grant of $25 k to get it off the ground. These are exciting times! Have a great week Rosalie  Incubation has begun Hello friends and family Coming home from a holiday always means some catch up is required, and for me this time, there was the added bonus of activity in the colonies. I must force myself to stay out and let the penguins get on with it in peace. I manage this with varying levels of success.  The Spotted Shags are still waiting By Thursday we had positively identified all but 1 breeding female and found 3 new ones. With the 2 that died during the season last year, we are on track to have an increase in nest numbers this season. This time last year, we were still waiting for the first egg. It is enough to give us speed wobbles.  With the adults preoccupied, the juveniles get the run of the reserves The lambs have arrived next door and so we are careful about our movement in the paddocks to prevent miss-mothering. They grow so quickly – after a week they have filled out their saggy skin and are frolicking in the paddocks. One has already decided that playing on the road is fun, and care is required.  The Kowhais of all sizes are in full bloom For a penguin nest to count, new eggs must be laid in it. A male will make several nest bowls, but only the one with eggs counts! By yesterday we had 24 nests and had identified the 36 surviving breeding females. This is very exciting. The colonies are veery noisy with penguins running around. On Saturday we will put out the dummy eggs.
Have a great week! Rosalie  the season begins with a miracle Hello friends and family We have eggs! I have had a wonderful break from penguin-land. First of all, Elaine and I travelled to Picton and enjoyed the unfolding of spring – it was mostly new lambs and flowering plum trees. We spent the night there and crossed to Wellington the next day to be hosted by Elaine’s son Jay, and his partner Sam. We dined on gourmet burgers which were delicious. The next morning, I caught the bus to New Plymouth. Lunching in Palmerston North on the way was a bit freaky as they clearly had not even heard of Covid so mask wearers were a bit of a novelty!  My mountain Paul picked me up from the bus and the family all went out to dinner to celebrate Pamela’s birthday. The next night we had Dot over for dinner and it was great to see her for the first time in several years – in great form of course and fresh off the bowling green too!  At night this grotto twinkled with millions of glow worms The next day, Paul, Jen, Olivia, and I headed north to Marokopa and then inland to the waterfall and natural bridge at Te Anga. What a fabulous way to go home. The glow-worms were magical. Spring was unfolding again – this time with lilies, turkeys, goats and Pukekos. Paul, Jen, and Olivia live in Hahei, which is a slice of Kiwi heaven and the gateway to Cathedral cove. The weather was warm and the days full. On the Thursday we went to Whangamata, to catch up with Dick and Esther and on the way home, Jen and I cycled the Pauanui track.  it's a dog's life More of the family arrived to enjoy the weekend at Hahei and on Sunday I came south to Papamoa to stay with Maria, Bryan, and Daniel. On Tuesday, Gavin and I climbed to the summit of Mt Te Aroha which rewarded us with panoramic views. After I had visited Michael and Shirley, we all went out and ate Indian on Wednesday night, which was absolutely delicious, but not that sensible as I had 12 hours of travel to get home on Thursday. Spring had moved on to flowering cherries and the lambs were now frolicking.  That is Mt Taranaki on the skyline On Friday I checked the nests and on Saturday, Hiltrun did a second round.
We now have 8 eggs and over 50 active nest sites. Some of them are two-year olds joining the breeding population which is always exciting. Watch this space! Have a great week Rosalie |
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