 Our first chick of 2020 Hello friends and family The week started out busy and never let up! On Sunday we got a call out about a Leopard Seal stranded on the boat ramp in Moeraki. Off we went and soon saw that it had an abscess that had burst, and the seal needed to stay out of the water until it had stopped oozing. Dom stayed beside it to let the locals know that it was a natural event and I picked him up a few hours later when the decision was made that it was best left to sort itself out. By Monday afternoon it had gone back to sea.  Miserable but safe - the Leopard seal rests on the boat ramp The team came on Tuesday, as did Hiltrun and John, to put trackers on the single male penguins. They got 5 of the 6 trackers out and John came back on Wednesday evening to deploy the last one. Dom has been kept busy doing data entry and planting trees.  The Shags have big chicks and little chicks We did the rounds again on Thursday and got pipped at the post by Penguin Place who reported their first egg pipping! Lindsay joined the team and did some watering. Trii joined the team yesterday and did some watering. We completed the candling and found 2 chicks and 3 pips all up It is so wonderful to see the season begin with such bounty.  The young penguins can explore while the adults are on the nest Have a great week!
Rosalie  still waiting... Hello friends and family I spent Sunday preparing for a working bee on Monday. The Dunedin DOC team came up for a working bee and we planted out the water tanks on the top of the hill. It was great to get that job done as it is the last planting of the season. Ross has connected a water supply so we will be able to water the trees through the summer.  new planting Mel arrived in the afternoon with her penguin searching team and it was great to catch up! On Tuesday, Liam Wairepo, the Waitaki Labour candidate came out for a visit, so we were able to alert him to the challenges that we and the penguins are facing. The weather delivered a little magic which was a nice change from the rest of the week.  a dead white faced storm petrel, one of 3 predated this week I spent Wednesday indoors, catching up on administrivia, and the same again on Friday. I don’t know whether it is expectation which makes spring cold weather worse than winter cold weather, but it was enough for me to choose indoors. Will brought Dom out on Friday afternoon so it was great to meet him. He is working on a research grant that Penguin Rescue has established to develop an app to improve penguin monitoring.  another stunning calendar from Hiltrun Yesterday we candled the eggs in 25 of the 42 nests.7 were infertile, giving a starting point of 86% fertility. This is average for YEPs
The calendars have arrived. They are $20 each. To place your order, please deposit the amount in our bank account Kiwi Bank 38-9016-0481348-01 , Penguin Rescue, with your name and ‘calendar’ as the code. Then email me and I will post them to you. Postage is included. If you are a paid up member, you will get one anyway! Have a great week! Rosalie  Hello friends and family Nothing stays the same here for long. I spent Sunday tackling the “to do” list and was interrupted by a man who wanted to buy the camper. On Tuesday he came and took it away. I am very pleased to have it be used by someone else.  Our last breeding penguins have laid their second eggs and so incubation begins – there is less than 2 weeks until the first egg hatches, so we are very excited! We spent Thursday morning making 2 nests safer for the chicks when they arrive.  Dealing with amphibious species presents its own challenges in that it is very difficult to give an accurate head count. Penguins come and go to their own agenda – some stay out at sea and some stay home. The best way to track the population is to count nests. This gives a comparison over time to measure the size of the colony. Most Yellow-eyed penguins lay 2 eggs which may be fertile so even counting eggs is not as useful as counting nests.  backyard beauty Yellow-eyed penguins are philopatric – they return to their breeding sites, often to the detriment of their long-term survival. Our increase in nest numbers is because we have recruited 5 new breeding females – they are only 2 years old and 4 of them were hatched here. The other one moved here over a year ago. Our increase is not at the expense of other colonies.
Have a great week! Rosalie  Enjoying the morning sun Hello friends and family We have turned the corner – 41 nests so far and 3 more 2-year-old females that may yet figure it all out! This is an increase of 8% - any increase will do – it is the first since 2013! The team is happy to take the credit – we think managing both Diphtheria and Malaria is key.  The eggs have arrived There is news on the wider bird front as well. The Spotted Shags have laid, and the Titi are returning from Siberia – each day there are more burrows excavated with bird footprints and the unmistakable smell of Titi.  A visitor to the colony The Red-billed gulls have begun nest building. The weather, on the other hand, has thrown everything at us. Blizzard conditions and raging seas have been daunting. Patrick and I were out checking the penguins and the tourists kept on coming. How they kept their campervans on the road is a mystery to me. This is a fabulous time of the year; spring delivers promises and then we are back to winter. I have planted the tomato plants in the hothouse and the Kakabeak seeds are sprouting. This week I will plant peas, with the hope that we can eat them fresh for Christmas.  after the storm Have a great week!
Rosalie |
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