 it seems like a long wait Hello friends and family. The season has begun! We got the first pip on Thursday and those chicks will be off to the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital on Tuesday. Go well young penguins! The weather has been great – fine during the day and rain at night – if not for the wind, all would be perfect! The team did the rounds on Tuesday and then went to the Bluffs for a picnic lunch, to celebrate Bronwyn’s coming of age. I was up and away by 6:30am on Wednesday for a bit of maintenance at Dunedin hospital. It is dramatic, but not painful.  multi tasking On Thursday, we split into 2 teams, I fed the Juvie at the Moeraki colony and others checked the nests here at Katiki. Then we were off to collect the rental car for delivering the chicks to the hospital. It is an Outlander, like mine so fit for purpose. It rained over night and there was snow on the foothills. It was great to see our vet, Pauline on Seven Sharp on Thursday evening. You can see her here. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/seven-sharp/episodes/s2023-e185 Watch from 8:25 minutes to 12:04 minutes.  the cold front The trip down to the point for the Hui on Friday morning was very cold with bitter wind from the south. However, the Marae was warm and the catering superb. I have eaten out 3 times this week! While Robbie and I were at the hui, Jan did the rounds and found another nest with pipping chicks. It seems that the first trip to DWH will have 4 chicks. On Saturday morning, National Geographic ran the story about avian Malaria https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/when-birds-get-sick/ We are the second story. Yesterday the team attended a talk about local geology. We certainly live in a great place. Have a great week! Rosalie   A lonely dad with his precious egg Hello friends and family Excitement is mounting as the egg hatching gets closer. On Tuesday morning 5 of us set out to candle the eggs here at the lighthouse. We were very pleased to find all the eggs were fertile – especially the Kawariki ones that had gone cold earlier on. We will be returning those ones to their parents later in the week when dad is home as he is more settled.  The Clematis just keeps blooming So, we set out in fine drizzle and by the time we had candled the eggs, we were well reminded of that, damp, penguin smell on our clothes. It will not disappear until the chicks move out of the nest boxes some time in December. We completed the candling on Thursday and were delighted to have a 96% fertility rate. This means up to 75 chicks to take to the Dunedin Wildlife hospital (DWH) at 3 days old. The Kawariki eggs are back in their own nest and both parents are doing the incubating.  Our resident juvenile who started life on Green Island Our preparations have included updates to our permit to allow us to take the chicks to DWH, assembling the required equipment and agreeing to DOC supporting us by providing a rental car for a month. This support is wonderful and most appreciated. We can have up to 5 named drivers and so our roster will work well. The goal is to transform nasty November to notable November by increasing chick survival. Bring it on! Have a great week! Rosalie  doing the mahi Hello friends and family, On Sunday afternoon, I went to the Hampden Hall for an afternoon tea to welcome newcomers to the village. It was nice that the Hall committee put on the event. The big news from Sunday was that the penguin male from the Bluffs that had gone off was back incubating the eggs. On Monday the female returned so let’s hope they get back on the job properly. The team came out on Tuesday, and we did a thorough search – no more nests. We must be grateful for the 39 that we have and do our best to get all the chicks through to fledging.  seeking a wildlife experience I have begun planting my vegetable garden. The tomatoes and broccoli are in. I have planted carrots, capsicum, lettuce, and beetroot seeds and after that there is the butter beans and courgettes. If we are going to have a hot summer, I will make the most of it. Our water comes from the Waitaki river now, and it reaches up to the alps where a wet summer is forecast.  taking a year off from breeding When we did the rounds on Thursday, Elaine lost her glasses. We will all keep searching for them over the next few days. I went to the hall yesterday to vote. Congratulations to Miles, our new local MP. He has a good grasp of the local conservation issues. Have a great week! Rosalie  And now we wait Hello friends and family, The weather created the drama this week. On Monday afternoon the wind gusted up to 200kph and caused local chaos. Out here the main damage was that the clothesline blew off, even though there was no washing on the line. Trees blew down across the neighbourhood and many people were cut off. It took all of Tuesday for the roads to be cleared. The power was out for hours. Caravans blew over. Patrick came out and closed the reserve early for safety reasons and checked on my welfare which was a kind gesture.  storm litter everywhere In the penguin colonies, leaves and twigs covered the ground and Mrs 8 had her house blow off her. There she was, sitting on her egg, intrepid. Mrs 79 laid her first egg. She is usually the last to lay and has maintained her reputation so far. By next week, we must accept that we will not get any more nests.  The gulls are picking their spot On Thursday afternoon, Robbie, Jonah, and I did the trap round at Shag Point. Jonah is a trapping expert and we asked for his help to reset the line as currently, it is too dangerous, slippery in the wet and too many seals for safety. As we were packing up to go, a man from TVNZ came and interviewed me about the new marine reserves. Very random.  Clematis in the Moeraki reserve Hiltrun and Elke came up yesterday and did the rounds. I repaired damage done by the wind to our new plantings. Have a great week! Rosalie  The well hidden penguin Hello friends and family, Most of our penguins now have 2 eggs. It has been a fast start to the season, and we now wait for any new recruits. The weather has been cold and calm, and the Titi have started to come back. We have 25 nests here with one pair still to lay, 11 at the Moeraki colony and 2 at the Bluffs so far.  A couple of lonely shags Ewan from Penguin Place joined us on Tuesday, and as the tide was low, we checked the island. While we were doing the rounds down the hill, there was a penguin fight where there is normally no penguins. A quick search resulted in penguins running away so I went back later and found an undiscovered nest. Robbie took Ewan to the Bluffs and found about 30 nesting pairs of Spotted Shags. This is a drop of 90% for our area.  The terns are back on the island I went to town on Wednesday and bought the seeds for the vegetable garden. I am going to try beetroot again this year – all the forecasting of a hot summer may just be right!  Little penguins on the island ready to breed Murray and Bronwyn have planted some of my larger tree seedlings. I will get out there and plant some more today. I hope to get the last of the big ones planted and then the rest will stay here over summer.  Black Matapo - beautiful perfume Have a great week! Rosalie |
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