 Beautiful Yellow-eyed penguin chicks Hello friends and family Sunday was glorious – sunny and still. Hiltrun and I did the monitoring round and found all the chicks were well and growing. Mel came up on Monday and as we were leaving the reserve I decided to show her the nest with the oldest chicks – they had diphtheria.  The hardware used to harvest the grass next door Jan came with me on Tuesday and we found diphtheria in 30 of the 42 nests that still have chicks in them. Fortunately, only one chick had died so I think we caught the outbreak in time. The other good thing is that the weather is great, so it is nice in the reserves.  Yellow-eyed penguin chicks - so cute and so fragile Chris and I went to Oamaru on Thursday afternoon to count the Red-billed gulls nesting on the breakwater. Chris counted 140 nests.  Red billed gulls with chicks and eggs By Friday we had had 4 chicks die, treated 45 and had 16 not infected. This outbreak is worse than last year. Yesterday we did a full round and 2 chicks were outside their nest bowls – alive but cold so likely to die. We put them back under their parents and hope for the best. 2/3 of the infected chicks had responded well to the antibiotics and there are only 10 nests left to treat.  A brand new Seal pup We saw the first new seal pups of the season and the Red-billed gulls here have increased from last season.
Have a great week Rosalie  the chicks are growing every day Hello friends and family The busy days continue. I am doing monitoring rounds every second day and there is no sign of Diphtheria so far. We have had some tiny chicks die but from unknown causes. One has been sent to Massey for autopsy.  Oyster catchers just lay their eggs on the beach Hamish came on Monday and he has parked his car in my shed at Hampden and I took him to the airport on Tuesday. I took the opportunity to buy a new coffee machine that does not rely on plastic pods and blinds for the lounge. Both items were on my list and were on sale so I am very pleased.  A Nodding thistle in full bloom On Wednesday Jan did the monitoring rounds with me and we found an abandoned nest – two first time breeders who did not know what to do. Diphtheria has been found on the Otago peninsula, so we must remain vigilant for some time yet!  lots of bunnies produces diversity Friday’s round was depressing with 2 dead chicks but at least, now the last of the eggs has hatched, in 3 weeks’ time, the danger for the babies will be reduced. People came out and let off fireworks in the car park at about 8 pm but then Joe came to do the shooting, so they went.  And the garden is glorious too! Last night I had Chris Hiltrun, Robyn and Doug for dinner. We went to the Moeraki colony to see the planting of natives sourced from Doug and Robyn’s farm. The weather and the company were glorious!
Have a great week! Rosalie  Two beautiful babies Hello friends and family On Monday Elaine and I walked the south end of Katiki Beach and saw penguin sign at the old colony area and above the block wall. These are 2 of the safest places in that area. There was no sign of drain bird which was just as well as the road works by his home began on Monday. They are putting rocks on the beach to slow the erosion – the coast is a disaster area – there is fresh erosion over more than half of the 2 km at the south end.  A Red poll feeding on the front lawn Tuesday was a monitoring day and by the end of the rounds we have 28 nests with 52 chicks. We are waiting for another 15 nests to hatch. On Wednesday I worked at the Toptip shop. I was expecting a quiet day as the weather had been a bit rough, but it was the busiest day in a long time.  A Juvenile YEP enjoying the sunshine Jan came on the monitoring round on Thursday and picked up some calendars to put out with the retailers to sell. We found no dead chicks, thank goodness for that!  About to hatch Our good fortune lasted through yesterday with the next monitoring round with no chick deaths. We now have 39 nests with 64 chicks and 6 nests left for the eggs to hatch. Around half of the chicks are now at least a week old. Their first week of life is the most dangerous. I hope the pattern holds.  A White faced heron in breeding plumage Have a great week!
Rosalie  Our first yellow-eyed penguin chick for the season Hello friends and family There is always a bit of catch up to play when one returns from holiday and so this has been a busy week. Chris and Hiltrun came up for monitoring rounds on Sunday and we have our first chicks! After they left, I picked up a message about a swarm of bees in Hampden so off I went and caught them, then took them to Olivia whom I had promised the next swarm to.  Spotted Shag chicks - two days later they were all dead - possibly the heat Monday was my day in the garden and on Tuesday I cleared some fallen branches in the sheep paddock that are poisonous but become palatable to the sheep as they rot. Wednesday was monitoring day and town day. I purchased some capsicum plants and now have all the vegetables that I plan to plant this spring available.  The trusty cabbage trees are sharing their glorious perfume Chris and Hiltrun came up on Thursday night and we did a monitoring round on Friday. We found 25 chicks! The first will be a week old today so the Diphtheria checks will begin.  Posing for the camera? Yesterday Marian came, and we did the American Foul Brood check of all the hives. They were all OK which is just as well as any infected hives must be destroyed. There were so many bees that we both got stung – and both more than once. Marian found a hole in my hood, so I will switch to the spare one. Some hives had so many bees that I will divide them up later in the week.  The Red-billed gulls are busy nest building Have a great week!
Rosalie |
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August 2023
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Penguin Rescue is a member of the Wildlife Rehabilitators Network of New Zealand
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HAMPDEN COMMUNITY ENERGYAUSTIN COMPANY
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Hugo Charitable Trust
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