 treated babies on the mend Hello friends and family These are tough times in the colony. Having help every day makes it easier for me, but all the chicks in both colonies have been infected. Some we have not caught in time and they have died.  First pup seen for the season On Monday Megan and Jason from Penguin Place came and did the rounds with us. It is such a treat to have other front-line penguin workers come and share knowledge and experience. Michelle and Charlie were my helpers on Tuesday, and they are coming back again today.  The shags are raising 3 chicks this season Jan and Robbie helped for the rest of the weekdays and by Thursday we were shell-shocked by dead chicks. We had 3 die from predator wounds. Once a chick is dead, there is nothing to be done for it. We also picked up our first hospital patient for the season, a juvenile with a fungal throat. It had been in hospital before and remembered how to feed. Hunger overcame pain until the anti-fungals kicked in.  First slide of the season showing peculiar white blood cell The first seal pup that we have seen for the season arrived on Wednesday in Hide Bay – a first for that spot. It is quieter there now and so the seals can leave the neck and pup in peace.
Hiltrun, Stewart and Elaine helped yesterday, and Elaine prepared our first slide of penguin blood for the season. We also weighed our single chicks so that we might be able to offer foster parents to similar sized orphan penguin chicks if needed. Have a great week! Rosalie  doomed without help Hello friends and family This was another roller-coaster week. It began with great promise. Yellow-eyed penguins were voted in as Bird of the year in the Forest and Bird annual competition. This was a great tribute to the vote Hoiho team who ran such a successful campaign. It has had a positive impact for us already!  tourist madness in November New Zealand King Salmon will be sponsoring our hospital fish this season. What a huge relief that is! The penguin of the year certainly deserves the best food when in care. Then on Tuesday morning we found Diphtheria in chicks in both reserves. Yes, 47 chicks had hatched by then, but 9 were infected. This makes the 5th season in a row that we have had this disease in the colony. We were able to save the abandoned eggs from last week.  spring glory By Thursday we were treating 20 of the 50 chicks that had hatched, but 2 had died. On Friday we found another 4 sick chicks and yesterday we found 16 more infected chicks and one dead one.  The tragedy unfolding on the other side of the fence Currently we have 56 chicks with 11 more eggs yet to hatch. These are the hard yards and the team has decided that I should not be doing the rounds alone, so I will have a helper with me every day for at least the next week.
Have a great week Rosalie  pipping Hello friends and family We have our first chicks! We had chicks in one nest down the hill on Tuesday with 3 nests pipping.  brand new By Thursday we had 14! The numbers kept climbing and yesterday we had 26 chicks. If only everything stayed sweet for a while – but no – a pair abandoned their eggs within days of hatching. We collected up the eggs and slowly warmed them by giving them to a spare male, but that was only ever going to be a short-term solution.  Famous in Hampden A busy week this week – on Wednesday I had my morning at the top tip and on Friday Charlie checked the bees for me. One of my apiaries had been removed so now I am down to 3. All the other bees looked so fabulous – a warm brown colour and full of business!  daises blooming by the back door Spring is still unfolding all its glory here in North Otago!
Have a great week! Rosalie  Loving the egg! Hello friends and family. Crazy weather and late penguins have made for another quiet start to the week. Getting some rain most days is very unusual here and the plants are loving it. As well as a weather roller coaster this week, it has been an emotional one too.  Two beautiful babies During the week we heard about the serious decline of penguin nest numbers in the south. It is heart-breaking to hear that these beautiful creatures are disappearing so fast. Our proportion of the survivors on the mainland is moving from 20% to 25%. Visitors still have uncontrolled access to them here. Please vote for Yellow-eyed penguins in the Bird of the Year competition – prove that we do care about them.  Just hanging around... Then on Friday I got a phone call to say that the authorities have given us permission to continue our penguin work and the permit will be competed next week. It was such a weight lifted off my shoulders. It took them from 15 July to 1st November to get to this point. I will be even happier when it is in my hands! We have continued candling the eggs and can report that the pattern of very high fertility continues. We will compete that task today.  The gulls like to referee the whole place! Have a great week!
Rosalie |
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August 2023
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Te whaka oraka o te takaraka
Penguin Rescue is a member of the Wildlife Rehabilitators Network of New Zealand
Thank you to our sponsors;
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HAMPDEN COMMUNITY ENERGYAUSTIN COMPANY
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Hugo Charitable Trust
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