​Hello friends and family
Nasty November is almost over! We have not come through unscathed, but we have made it in good spirits, thanks to our awesome team effort. In our quest to always do better, we are weighing the chicks once a week. The purpose of this is to identify when they are not thriving as early as possible. We weigh the chicks here on a Tuesday and at the Moeraki reserve on a Thursday. We make a slick team, and the job is done smoothly. I have received a lot of calls about starving little penguins on the north island, so we are at a high level of alert.

​The weather has been fine but windy, great for doing the laundry but otherwise not so flash. The lawns are drying out, but the garden is looking great with lots of flowers.

​Jules came up from Dunedin to do the rounds with us yesterday. An otherwise ideal day was spoiled by a dead chick. It had been predated in the nest, within a few meters of a freshly baited trap, by a stoat or rat. The rest of the chicks are doing fine. We now have 58.

Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
The gull chicks have hatched, and we caught 3 stoats in one of the traps placed beside the gull nests to catch predators. We are well pleased with that!

​Our last penguin eggs have hatched, and we are treating the last of the tiny chicks. They are so vulnerable that every day, we save the life of at least one of them. It might be a bone jammed in their throat, a membrane that has dried and turned leathery or a chick that has crawled out of the nest in the heat and cannot get back in. The responsibility can be quite daunting. The nests with inexperienced parents are the most likely to be the site of trouble. As the chicks grow, they become more robust and can handle life better so our stress is reduced.

​On Thursday we began our next phase of monitoring – weighing the chicks once a week to make sure that they are all progressing well. That was how we discovered that one chick had set out on an adventure way too soon. It had come out of its nest and Lindsey found it on the beach, 30 m below, still alive! Needless to say, we have now added a new barrier to stop it happening again.

It was still doing fine yesterday thank goodness. Currently we have 60 chicks. Some are still very new and tiny, some have Diphtheria, and we are treating them, but most are past the worst risk of peri-natal death. Our goal is to save them all. We also have 4 young females in care. One had Malaria, one has a fungal throat and the other 2 are under weight. Its what we do!
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
We had a damp start to the week, and it got cold. The silver lining is that the mosquitoes don’t like the cold! Jan came out to help on Sunday and Monday. The whole team turned up on Tuesday and Dom and Lindsey completed the planting of the cabbage trees.

​Wednesday and Thursday went to plan but on Friday, Robbie and I found 3 dead chicks. Two of them died of Pneumonia but the 3rd one died trying to hatch. We have 2 more nests left to hatch and then we will be working to keep as many chicks alive as we can.

​When we do the rounds, we not only find disease, but also bones stuck in the chick’s throat. On Friday one had a bone across its mouth and sticking out through the skin on both sides. The poor thing had no chance without a helping hand.

To make Friday 13th even blacker, we saw a boat harassing a pod of dolphins, just off the point. It went on for at least 10 minutes and was very disturbing to watch as the target seemed to be a calf. Sometimes I despair for the planet when people cannot share.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
November is our most intense month and this year it is no different. Diphtheria has raced through both colonies and on Monday we found our first dead chick. It had been on antibiotics for 2 days, so I do not think Diphtheria killed it, but it has been sent off for an autopsy.

​We released our hospital patient on Tuesday, so it was a bit of a surprize to pick up another one. This one has malaria and is now being treated. Daily visits to the colony have a spin-off for the needy ones as well. We picked up another one on Friday.

​On Thursday night we got 10 mm of rain so there was a lot of slipping and sliding on Friday as we did the rounds. We then had 56 chicks and 7 more nests to hatch. Lindsey has become a regular member of the team and he brings a new set of skills with him. 

​Yesterday we did the rounds and sadly found both chicks in nest 34 dead. They were too far gone to be autopsied and so we replaced them with an egg that is past its due date to give it a chance. We were joined by Anne, a volunteer vet from Christchurch who will do her best to help the penguins up there.

Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family.
Sunday was warm as predicted, so in the morning I checked the chicks and, in the afternoon, I did the bees. In the process I discovered that Owen’s cow has calved and in 2 weeks’ time I will be able to get some fresh milk. I have all but forgotten how to make cheese, so the excitement is fresh, all over again! On Monday we even got some 20 mm + of rain. 

​Tuesday was one of those crazy days when things just all happen at once. We did the rounds in the morning and found 12 chicks.  We moved an egg from a penguin with flipper damage and then got a call about some precious eggs that needed a home as their mum had just died. Their lay date was not known so they had to stay together. That meant swapping the morning egg back out and giving the experienced pair 2 eggs to raise. Then I got a call about a penguin beached in Moeraki. I looked high and low – stumbling over moving rocks and was just about to abandon the search when the penguin called. 

​It was in the thick of a Boxthorn bush. I had made the mistake of coming out without my hat and ended up caught in the middle of the bush by my hair and sliding in the mud. After about ½ hour, we managed to rescue the penguin and I made it home for tea with Marian about 45 minutes late. I was so remorseful for being late, I just got stuck into delicious pizza and wine, planning to shower and change later.

​After she had gone home, I looked in the mirror and a boxthorn in my ear had been bleeding down my neck and I looked like I had had my throat cut. I do not know how Marian kept a straight face!

Yesterday we did the rounds and found 28 chicks but also Diphtheria at the Moeraki colony. Our commitment is to have 2 people doing the rounds each day for as long as it takes to save as many chicks as possible. It was a good day because there were no deaths!
Have a great week
Rosalie
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