 cuteness overload Hello friends and family, Day by day we are making progress. The chicks are growing and becoming safer. We have had some frights with chicks losing weight and there have been several rushed trips down to the Dunedin Wildlife hospital with tiny scraps of life struggling to breathe. We have naughty chicks and compliant chicks. The always present problem of predators becomes more acute with tiny lives at stake.  one of 4 juvenile penguins seen this month By the middle of the week, we had 61 chicks here, including one from Green Island, 5 at DWH, including one from Green Island, and a break from the daily trips down to Dunedin.  penguin pride Daily nest rounds are necessary because Diphtheria is still ever present, as is the risk of choking from fish bones. It does get easier each day as the chicks grow. So far, none of the chicks have died here after returning from the wildlife hospital.  Too big to fit under the adult Outside the nests, we have prolific flowering and growth. The flax bush outside my office window, usually good for 5 or 6, has put up 20 flowering stems. The trees are blooming and there is abundance everywhere.  Pohutukawa in Otago in November Have a great week! Rosalie  Hello friends and family Another crazy week. The team have all stepped up to do the best for the penguins. Michelle joined us for 3 days. Elaine trained her up on penguin chick travel management when they brought 11 chicks home on Monday and then Michelle did 2 extra days.  just a tiny scrap By Tuesday, all our chicks except for the last, late, nest had been taken down to the hospital. The job switched to bringing chicks home and settling them back into their nests. The parents have all waited patiently on a dummy egg except for one pair who took a short break one afternoon. Their chick came home the next day, so we are keeping a close eye on that nest.  some of the few Spotted shag nests in North Otago We have had another chick die. On Sunday afternoon I took a trip down to the hospital with it as it was gasping. It did not recover. There is a lot of mild diphtheria in the chicks as they return which we are treating, and the chicks seem to recover.  a returned juvenile looking healthy On Wednesday the first two of the Green Island chicks came up to be fostered into a nest here. We had space because of infertile eggs. Elaine and I did the chick run on Friday. We brought back the last of the chicks from the Moeraki colony and were still waiting for the last eggs here at Katiki to hatch. They are both pipping, and we expect them to hatch today.  and still they die As is the pattern, Yellow-eyed penguin chicks are very inventive in finding ways to die. Apart from disease, they can get fish bones stuck in their throats and we have had to save 2 of those cases this week. As each day passes, they get older and stronger. We continue to prioritise their survival.  the difference a week makes Have a great week! Rosalie  a wee miracle Hello friends and family The roller coaster ride continues. We took chicks down to DWH on Sunday and Monday, bringing the first two back on Monday. They settled well back into their nests and on Tuesday, we had no trip to Dunedin as no chicks were ready in either direction. Of course, that changed when we found two weak chicks in a nest. Tuesday was Amy’s last day and she delivered them on her way south. We were very lucky to have her help as we got our routines established. Thank you, Amy.  Robbie, Murray, Jan and Amy process chicks for delivery to Dunedin By Thursday, all the chicks from the Moeraki colony had been uplifted and returns were outnumbering deliveries. We had to split the first chick pair that returned on different days as one chick put on 250g in one day, while the other made no weight gain. At this stage we have a lot of flexibility as most penguins are sitting on dummy eggs.  the cabbage trees almost overwhelm the penguin smell The great news for Thursday was that both chicks at Kawariki Bay are alive. This was the first pair of eggs abandoned. With the use of dummy eggs, we were able to get the parents back incubating and return the real eggs for them to hatch. The other abandoned pair will stay with their foster parents as we have not seen dad again.  stay away from my baby! It was my turn to be the driver down to Dunedin yesterday. Bronwyn and I delivered 4 chicks and brought back 6 chicks. It was a glorious, sunny day and great to be out there. Some of the chicks that we are bringing back have developed mild diphtheria and require a mouthwash. This requires very close monitoring and so the days are getting long.  flowers everywhere The team are in great spirits, knowing that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Have a great week! Rosalie  evidence Hello friends and family. We are now doing daily rounds and welcoming new chicks every day On Tuesday morning, Jan and Robbie went to collect the first pair for transporting to the wildlife hospital. One was gone. – what a blow. The other travelled well and will be well cared for until it weighs 300g and then it will go back to the nest.  Our penguin ambulance We have put a camera out to see if there is a predator around. Amy, our volunteer arrived in the evening and settled in. You can find out about her day job at the National aquarium by Googling it.  Oh so tiny Wednesday was the first real test of our systems. I had the Toptip in the morning and my stitches out in the afternoon. This left the team to get the job done. They welcomed 5 new chicks and delivered 2 safely to DWH. There was no sign of predators at the first nest and no more dead chicks. It was not to last. On Thursday, one wee chick died when it was picked up from RDS (respiratory distress syndrome) and another was so dire we took another trip to Dunedin to try and save it, but sadly, it died the next morning. A team rethink was called for, we agreed to transport the chicks at 2 days old and not wait for the 3rd day. This resulted in 18 chicks going down on Friday.  Our 2 kinds of cabbage trees in full bloom Saturday was quieter with 2 chicks going to DWH. Today we are taking 11 more chicks. These are rollercoaster days.  Amy and I heading home after dropping off chicks at DWH Have a great week! Rosalie |
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