 Penguin chicks creching in the forest Hello friends and family Happy New Year! In 2017, Penguin rescue has evolved Our mission statement; Providing sanctuary for penguins
 You look interesting! Yes, YEP conservation is a priority for DOC and Ngai Tahu but really, unwritten, they can go and live somewhere else as people like to come here and see them so let’s spend conservation dollars on enhancing the tourist experience and never mind that the tourists come to see the penguins so once the penguins have gone, the tourists will not bother either.  The kiwi sign of summer The 30 years of our managing the wildlife reserve did not even rate a mention. It would be bearable if there was another place, in North Otago where penguins are cared for, but there is not. Every chick hatched elsewhere in North Otago this season is dead.  Check us out - our feet have turned pink What can we do in 2018 to make a difference? We will continue with our conservation effort and keep recording the evidence of the demise of this colony. Yesterday I was called down to the point because an Asian gentleman was trying to pull a seal pup out from under a rock, and other visitors were concerned that the distraught mother might bite him.  Pohutukawas blooming at the Moeraki colony Then on dusk, a visitor was buzzing the penguins down at the landing with his drone. He did stop when asked to by another visitor, but the disturbance was a done deal.
Will 2018 bring a better deal for our penguins? Watch this space Have a great week!  The Pohutukawa is lush. Merry Christmas Hello friends and family It is time to review 2017 and see what we can learn from it. We took some heavy blows this year. The first was when Janice died in January. She is sorely missed, especially her mischief and sincere interest in Yellow-eyed penguin welfare. The second was when 13 of our breeding females did not survive the winter. That is just over a quarter of our birds. This was simply awful. Then we got diphtheria in the chicks for the 3rd season in a row!  returning home from an adventure There were some positive outcomes as well. 11 new 2-year-old females bred for the first time which was a significant mitigation of the previous deaths and of these, half were saved as tiny chicks because we treated diphtheria when they were small. We also rehabilitated some as underweight chicks and juveniles.  The gull chick is now getting flight feathers The level of support for Penguin Rescue’s work has increased, locally, nationally and internationally. Without that we would be struggling as our costs rise. Sponsorship by NZ King Salmon and others is a blessing. Over 95% of our newly planted trees, shrubs and ferns have survived, which is a credit to Chris and his propagation and site selection.  Staying at home with the chicks is becoming less common Katiki point is a better place for penguins to live, thanks to the new entrance pathway and the closing of the hide. Visitor numbers have increased but the gate is now closed at night. All the nests at the south end failed but the losses are less than last year.  TheHoya is excelling itself with blooms and perfume We have new volunteers and intrepid long serving ones! The status of Yellow-eyed penguins has been raised to endangered and they have been identified as the only penguin species to be targeted by DOC for a turn around in their decline by 2025. The new government have more of a conservation bent than the previous one and the Minister has visited here.  Penguins move into a brand new box for shade Have a wonderful Christmas and a great week!
Rosalie  Growing up - looking fantastic Hello friends and family The week started warm, so I did a round of the bees, then on Tuesday we got 18 mm of rain – I am sure that the vegetables doubled in size over night! Tuesday was my town day, which meant I could catch up with Raewyn and Hugh which was nice.  A newly hatched Oyster catcher chick Adrian and Chris came up on Thursday. We set up some more water tanks to enable us to water all our plants with a hose which means no more carting water. Water is very heavy when you have hundreds of trees to water.  The gull chicks grow so fast! Hiltrun arrived in time for tea and on Friday we did a full round of the nests to make sure that all the chicks were Okay. At this stage of their development, they are beginning to leave the nest boxes and explore their surrounds. It can be difficult to find them. We have had some early “post Guard” where both parents go out fishing so us cameras to check that both are Okay.  I am going to lie right here! Friday was busy! Jan came out to sell calendars to the tourists and Ada visited from Whitianga. Last night Patrick and Nola shouted me out to dinner at the tavern. Lucky me!  Baby birds are everywhere! Have a great week!
Rosalie  The chicks are starting to come out of the nest boxes and explore Hello friends and family I enjoyed the heat on Sunday and Monday and was very grateful that it was cooler on Wednesday when Jan and I did our stint at the warehouse in Oamaru to raise funds for the penguins by selling calendars. We id not sell many calendars, but it was a good PR exercise to be seen in the community.  New gull chicks Stewart was able to join us on the monitoring rounds on Thursday and it was great to catch up. It is now time to start regular beach searches for stranded penguins as Crested penguins will be beginning to moult from now on.  A relaxed little family that has moved into the bush for shade We had one chick die this week. It was slow to grow and stopped growing altogether. The rest are developing beautifully.
The statistics are; from 45 nests we had 71 chicks hatch. Some birds only laid one egg and some eggs were not viable. 15 of the chicks died – 4 at the Moeraki colony and 11 here. We have 56 chicks left. Of these 40 were treated for diphtheria and 16 did not get symptoms so were not treated. Our focus now is to get these chicks to fledging! Have a great week. Rosalie  The chicks are exploring Hello friends and family Yay – November is over, diphtheria is under control and the chicks are growing well. With all the stress, I had a blob day on Monday and by the time I paid $256 for a regular check up at the dentists on Tuesday, I realised that I should be a little more grateful.  Keeping in the shade Jan came on Wednesday and did the rounds with me – she is a treasure, selling calendars and helping in any way she can. I installed the new blinds and am very pleased with them. Yes, I did use the chainsaw to help with the installation in the bedroom, but the installation in the lounge went without a problem! On Thursday I went to the Moeraki Tavern for the Moeraki ladies annual Christmas get together – how quickly a year goes by.  A fabulous year for roses Hiltrun joined me for Friday’s round and what a treat – no dead chicks but lots of cute ones!  A chick venturing out of the nest box The chicks are starting to venture outside the nest box and explore their world. It can be very disconcerting to come to a nest box to check it and it is empty!  Elaine, Santa and Pauleen in Hampden Elaine and Pauleen came out for a visit after they had been helping Santa at the Hampden market. Elaine said that they needed the fire engine because they were so hot! Sales of the calendars have been a little slow – order now for Christmas gifts that help save penguins.
Have a great week! Rosalie |
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