 southern Rata for christmas Merry Christmas friends and family. What a turbulent year it has been both for the planet and the penguins. There have been highs – the purchase of the Bluffs by the Judges for conservation – and lows – 30+ dead chicks.  I believe I can fly But we will carry on this work with a strong sense of privilege to be working with such awesome birds.  even the neighbors are gorgeous Here is some eye candy for you to brighten up your Christmas.  catching up fast There is always more on our YouTube channel. Why not subscribe – it is free, and you can help us reach 1000 viewers.  another over achiever Merry Christmas  the climbing lessons continue Rosalie   proud parent Hello friends and family I am continuing with my mission to get all the seedlings potted up ready to sit over summer and only need watering. The weather has been great for this – the garden is sheltered from the wind so is a pleasant place to work.  first climbing lesson We weighed the Katiki chicks on Tuesday and they are all making good progress. At the nest that had blood the previous week, the chick had a puncture wound on its head. It is doing fine, but we have put a camera out and a trap nearby. The Kawariki chicks have caught up and so no longer need supplementary feeding.  cuteness overload More dramas on Thursday! The chicks are now coming out of their boxes which is much kinder on the nose, but one of the younger chicks was post-guard. Sometimes new parents do miscommunicate and both parents go fishing but it is not safe for the chick. We were very pleased when they finally came home. It was also a day of non-parent penguins to stay home and check out the neighbourhood to see if any new penguins have turned up.  Just hanging about On Saturday, Jan and I weighed the chick with the puncture wound and he has not gained any weight. I will start supplementary feeding him today. Have a great week Rosalie  on his first adventure Hello friends and family This has been a week full of drama! On Sunday I visited the Bluffs nest and took a video. What it showed was that the mum had an eye injury. I went to pick her up, but she was not at home. On Monday Jan, Robbie and I went back and there she was, so we picked her up – only 4.25Kg so not able to continue with parenting duties. We uplifted her and the chicks, she went to the Wildlife hospital and the chicks went to nest 49.  cute and fluffy The parents in 49 were still in the incubation phase so being presented with 2 3-week-old chicks was a big surprize. They coped but needed help feeding for a few days. Both chicks were underweight, so there was no room for risk so I fed them at the nest. Three feeds a day for 2 days, 2 feeds a day for 2 days, 1 feed a day for 2 days and wait and see.  scruffy but doing okay On Tuesday when we did the rounds, we found blood in front of a nest. The reason is still a mystery, but we did a thorough check. Then we found the youngest chicks had had a relapse of Diphtheria, so they are being treated for that.  our first totara seedling Thank goodness, Thursday’s round produced no new problems. Sadly, on Friday morning, there was another dead chick. Yesterday Hiltrun came up and took it back to the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital for an autopsy. We have 46 chicks left.  how cute are these swallow chicks? Summer has arrived, and it has been a tee shirt weekend. Long may it last!  Chicks doing what they do best - sleeping! Have a great week! Rosalie  getting bigger by the day - look at those feet! Hello friends and family Well, the chicks kept on dying. We found 2 that had died on Sunday. It was very depressing. On Tuesday we got in a clear round so felt a bit better. In the afternoon, a researcher from Alaska visited with her family. While she was talking to me, her family were in the car park and met a young French couple who had their key break in the lock of their Jucy van.  French selfie The company was very unhelpful – saying that it would cost $700 to help them which was ridiculous. In the end, they stayed the night, and I took them to Oamaru in the morning where they got a new key cut for $10.  a new pup On Thursday we had another clear round and now all but 6 chicks are out of the high danger zone. Max and Madeline from the Council joined us to check out the new fence and catch up with our projects. We were also pleased to see the first of this season’s new seal pups.  more spring colour The weather has been very kind with sunny mornings and any rain coming in after 4 pm. I have had no trouble keeping up with the laundry which makes for an easy time.  doing a great job with tatty flippers Hiltrun came up yesterday with Elke and Trii. They helped with the potting up in the morning and did weed control at the Moeraki colony in the afternoon. Thank you all.  an adventurous pup! Have a great week! Rosalie |
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