Penguin Rescue Update

Back in the wild after recovering from a wound.

​Hello friends and family
The week began with more boring tasks, but a lot of satisfaction from doing them. The weather was mild and dry – I thought about watering the baby trees.

An abundance of sea birds

​The team came out on Tuesday morning and we picked up another fledgling. This one was just a bit light and is the first of the hand raised chicks to return. I did the monitoring rounds on Wednesday because we had the Oamaru penguin conference on Thursday and Friday.

It was worth getting up early on Friday morning

​This is a great chance for the whole team to network with other penguin conservation groups and to get updated about the latest research. Thursday was focused on Little penguins, and it was great to hear from new groups, advocating in their communities for penguins which means tackling the ongoing problem of dog attacks. One group has set up a radio network of cameras on the dunes and another has investigated Council compliance with the Wildlife act and only 4 complied.

A waiting pup

​Dinner was delicious. The weather was too unpleasant to go and see the Little penguins come home at the Oamaru colony, but those that did were pleased to see lots of them. We saw one on the pavement as we left the restaurant! Friday focused on other species and was very informative.

More north Otago glory

​Genetic research is revealing a lot about the penguins’ past – there is evidence that Hoiho have been here for over 3000 years.

Heading home early

I did the rounds yesterday and the penguins were all out fishing.
Have a great week!
Rosalie