​Hello friends and family
This week was dominated by an unseasonal cold snap. It started on Wednesday when it was my turn at the Toptip. I was well rugged up for the cold and the quiet was disturbed when the sun came out mid-morning and so too did the families stuck inside with their children for the school holidays. Overnight the snow came in on a strong southerly and stuck to the south faces of everything. It lingered for all of Thursday but had gone by Friday morning.    

​The other feature of the week was us stepping up to using the new penguin app in the field. We have now transitioned to using it in the field for data entry on the phone. It works best offline because the phone reception can be patchy and who has time to wait for buffering? 

​The penguins have settled down to incubating their eggs. We focused our search where we had missing pairs but found no more nests. We have 25 here, 14 at the Moeraki colony, and 3 at the Bluffs. 

​The cold weather gave me a good incentive to get inside jobs done so I did the GST return and found that many of our Penguin Rescue members had renewed their memberships so thank you for that. 

On Friday our delivery of potting mix arrived. I can now carry on with the potting up of tree seedlings without constantly running out of soil. I am having to shuffle them on outside as the hothouse is needed for the next batch.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
The week stared off with spring-like weather which always inspires me to plant stuff. I needed a home under cover for my many Pohutukawa seedlings so have converted the old chook house. They need to stay under cover for another 4 years, so I am putting them in planting bags big enough to last them that long.

​On Tuesday we were 2 weeks into egg lay and more able to identify the missing breeders. It is a reality of our work, that it does not matter how hard we work, if the nest numbers are not maintained, we are not saving the species. It is a nervous time. Kate was back with the team so we split into 2 groups to do the rounds so other jobs could get done. The hospital is now ready for the new season.

​Thursday’s round revealed that the female here at Katiki, who always lays last, has changed her partner and is still to lay. No surprizes there! In the afternoon, Robbie and I went to the Bluffs and found an egg at Kawariki Bay. This is now a new colony. We are all thrilled that this has happened so quickly after the place was made safe for them.

​I am filling up the days potting up tiny trees for future planting. We have an endless supply now, because of the July rain. Yesterday revealed the sad truth. We have lost 10+ breeding females. Our current best estimate of our total nest number is 39, down from 47 last year. Thank goodness for the 5 new recruits. We have not yet found any nests along Katiki Beach. On Tuesday we will begin thorough searches in our colony areas.

​Hello friends and family
On Sunday, Murray and I visited the Point Bush sanctuary out the back of Waimate. We went in their new Leif so caused no emissions on the trip. We wanted to see their fence which excludes predators. It was interesting in many ways. Firstly, it was built around remnants of ancient forest that had survived in gullies. It is on private land so there were daffodils by the path, poison stations for rats by the traps and a large stand of pines that will be removed later. The 2 additions they had made to their deer fence were a 1 m high fine mesh and 3 hotwires at the top of it. This could be an affordable option for us to make a staged effort to turn the Bluffs into an ecosanctuary. Exciting times!

​On Tuesday when we did the rounds, there were 17 nests already. One is a 2-year-old that we beeped by the hide last season as a juvenile. In the afternoon Jan and I went to the pre-season meeting in Dunedin to make sure we are up to speed with the many requirements for the new season. Jim, our DOC liaison person gave us the traps and cameras that he had procured for us. Thank you, Jim!

​There were more nests on Thursday and yesterday we found 12 nests at the Moeraki colony and 20 here. In the afternoon we went to the Bluffs and found 2 nests at the south end and 3 penguins at Kawariki bay behaving like they will nest there.

​All 3 were 3 years old and chicks that we had hand raised because of predators killing chicks in our colonies. How wonderful!

​Hello friends and family
We have eggs! The new season is underway, and we found the first eggs on Tuesday – one here and one at the Moeraki Colony. I feel so very grateful to the penguins for having another go at this breeding lark. Both pairs have a history of Malaria and last year they both lost their chicks early on. They have not given up, and neither will we.

​On Wednesday I had my second COVID booster so am up to date. I could not resist buying tomato plants, but they will have to sit in their punnet until the 1st October otherwise I talk a lot of rubbish. I am not alone in this. While I was waiting in the queue to be served, a man advised me that if you plant grafted tomatoes, you can re-use the same soil, year after year. Who would take a punt on that advice!

​On Thursday our team was joined by Wyn and her husband to discuss trees. Robbie took them to the Bluffs so they could see the challenge we are embracing. Jan, Murray, and I did the rounds here and found another egg. In the afternoon I talked with Pauline who will be our vet going forward. 

​Friday was a day for tackling the list of jobs. I planted 30 weeping rosemary plants at Hampden in the morning and cleaned up the flax work area in the drive in the afternoon.

​Yesterday we had our AGM. Only lucky people attended. We were treated by Jennifer’s superior catering and Hiltrun’s very informative talk about NZPI. Some regulars were absent, which was a shame. Before the AGM, Hiltrun and I did the rounds. We now have 8 nests with 9 eggs.

Awesome.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
Two weeks can be a long time. My dear friend, a trustee and our vet, Sue Robb died after a long and painful illness. May she rest in peace.

​I went north and spent time with my family. They are such wonderful people and make a fuss of me which is nice. My dear friend Dot came over to Hahei with her sister and we caught up in person for the first time in a couple of years. Our Daniel has made it to the Basketball national championships so well done him! He says it is nice to not be the tallest person in the room sometimes!

​Travel is always unpredictable. On my way north I flew via Auckland. The airport was chaos with flights delayed in every direction. My suitcase go lost in the turmoil and was not delivered until the next morning. On the way home, I flew south to snow on the beaches at Christchurch. The bus home was cancelled. Fortunately, I was able to hitch a ride with one of the other people on the plane and made it home safely.

​On Thursday we did the rounds and found lots of penguins at home. There were 19 pairs here and ten at the Moeraki colony. All very busy. At the Moeraki colony, 3 penguins in the same area had bleeding flippers – a sure sign of fighting. We just let them behave naturally.

​The fence is finished. It is well made and a credit to the contractor. There are lots of lambs on the farm, so I am driving carefully. My PHEV is so quiet some lambs don’t hear it.

​Hiltrun came yesterday and we had a good catch-up and began the process of preparing the calendar. We found different penguins at home - the season is close.

​Hello friends and family
The days are rolling into each other as winter ticks along, but Tuesday was a standout – the first fence post was erected to protect the coastal strip between here and the Moeraki colony. This has been anticipated for a long time and will double the safe places for penguins in this area. 

​With a wet winter we will be able to begin planting and for the first year the plan is simple. We will plant flaxes, Cabbage trees and Ngaio. These plantings will provide micro-climates for the less robust species that will come later. Dave has come over and pulled out two flax clumps for us that will give us about 100 plants.

​On Wednesday I went to town to hand the keys into the rental agent and left one set behind. I had hoped to get my second COVID booster but there were none available in Oamaru for a month. Sigh.

​I started the job with a realistic plan of 10 flax heels a day. Robbie had lent me his grinder to cut through the hard stems and it all seemed sensible.

By yesterday, my shoulders ached whenever I went near the place! Talk about muscle memory! Drastic measures were called for and so I got out the chainsaw. Magic. If I keep the leaves away from the chain, I can cut through the stumps and pull off the heels. They will sit in water, grow some roots and then colonize the coastline.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
Yes, it has been cold! The southerly front came through on Sunday and the snow was still there on the foothills on Friday. Monday was the day I took the car for its first service in Oamaru at the Mitsubishi dealer. I got a courtesy car and was able to spend 3 hours in Oamaru quite comfortably.

​On Tuesday the team came out and we did the rounds in the morning – Mr 139 was home, and then went to the Bluffs in the afternoon. I wanted to check on the cabbage trees that Robbie and I had planted and then collect seedlings from under the heritage trees. 

​I got tiny Kowhai and only a few of the cabbage trees had been nibbled. On Thursday, Robbie and I showed the contractors through the reserve in the morning. Mr and Mrs 25 were at home. In the evening we went to the tavern to farewell the contractors who have finished the path work.

My tenants left on Friday, so I began sorting the place out, so it is ready for the next tenants. This involves tending to the gardens and lawns and dealing to the rough areas. I have done the inside clean too. I have organised the guest speaker for our AGM on 17th September at 3 pm in the Moeraki hall.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
We got a taste of spring this week with temperatures over 10 degrees and light winds.  On Tuesday I went to the Bluffs with Robbie, and we checked all the traps and collected the Warratah puller to lend to the contractors here. 

​Wednesday was my day at the Toptip, and the sunshine brought the locals out, so it was very social. I even turned over $50 so that was worthwhile too.

​On Thursday we did the rounds and then Jan and Robbie went to the Bluffs in the afternoon. Elaine walked Katiki Beach, and I faffed around! The highlight was having Mr 166 at home. Nice to see a real penguin! In the afternoon, I weed sprayed and straightened up a couple of Kowhai trees.

Some jobs are a long way from penguin work so on Friday I cut tree circles, mowed the lawn and washed the car. It is going in for a service and I am too tight to pay them to wash it!
I booked the Moeraki Hall for our Penguin Rescue AGM
Saturday 17th September at 3 pm – put it in your diaries.
Have a great week!
Rosalie