Hello friends and family
The months are racing by, and the sun continues to shine! On Sunday we threw more rocks and on Monday went to the orchard, repaired the bridge and cut down some gorse. Tuesday’s rounds were followed by a trip to the Bluffs as Dan had not been there before. 

​On Wednesday we set off for Clyde in Central Otago with Elaine on board and went to visit Walter and Therese. The purpose of the trip was to acknowledge their contribution to our work with Life memberships of the Katiki Point penguin trust. Therese spoiled us with a beautiful, cooked lunch and Walter entertained us with stories of Moeraki from years ago. We continued our trip, through the Lindis Pass and down the Waitaki Valley to dinner at Oamaru.

​What a fabulous trip, with autumn at its best from start to finish. We left the coast to its drizzly grey day and travelled in glorious sunshine.

​Luckily the sunshine followed us, and Thursday was very pleasant for the penguin rounds. We picked up 2 penguins that had been in care and then not gone out fishing after being released. The problem seems to be Fungal throat. They are responding well to treatment. In the afternoon we sorted the fish out so now I only have one freezer operating through the off-season.

On Thursday, the plumber came and replaced old, worn-out valves in the system. He also found a leak that was causing problems with the pump. What bliss! A plumbing system that works!
Dan went home on Friday and Hiltrun came up yesterday.
Have a great week
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
On Sunday I was pleased to welcome my niece, Astrud with her family, who visited in the morning and then shouted me dinner at the Tavern in the evening. It was an early start on Monday as I went down to pick up Cousin Daniel from the plane at 9 am. He is a tech whizz and with his help I was able to get a new TV decoder and a hands-free unit for the car. He also brought with him a music keyboard and the logos for the car. 

​Tuesday was monitoring day. We released 2 penguins and picked up our first returned chick who weighed in at only 4.2 Kg. He seems quite bright and very hungry – the blood tests will tell the full story. The weather was glorious.

​Thursday was a repeat of lovely weather and Dan and I spent the afternoon watching a pod of 100+ dolphins make their way slowly north. At 4 pm the southerly front arrived, and the wind came up and the temperatures dropped. We got 10 mm of rain overnight so will stay green for a bit longer.

​Friday was town day and Hiltrun came up on Saturday. We released another penguin so are now down to only 3 in care. It was another glorious day, and the dolphins were back, but further out past the reef. Dave called in with a feed of fresh Blue Cod. Yum.

Friday was town day and Hiltrun came up on Saturday. We released another penguin so are now down to only 3 in care. It was another glorious day, and the dolphins were back, but further out past the reef. Dave called in with a feed of fresh Blue Cod. Yum.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​The week started off with glorious weather and even weeding was a pleasure. On Tuesday that changed, and we got 8 mm of welcome rain. I decided to go on a wild penguin chase for the day, so Robbie did the rounds on his own and saw 28 penguins here and 8 at the Moeraki colony. They do like to stay home on a rainy day!

​It was back out in the reserves on Thursday. We released another penguin so are now down to 5 in care. In the afternoon we continued with preparing for sheep in the Moeraki reserve, in glorious sunshine. It was so nice, I started on the rock moving in Robbie’s rehab. This involves throwing all the rocks out of the pen, lifting the grates, waterblasting everything and then returning it to normal, ready for next season.

Friday was also glorious, so I was motivated to continue cleaning. Let’s hope it lasts until the job is done. Yesterday I did the rounds with Hiltrun and walked home from the Moeraki colony. There are a few penguins at home, mostly relaxing.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
The days are drawing in and the penguins are very happy to be fed at 4:30 pm. There are very few left at home during the day in the colonies, so we are starting our winter work programme.

​On Sunday Elaine came out in the morning to do the bloods and in the afternoon I did very little. On Monday I did the trap round and put in long lasting bait to keep them useful for longer. Tuesday was cold when we set out to do the rounds, but as soon as we got out of the wind it was much better. We picked up an unmarked, un moulted female who has Malaria, so she has started her treatment. This was one of those rescues which was more like a self-admission. As we were doing the rounds, she called from within the scrub until we responded. Otherwise, we would never have found her.

​I went to Oamaru on Wednesday and while I was away, one of our penguins escaped. It remains a mystery, but I am sure he will find his way home. It is a few years since our last escapee.
By the end of the rounds on Thursday, we were down to 11 penguins in care. Now that the night temperatures are below 10 degrees more can go because the mosquitoes will be dormant.

On Friday when I went to do some work in the Moeraki colony, there was our escape artist, at his nest, with his partner, looking like he was in charge. Yesterday when Hiltrun and I did the rounds, the highlight was seeing a falcon. It has been a few years since we have seen her. I am sure that she has been back in the meantime but stayed out of view. We also caught three more ferrets, bringing the total for the week to 7. Scary stuff!
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
The week began with a great start – Nicky from the “Fishwife” in Moeraki came out and donated $1000 towards Penguin Rescue. I was so grateful it made my day. I took the bloods down to Dunedin on Monday morning and in the afternoon, got half of the big hedge topped. On Tuesday Robbie, Murray and I picked up 3 more penguins in need of a helping hand. One of them had been in to moult for 2 weeks but not started yet. Then after everyone had gone home, the fish arrived. There were 3 good things about this fish – it fitted into the freezers, it is all free-flow and most of it is a good size for the penguins which makes feeding them so simple.

​On Wednesday after doing yard work at Hampden and picking peaches at Elaine's, I submitted our banding data to the national data base for the team for the season, so I felt good about that.
All went to custard on Thursday however, when we found 2 dead adults on the landings, trying to get home. We took bloods and they will go to Massey for autopsies. We suspect Malaria. We also released 2 penguins and brought in 2. So far, they all fit into 3 enclosures and so the aviary has remained closed all season. I did a count – we have had 60 Hoiho and 6 others in care so far this season.

​On Friday I finished the big hedge. It was only 7 months from its last cut, but we have had amazing growth this season which has encouraged the lawns and the hedges. Sigh!.
Hiltrun came up yesterday and we only saw one penguin at home! She continued with the weed eater in the afternoon.

​Hello friends and family
The week began with unexpected penguins in strange places. Birds are not famous for their intellect, but they have been outsmarting me with some regularity. When I relay the stories of which penguin is keeping company with which, the team think we could write a drama series.
In spite of the antics, most of our penguins have come home to moult. Sadly, we also had an emaciated, unmarked fledgling that died the morning after it arrived. 

​Four of us did the rounds on Tuesday and we found 4 underweight moulters. Thankfully, we released 2 penguins at the same time, so all was well. The rain held off and it was like walking around in a sauna. It stayed clogged in on Wednesday, but the clouds cleared for Thursday when we were joined by the environmental officers from the Waitaki and Otago regional councils. It is very enjoyable having visitors who understand our motivation and hold wildness in high regard.

​Another 2 penguins came into care and 2 more were released. It was quite amusing that we had to wait at a traffic light to get up the hill! The road repairs are almost completed, in spite of them taking Otago anniversary day off on Monday.

On Saturday the seas were Majestic. I have never seen such big waves, rolling in from so far out. I am sure that it has happened before, in a winter storm, but the weather was fine, warm and calm. We picked up Mr and Mrs 139 and released 3 penguins. Mr 303 is due to go today.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
The week began with the arrival of a starving fledgling. It arrived in style, in a taxi! On Monday morning, the Erect Crested decided that it was time to go and jumped out of his pen and in with the neighbour, who was not well pleased with that. He still had a few stray feathers on his flippers, but his tail feathers were well on their way and now, so is he. Elaine reported an injured shag along Katiki Beach but my searching for it was not successful.

​On Tuesday it was good to see a lot of fresh penguin poop, from the penguins who have now moulted and are coming home with full bellies. We have seen most of our breeders return to moult, but the few gaps are concerning. The 3 penguins that we found dead in previous weeks are considered to have died of Malaria.

​I went to Oamaru on Wednesday and picked up my new hedge clipper. They are waiting on parts to repair the old one. On Thursday, Robbie and I were joined by Murray and Bronwyn. They have a new electric car, a Leif, that is the best clean option for their lifestyle. We released one penguin and brought one in. It is so fortunate that this is a quiet season so far as I am feeding the rehab penguins lots of small fish. They don’t mind, but it takes longer.

Recently another penguin organisation released its first newsletter. Please support them by subscribing. Go to https://www.nzpi.nz/ and as you look around, there will be a pop up to subscribe to their newsletter.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
The week began with rain which was enough to keep the place green for another few weeks. All excitement was well deflated when we found 2 dead adult penguins at the Moeraki colony on Tuesday. We also brought in a Juvie and Mrs 26 who were both underweight to moult. Every time we do a monitoring round, we face the unexpected.

​Wednesday was my day at the TopTip shop. There were plenty of people dumping rubbish, but not a lot of buyers so it was a quiet morning. 

​Elaine joined us on Thursday, and we had bloods taken and tested. One of the dead penguins had a heavy Malaria infection, the other was not possible to tell. Fortunately, we did not find any more dead penguins, but we now have 12 penguins in care. In the afternoon I headed down to Dunedin for my one year check up at the hospital, so was able to take the dead penguins down to go for autopsy.

​On Friday, after doing this and that, I backed the car into the side of the garage door! How is this possible you ask? It has bells and whistles and cameras and all. It beeps at the rise into the garage, so the warnings are useless.
It was easy – I over thought the task and was very pleased when it slipped into the garage just fine yesterday.