Sunday 14th March 2021

free

​Hello friends and family
On Tuesday we released the Royal penguin. The place seems quiet without him. He would always call whenever I walked past and lived up to his reputation for being a very social species. Megan and Oscar were up here to see him go. He took about 20 minutes to orient himself, and then he was off! We also saw most of our breeding pairs moulting and a Dusky dolphin with her calf.

Mr and Mrs KB

​On Thursday we found flipper bird home again, hopefully to begin the moult. I had big misgivings about letting her go after her injury last month, but she was unhappy in care and it has all worked out well. 

before and after the moult

​We also picked up the breeding pair from Katiki Beach because they were in an exposed spot. Just as well because she was underweight, and he was marginal. It turns out that she is a 2-year-old from the Moeraki colony which explains why her chicks were struggling as is she. Without our help, the whole family would have died. Both of them have been in care before so know how to eat nicely so it will be very low stress for them to see out the moult here.

local abundance - Spotted shags

Elaine came out on Saturday and we took their bloods. Both looked good! We let Mrs 47 go to complete the moult at her nest and the skinny juvenile from last week is now a free bird at the Moeraki colony. We opened the door of the soft release pen for the last of the 60 chicks to go. We are very proud of our efforts with the chicks this season.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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