Sunday 16th January 2022

Looking cute

​Hello friends and family
The weeks are flying by. On Sunday the boys did the trap round and on Monday we went to Oamaru to update the groceries so Daniel could cook his favourite, Nachos for dinner. Jan, Robbie and Elaine joined us on Tuesday and we micro-chipped another 6 chicks and took blood samples from 13 penguins. The Juvenile in care had a positive blood slide for Malaria so her treatment was begun.

Making friends

​Our micro-chipping of the chicks has been very timely. The chicks are getting adventurous. At the Moeraki colony they were in groups of 3 or 4 , or in the neighbour’s house, and we were able to positively ID them before we took blood samples from the oldest ones. At the moment, they are growing their first feathers. This means that they are shedding fluff in every direction, up our noses included, and all over the gear. Such fun!

A stinky flower we found on the track in Trotter's gorge

​On Wednesday we weighed and dosed the Katiki Beach chicks and then headed to Trotter’s Gorge where we climbed to the highest point. It was great that we went in the morning as the weather cracked up in the afternoon and our weeding efforts were rewarded by a shower!
Thursday was monitoring day and we checked the chicks here and then went to the Moeraki colony where the last of the chicks was micro-chipped and all were weighed and treated. We were finished at 11:30am. A tribute to the smooth running of our team! One chick was not thriving, so we brought it into care – it threw up a tablespoon of worms so there is something wrong.

Daniel checking out the waves

Fun Friday saw us heading south to Dunedin after the morning feed to visit tunnel beach – where I have not been before, and we needed the tide to be out. What a remarkable spot – well worth the climb down and then up. After chores, we had lunch at St Claire’s and then headed out to Penguin Place to meet up with the team there. Both Daniels were very impressed with their set up and it was good to see our transferred penguin with the bald patch, swimming with her new friend! Still no signs of moulting. The it was dinner at Ironic café and off to the airport to deliver Dan on his way home. He has done some fantastic work on apps for the penguins, and we can’t thank him enough!
We arrived home to greet Aaron, who has come to help with rabbit control. Hiltrun came up yesterday and did more mowing.
Have a great week!
Rosalie