Sunday 17th September 2023

Our trail blazer - first egg of the season

​Hello friends and family,
Our first egg has arrived! – hatch date 12th September.
The warmer spring weather continues. The forecasted cold fronts that brought snow to the south, delivered short cold windy blasts and about 7 drops of rain. I have stopped planting out baby trees as it is too dry. This has resulted in an expansion of the tree nursery.

spring glory in the garden

​The pair from QE2 Trust came to catch up on Monday which was nice. They weren’t in such a hurry that I could not bring them up to date with our work. Rob is going to be working further north and Cathy is taking over this area.

Waiting for a wife

​There was great excitement for the team on Tuesday when the first egg arrived. There has been a lot of penguins home here at the lighthouse, but numbers are patchier at the Moeraki colony.
After Thursday’s round, we had identified most of the penguins at home. Mrs. Katiki Beach has moved back here so it is not likely that there will be a nest there this season.

Karo -a native with a lovely perfume

​Yesterday, Hiltrun found 7 more nests with an egg, so we are well underway with the new season. It was also the day of our AGM so we can now put the old season to bed and focus our attention on the new season.
The guest speaker was Prof Bruce Russell from Otago University. He is an outstanding speaker and very knowledgeable about Malaria. Only the Green party candidate showed up – the National and Labour candidates were no-shows.

Still, misty, evening view

 I woke this morning to rain – the first real rain in 2 months. We have 10mm so far, falling gently, straight down. All those baby trees we have planted will thrive!
Have a great week!
Rosalie