Sunday 18th June 2023

An unknown pair exploring a new nest

​Hello friends and family,
So, on Sunday morning I let the penguin go. I am more than happy to carry stuff down the hill, but much less keen to carry stuff back up the hill. After a lot of thought, I decided to drive down the hill to plant 6 trees. That saved me carrying the Warratah banger back up the hill. I was very pleased with my efforts and the trees were in the ground in time for the promised rain which never arrived. We have had no rain so far this month.

kind words that warm our hearts

​On Tuesday the team were joined by Trudi from the Yellow-eyed penguin trust, so we took the opportunity to go to the bluffs and show her around. While we were there, we extracted some redundant wire netting that can now be used for tree protection from rabbits.

It must be election year!

​Wednesday was town day, and I hadn’t been there for 3 weeks. On the way home I collected a dead rock pigeon to test its blood for Malaria. It looked clear. The next step would be to get a PCR done. In the afternoon the penguins started coming home at 2:30pm and having a singing contest. It is always a good sign when they are coming home early as it indicates that the fishing is good.

This penguin has found a new home

​On Thursday all the penguins were out fishing. We went to the Bluffs to harvest Kowhai seedlings that had sprouted under early flowering trees. We were a bit late and only found a dozen – either rabbits or possums had beaten us to them. It was our first cold day – on with the thermals for comfort!

Just a baby

On Friday morning I got a text from Megan to say there was a dead whale on Moeraki beach. It took me about half an hour to find them and the whale was a baby Minke. It was beautiful, a perfectly formed creature from another world. We waited in the bitter cold for a while then came home for a coffee. I was very taken by the whale so phoned Robbie in case he also wanted to see it. He met us back down the beach. The DOC team arrived, and they measured the whale. Emma explained the features that revealed its age. It was 2.2m long. They then took samples for DNA testing, and we dragged it up into the sand dunes where Robbie and Jason had dug a grave for it. One day it may be dug up for its bones.
Hiltrun came up yesterday and we worked it out – she has been coming up every available week for 10 years! What dedication to our beautiful penguins.
Have a great week!
Rosalie