Sunday 19th January 2020

Resting up before the moult

​Hello friends and family
Life is busy with just routine tasks. On Monday the TV3 reporters came and, interestingly, they had done some research beforehand and so the whole thing went smoothly.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/01/otago-sanctuary-takes-action-to-save-yellow-eyed-penguin-population.html
On Tuesday a new volunteer, Nicky from Palmerston came out for a look around. She will be doing beach searches near her home which is just great. I put the truck in for its warrant of fitness and it failed – I need a new windscreen. Jan and Robbie came out to re-bait the traps and we caught our 4th ferret.

White fronted Terns - beautiful

​Big Daniel arrived on Wednesday and little Daniel went off to visit friends in Karatane. Robbie came out on Thursday and he had a crack at some of the thistles while I watered the ferns. Big Daniel weed-eated the paths for the penguins.

Still blooming

​Friday was the day that a team came up from Dunedin to help weigh all the chicks and train up Robbie and Jan for micro-chipping. What a treat for us to have these penguin people visit. The chicks are all doing well – the heaviest over 6 Kg and the lightest around 5. They are getting better every day and feeding them is now fun.

The team at work

On Saturday one of our Penguin Rescue members came down from Christchurch with a group of young Chinese women who helped by weeding at the Moeraki Colony. We got the 6th ferret and brought the last of the chicks in from the wild. It had stopped gaining weight and its parent was no longer closely guarding it, so in it came. We also got an unmarked Juvenile that is feeding from the hand. Maybe it had a band that fell off. I was also able to read about the autopsy report for our chicks in the media.
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/ferret-main-suspect-killing-penguin-chicks
Sometimes it is a bit like riding a roller coaster!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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