Sunday 1st November 2015

Hello friends and family.
What a week! We have had great news – 2 more nests – one here and one at Okahau Point. This brings us to 46.

Nest tucked into the base of a cliff.

We have our first chicks. They are early which is a good thing. All of the eggs have been candled and all of the breeding birds microchipped. There are a lot of single males hanging about, most of whom are also microchipped and so we are able to get a good picture of the changes in breeding patterns within the two colonies. 

First chick

When we checked these chicks yesterday the first one had Diphtheria lesions in its mouth but looks otherwise OK. We removed the lesions and I will treat it for the next 5 days. 

Still waiting, but not wanting to miss the first arrival.

We now have 8 trail cameras to monitor the burrowing sea birds and are hoping for some good evidence of who is breeding here this spring. The Black backed gulls have eggs and the Spotted shags have chicks. 

Nest building

The Red-billed gulls are still thinking about it!

3 Fast growing hungry babies.

We have enjoyed some glorious weather and a decent cold snap. The farm next door has had the first crop of grass harvested and the machinery employed is very impressive. They worked until after dark to collect the grass.

busy workers.

 November is always a busy month at the lighthouse. I am even getting out of bed early. We had 28.5 mm of rain in October.
Have a great week!
Rosalie