Sunday 20th January 2019

Starting to look like real penguins

​Hello friends and family
The week began with a storm and so we had a quiet day until Jan arrived with a rescued penguin. This was our first pre-moult underweight adult of the season and he had a large scar on his abdomen from surgery the previous summer. His name is Nigel and he has settled in well. On Monday the two Daniels went for a swim and found the water was not too cold. We went out for dinner at the tavern on Monday night to celebrate young Daniel’s academic achievement award and everyone’s upcoming birthdays.
 
Tuesday was the day that Charlie came to visit and the boys built penguin houses in the morning and in the afternoon, they did a beach search of Keeper’s bay and found a pre-moult juvenile to keep Nigel company. She has a lot of feather damage and is very hungry. While they were doing that, we distributed Mosquito dunkers and checked on the penguin chicks in the reserves. In the evening, young Daniel and I rescued a White flippered fledgling from the beach at the Boulders, but it was beyond revival and died during the night.

Glorious Pohutukawa

​On Wednesday I delivered young Daniel to Christchurch airport, so he could fly home directly to Christchurch. It was great having him to stay – next time I hope it is for longer. On Thursday we were doing the monitoring rounds when we found a severely wounded penguin. He was going to need extensive surgery, so Daniel delivered him to the Wildlife hospital in Dunedin where he will get the best care.
 
On Friday it was the dull jobs that got to the top of the list. We cut thistles and carted gravel. I was going to change the SD card on the gannet camera but didn’t because there was a gannet there with the decoys. Daniel re-did the foundations of the laundry waste water tank and I mowed the lawns. Then it was housework for me and gorse wrestling for Daniel!

Biodiversity -Otago Shags, Gannets and Gull chicks

Chris and Hiltrun brought Pat up for the day on Saturday and we worked in the Moeraki colony. We now have 14 YEPs in care – 11 chicks, 1 Juvenile and 1 adult here and an adult in the Wildlife hospital in Dunedin
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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