Sunday 24th April 2016

A Yellow-eyed penguin in the morning sun.

​Hello friends and family.
Well this was the first week with no penguins in hospital here. I have definitely slowed down a bit – happy to potter around, cut a hedge, dig a garden – stew some apples! In the afternoon I walk to Okahau Point to feed the penguins in the soft release pen. 

A Juvenile - a returned chick looking fabulous.

​One of the 2 YEP chicks in the soft release pen has gone now and the Crested penguin is moulting well. We picked up a new juvenile that needs a helping hand so it is at Okahau Point with the Crested penguin for company. The new YEP is underweight and seems exhausted – it sleeps a lot!

Yellow-eyed penguins socializing on the beach

​Hiltrun came up on Thursday night and we did the monitoring rounds on Friday morning. It was clearly a day when all of the penguins went fishing as the reserve was empty. It seemed like a good time to work on the landing area at Harry’s Bay. When we went down there, we found 2 seal pups trapped on the wrong side of the fence. It took us both quite some time to de-construct the fence enough to push the pups through. They may look cute but their teeth require respect.

A juvenile checking in on mum and dad who will not feed him again.

​It is very edifying to see the juvenile Yellow-eyed penguins returning. An early return has been a sign, in the past of a good season and surely the penguins are in need of one.

A beautiful autumn sunset

The days are definitely getting shorter and I have got some seeds for winter greens to plant. The drought continues and many small to mid-sized plants are drooping badly. Let’s hope for rain.
Have a great week
Rosalie