Sunday 25th February 2018

The Snares crested penguin is beginning to look better

​Hello friends and family
Sunday was very busy and unfortunately the SKYPE meeting failed due to technical issues and was re-scheduled for Tuesday but by then I had lost internet connectivity! On Monday we fed the penguins and spent the rest of the day inside as it was raining. It continued to rain through Tuesday so after our meeting at the Moeraki Marae we checked this colony and found an emaciated White Flippered penguin trying to stay alive on the beach.

the new friend - an Erect Crested penguin

​It continued to rain on Wednesday, and the storm brought us over 100 mm of rain. The ocean was very rough so not suitable for releasing penguins! I got a call from DOC and went and collected a dead penguin from Katiki Beach. There was extensive flooding on SH1 and a car stuck in the flood waters. Our road has small streams in it!

2 moulters checking out the accomodation

​The rain eased on Thursday, so I was able to get some cleaning done and catch up a little – I even phoned Spark and ordered a technician to repair my internet and phone. He came on Friday and fixed it – thank goodness for that! The fish also arrived on Friday, so I was feeling blessed.

And then the storm was gone

​Chris and Hiltrun came up on Friday night and we checked on some penguins at the south end. They were all underweight. This is a pattern that I have seen often – penguins that are compromised perch at the edges of colonies – they seek company but are not assertive enough to use the main landings. One of them was raised as a chick here so it is a treat to see it come back a year later.

The moulters that like to hang out with the sheep

Yesterday we found another dead chick in the colony – quite degraded but off to Massey for a post-mortem. We would suspect another Malaria case, given the events of the last fortnight.
This coming week I will be able to move more chicks to soft release and feed up some skinny moulters.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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