Sunday 25th September 2016.

Proud mum with a new egg

​Hello friends and family.
Mother nature is surely full of variety and so when we did the nest checks on Wednesday, we found 33 nests with eggs and have now identified every breeding female from last season, even though one is not yet nesting. This event where most of the breeding is underway before the equinox is exceptional. I put it down to experienced penguins and good fishing!

Kowhai in the garden

​The weather has been dull and so it is hard to get motivated to prepare the garden for spring, but that is the top job at hand. I have removed the plastic tubes from a lot of the trees at Hampden and sprayed with copper where required. Only 4 more apple trees there need attention but that requires drying conditions.

Mum sky pointing

​DOC have started work on the new path. They are doing a very good job and it will be a great improvement over the current set up, the penguins will have people only to the south of them, not surrounding them. 

penguins playing in front of Janice point.

​On Thursday night Owen and Chrissy from Hampden came and we transferred the bee hive here to their place. I will put another hive here from the farm when it gets a little warmer. Owen is very keen to protect bees so we will look after that hive together for a few years.

A close up of the penguins in the previous picture

​On Saturday Hiltrun and I did the nest search rounds and found 21 nests here and 21 at Okahau Point. We are not expecting any more at Okahau point as all of our females there are accounted for. With only 10 days between the first egg laid and the last, this is an exceptional season.

A new recruit to the colony

I will be checking for the last nests here at Katiki over the next few days, but the penguins have already exceeded our expectations!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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