Sunday 26th April 2020

Foot bird is making slow progress

​Hello friends and family
On Sunday, Walter and George came down from central Otago to harvest the honey. It was a month later than usual and the top boxes were empty. This tells me that this season the bees stopped storing honey by the end of January. Every season is different and there is a lot of local variation too.

Bees everywhere

There was not a lot of honey, but it is a great relief to have the job done. I will go back in 6 weeks and remover the Varroa strips. The team came out on Tuesday and we all noticed how the wildlife is returning to Katiki Point. Gulls, Shags, seals and penguins are more relaxed here and we do our best to not disturb them.

A Kereru in the Moeraki colony - first sighting ever!

​We have set an audacious goal for the winter – to plant 500 trees at the Moeraki colony. This will include protecting them from wind, rabbits and sheep which is where the effort must go in to ensure they survive. Now I will plan the logistics, making sure that we do the complete job all at once, rather than having to go back to finish it off.

Flipper bird is gaining weight

​On Thursday, Patrick joined the team and trapping was the main business of the day. He brought me out a ‘care pack’ provided by the Moeraki Whanau for local residents to help with the lock-down. It had toilet paper, cleaning materials, gloves, and soap. Thanks heaps – what a great initiative to lift people’s spirits.

I am being watched

​I went down the point on Friday morning to check on a couple of little penguins that are fishing in the bay. They do not look flash – tired feathers. It took a while to sight them. In the meantime, I was visited by seal pups, saw gulls (2spp) shags (3 spp) white fronted terns, a gannet, and the penguins. I realised how seldom I pause in my busy-ness to enjoy nature.

Not the right colour for a little penguin

Yesterday, Patrick, Anne and Robbie did the trap rounds and the sun shone. I managed to cut another hedge and shift a few more rocks – all good!
Have a great week
Rosalie
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