Sunday 29th November 2015.

Hello friends and family.
​The week has been another challenging one. 4 chicks at Okahau point went missing and a 5th has wounds on both feet. I put out trail cameras and think the culprit may be a stoat. In the meantime, the youngest chicks got Diphtheria and died. Some of the chicks are taking a while to get over their infection and so I am feeding them fish in the mornings when their tummies are empty.

Two fat healthy chicks sleeping

​Monday was a nice day so I checked the bees. With the colder days, leaving them for 3 weeks worked out OK and they are all fine. Richard says to not expect honey until Christmas time.

Dad letting us know that we were in his territory.

​Temperatures during the week were very warm – high twenties and sunny. Great for the cruise ships that came to Dunedin and then sent busloads of people here. Those visitors do come during the day and so cause no problems

Thursday evening at the lighthouse.

​On Friday we got 20mm of rain, thank goodness. It was an inside day and I managed to do very little. A nice change all round. 

Shags nesting on Motiti Island

​Daniel, Elaine and Hiltrun all visited on Saturday. Daniel came with Hiltrun and I on the monitoring rounds and we found another wandering chick – sure enough it had Diphtheria but as it is a bit older, its chances of survival are higher than the tiny chicks.

The first new seal pup on 25th November.

​November is almost over and the stress of chick deaths will soon be behind us. Currently we have 24 chicks at Okahau Point and 32 here.

Spotted Shag rookery getting very crowded as the chicks grow.

Have a great week!
Rosalie
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