Sunday 30th October 2018

Guess what? I have 2 chicks!

​Hello friends and family
We have our first chicks! On our monitoring rounds on Thursday we found 2 nests with pipping eggs. By yesterday we had 6 chicks and 4 more pips.
The warm weather continued through until Thursday, made interesting here by some very thick and swirling fog that arrived on Monday night and left on Thursday as the cold heavy rain arrived.

The new fence designed to reduce the visitor disturbance for the penguins

​Elaine came out on Monday to help with the monitoring round and all the penguins were very settled. On Tuesday, Robbie, Jan and I went to the Catlins. I had asked for photos of the new penguin fence at the Curioscape centre in Curio Bay and as none were forthcoming, we went down to take our own. The trip was truly AWESOME! We traveled in Barb’s BMW, being the most efficient vehicle available and had the roof back for most of the trip as it was very warm. 

Effective signage

​I have not been to the Catlins before in glorious weather and I think every spring bloom was at its best and giving off delicious perfume. We then went to Long Point to observe the habitat available to the penguins there and saw some NZ Sealions. The last stop in the Catlins was the Lighthouse at the Nuggets and the penguin hide there.

Looking south from Long Point

​The penguins have a vast, unspoiled coastline available to them down there in the Catlins and it is hard to understand why they are not flourishing. We still have the largest and second largest mainland colonies here in North Otago. Some of the signage was impressive, ignored by fellow travelers but well thought out and with simple messages.

The rugged south face of Long Point

​On Wednesday I went to share an update with the practice manager at Oamaru Vets and they are willing to continue their excellent support of our work. We have been working together for many years and they have a practical respect for our work and a love of penguins. Thursday was our next monitoring round and then Chris and Adrian arrived early on Friday to battle the boxthorns.

Nugget point lighthouse with some of the southern nuggets

Yesterday after the monitoring rounds I upgraded the protection around 7 Taupheta trees. The wind and the sheep are very hard on the commercial tree protectors and we need to upgrade them sooner rather than later!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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