Sunday 31st October 2021

such a clever penguin!

​Hello friends and family
In the spring, the weather makes a big difference so on Tuesday when Megan came up from Dunedin to do the rounds with us, it was very calm, and we all soon warmed up going up and down the hill! We candled the rest of the eggs and only found 3 more infertile ones. That was 7 from 86 which is a fertility rate of over 90%.

spring glory

​In the afternoon, the sea was still like a mirror, so when several whales came by, I could see them off Shag Point. One was breaching and slapping the water with his tail. Awesome. He was later spotted again off Hampden beach.

The family at home

​Thursday was very awesome too, clear skies and bright colours. It was also the day that our webcam went live. Thank you to those of you who now follow our channel. You can find the live stream here
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu1cS8soDrbXoGM7zyZbi2g.
On Friday I went down to Dunedin and picked up four eggs to foster in the colony. We are using all possible resources to save as many penguins as we can and by having them here, we can monitor them closely.

waiting patiently

​Murray, Elaine and Hiltrun came out yesterday and we did all the egg transfers to maximise our productivity here. The tiny eggs laid by 2-year-old females have gone to older experienced breeders. The 2-year-olds each have only one larger egg to raise so they will not be pushed beyond their capacity to cope. The exciting news is that we have our first pip!

The first of the cabbage trees in bloom

In no time at all we will be back to cute chick pixs.
Have a great week!
Rosalie