Sunday 3rd April 2022

The morning commute is now at gentlemen's hours

​Hello friends and family
The week began with a great start – Nicky from the “Fishwife” in Moeraki came out and donated $1000 towards Penguin Rescue. I was so grateful it made my day. I took the bloods down to Dunedin on Monday morning and in the afternoon, got half of the big hedge topped. On Tuesday Robbie, Murray and I picked up 3 more penguins in need of a helping hand. One of them had been in to moult for 2 weeks but not started yet. Then after everyone had gone home, the fish arrived. There were 3 good things about this fish – it fitted into the freezers, it is all free-flow and most of it is a good size for the penguins which makes feeding them so simple.

This month I celebrate helping penguins for 20 years

​On Wednesday after doing yard work at Hampden and picking peaches at Elaine's, I submitted our banding data to the national data base for the team for the season, so I felt good about that.
All went to custard on Thursday however, when we found 2 dead adults on the landings, trying to get home. We took bloods and they will go to Massey for autopsies. We suspect Malaria. We also released 2 penguins and brought in 2. So far, they all fit into 3 enclosures and so the aviary has remained closed all season. I did a count – we have had 60 Hoiho and 6 others in care so far this season.

beautiful new feathers

​On Friday I finished the big hedge. It was only 7 months from its last cut, but we have had amazing growth this season which has encouraged the lawns and the hedges. Sigh!.
Hiltrun came up yesterday and we only saw one penguin at home! She continued with the weed eater in the afternoon.

Have a great week!
Rosalie