Sunday 5th August 2018

A penguin having a home day.

​Hello friends and family
I had a quiet start to the week – walking the coast and checking for penguin sign on Sunday and then to Oamaru on Monday to pick up some tree protectors.

Our Kaka-beak blooming in the reserve

​Jan and Robbie came on Tuesday and we spent the morning trimming trees in the reserve and in the afternoon walked the coast to check for standing water and plan how we are going to manage the mosquito larvae when they arrive. We found penguin sign at 4 new nest boxes which was so great and then admired the Spotted Shag nests built in places that they have avoided for the last few seasons. It was very enjoyable.

Two little penguins in their modest burrow.

​Wednesday was a quiet one and then on Thursday Jan, Robbie and I planted trees at the Moeraki colony firstly down a cliff and then in the paddock. Jan and I went to the island in the afternoon and saw lots of little penguin pairs at home and did some repairs to a flooded tunnel.

A snoozing pup and penguin

Yesterday was the annual penguin symposium at Otago University. The programme began with a representative from the new Yellow-eyed Penguin recovery group.  He outlined the two – tiered management structure that they have now put in place – a governing body and a technical group. Most of these people are new to the YEP world. The workers are called “stake holders”. I would have thought that every New Zealander was a stake holder – actually every person on the planet!
Hiltrun presented our annual report very professionally.
In the afternoon a student presented a paper that had number crunched the penguin data base and it shows that all the Yellow-eyed penguins from Stewart Island north are going extinct this century except for the ones here on the Moeraki Peninsula. We are holding our own. Validation but not celebration!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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