Sunday 5th February 2023

summer dress

​Hello friends and family
Summer has been kind to us so far, but after the injured penguin last week, I felt the need to check the beaches every second day to make sure we did not have any more out there suffering. I was so pleased when walking past Tickle bay to see a moulter on the sand, under a bush. I was doubly surprised to see it had gone the next day, Tuesday, when we went to check it. 

Tawaki

​We searched everywhere to no avail. I felt the need to show the photo I had taken to prove my claim. Oh, what a surprize – it was a Tawaki! If I had checked when I took the photo, I would have checked it out then and there!

venturing onto the beach

​The heat wave arrived on Thursday and while I was away rescuing another Tawaki, the team found the missing one – from zero to two! By the end of the rounds, they were exhausted with the heat! 

anywhere is a good place to sleep

​They brought in two more chicks that were losing weight and took the first 4 fledglings to soft release. Still no signs of moulters or other struggling penguins. 

Dad was home because the chick would not eat - sore throat

​Yesterday I did the rounds in the morning. Because we are feeding chicks in soft release, I take the car to the Moeraki colony so that makes for an easy monitoring round, even though it is so hot!

The chick from Akaroa losing fluff

​In the afternoon, Elaine came and completed the blood staining so we could read the slides of all the chicks screened. We also took blood from the Tawaki – one has Leucocytozoonosis.

2 Tawaki

​Today I am off on an adventure, hosting friends off a cruise ship in Dunedin Harbour.

Looking great

Have a great week!
Rosalie