Sunday 5th November 2023

evidence

​Hello friends and family.
We are now doing daily rounds and welcoming new chicks every day On Tuesday morning, Jan and Robbie went to collect the first pair for transporting to the wildlife hospital. One was gone. – what a blow. The other travelled well and will be well cared for until it weighs 300g and then it will go back to the nest.

Our penguin ambulance

​We have put a camera out to see if there is a predator around. Amy, our volunteer arrived in the evening and settled in. You can find out about her day job at the National aquarium by Googling it.

Oh so tiny

​Wednesday was the first real test of our systems. I had the Toptip in the morning and my stitches out in the afternoon. This left the team to get the job done. They welcomed 5 new chicks and delivered 2 safely to DWH. There was no sign of predators at the first nest and no more dead chicks. It was not to last. On Thursday, one wee chick died when it was picked up from RDS (respiratory distress syndrome) and another was so dire we took another trip to Dunedin to try and save it, but sadly, it died the next morning. A team rethink was called for, we agreed to transport the chicks at 2 days old and not wait for the 3rd day. This resulted in 18 chicks going down on Friday.

Our 2 kinds of cabbage trees in full bloom

​Saturday was quieter with 2 chicks going to DWH. Today we are taking 11 more chicks. These are rollercoaster days.

Amy and I heading home after dropping off chicks at DWH

Have a great week!
Rosalie