Sunday 6th February 2022

Enjoying the view

​Hello friends and family
It has been a warm and busy week. On Monday I got my COVID booster and on Tuesday morning the team was joined by Jim and Jordana as we work to have a closer relationship with the Dunedin Wildlife hospital. We found our third Juvenile moulter, at a good weight, in the reserve and had to scramble to catch the chicks as they venture further from the nest to weigh and treat them. The blood sampling is now completed, and we have found 3/40 chicks in the field with Malaria, so they have come in for treatment.

A moulting sealion on the landing

​On Wednesday Robbie and I had a meeting about possible funding models in Dunedin and traveling down in the new car is so nice I can’t resist going up the hills at 100kph after 14 years of 60 kph!

The abundance of the season

​Thursday was the first very wet day for doing the rounds. The car performed very well on the wet grass, so we were off to a good start! The challenge of finding, catching and treating the chicks was compounded by rain and wet, slippery ground. We nailed it! The trick was to plan a strategy for each chick that minimised movement and then move quickly. We got the 22 chicks sorted in about an hour. After that, the rain eased of course, but it was all good.

Penguins love to climb

​It rained all day on Friday and over the 3 days we got 46mm of gentle rain. By Saturday morning it had all soaked in and the reserves were mostly dry. Hiltrun and I did the rounds and noticed the chicks are getting closer to the sea. Next week the first of the hospital chicks will go to soft release.

Astelia in the forest with fruit

We now have 4 moulting juveniles! My best guess is that we will have around 30 all up.
Watch this space.
Have a great week!
Rosalie