Sunday 9th December 2018

​Hello friends and family
The silly season is upon us – 3 social gatherings this week plus the Top tip – I feel like a gad about!

The Oyster catchers have laid their second egg at the top of a cliff!

​On Monday I visited the Hampden section for the first time in months. It was very wet under foot and some tree Lucerne had fallen over so I will need to go back and tie them up. Tuesday was my town day and I was able to have lunch with Raewyn and Jenny – what a treat. They are both well and enjoying life. 

A close look will reveal chicks of every size

​Top tip on Wednesday morning and after lunch I had an interview with a TV reporter for Q & A that will screen on Sunday night (tonight). It was about tourist impact. Eric and Barbara arrived after that and it was great to catch up with them and all their news. In the meantime, Jan and Trish had done the monitoring round and found one dead chick and 4 starving ones in two nests. I brought the 2 smallest chicks in each nest into care. This is mostly to relieve the stress on the mothers – one of whom had been injured and one who is only 2 years old. She is the only 2-year-old that was attempting to raise 2 chicks. Feeding at the nest is fine for the chick but stressful for the family.

I wont eat grass when I can eat trees.

​On Thursday, Eric and Barbara were on their way back to Christchurch and I attended the Moeraki ladies Christmas gathering at the Tavern. Jan came out on Friday and we found two chicks with large bald patches on their lower backs. It was something that we had not seen before and so yesterday we brought them into care – here they are protected from mosquitoes so it reduces their chance of getting Malaria. 

3 penguins where there should only be 2. Fighting will be the outcome.

Today I am off for a barbeque and tomorrow I go to Dunedin to receive a Kiwi Bank local hero award.
Busy times!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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