 Mr. 172 has persuaded a female to visit his nest box Hello friends and family The wet start to the week only produced 10mm of rain, but by Tuesday, it was nice again. Robbie came out in the morning and serviced the automatic traps. Many had run out of lure after 6 months, so it was very timely. In the afternoon, I picked up Jordan, a young Canadian who is doing a thesis on the impact of seasonality on the work we do. She is interviewing many throughout the penguin community so that is great.  Jordan wanted a photo On Wednesday we went to Oamaru as I needed the stitches out of my ear, and took the opportunity to get the flu’ jab at the same time. We checked the reserves on Thursday – penguins at home here but none at Okahau. I took Jordan to the bus at lunchtime. It was lucky that she travelled then because an accident on the road just north of Hampden, closed the road for 7 hours. Both Elaine and Robbie were caught up in the delay. This is the second one in the last few weeks. The weather has turned very nice and I am enjoying working my way through the list of tasks at hand. I finished the deep clean for the Hugo wing on Thursday and have filled all the buckets with rocks to go to the Bluffs. It was a big blow to find Mrs. 87 dead on the beach on Saturday morning. She has been an excellent mum, raising 2 chicks for the last 2 seasons and she was only 6 1/2 years old. The last autopsy showed Mr 171 died of Pasteurella, so I hope that is not the case with her.  Always time for a chat on the way to sea. Have a great week! Rosalie   Mr. 26 is in charge Hello friends and family This week was off to a cold, wet start so we dodged showers until Wednesday when the cold won out, and I stayed inside to prepare the DOC community fund application. I spent the day cold because I think April is far too early for thermals – the weather is re-inventing itself!  Yes, we have snow on the hills On Tuesday we released the last remaining penguin – the juvenile picked up on Moeraki beach, and of course, got in another. It is Mrs. 165 who had a sore eyelid, so she is back with us until that heals.  Our early Kowhai has excelled itself On Wednesday I sat down to begin the process of applying for the DOC community fund. I would much rather clean up penguin poop, but I can’t complain about the lack of DOC financial support if I don’t apply. I have done so for no good outcome since the system started. Sigh!  not happy about the seal pup on the roof of their nestbox Murray and Robbie came out on Thursday morning and we did the rounds. There were a few penguins at home which was great to see. On Friday I got a call about a little penguin on Waianakarua Beach. That got me out of the place and I enjoyed the drive. The penguin was dead, so beyond my skill set.  Somehow, old rotten boxes still have an appeal Yesterday I walked the coast in very pleasant conditions, and the laundry was dry by lunchtime! Have a great week! Rosalie   basking in the sun The week began with nice weather and so Dan and I, set to and made up 100 wire circles to put around small trees as rabbit protection. Most of these will go to the Bluffs to protect Pohutukawa, but the rest will replace plastic tree protectors at Okahau. Two of the penguins in care decided that they had had enough, so we released them.  These penguins are 1 m up and wanting to leave care Jan and Robbie arrived on Tuesday and the main task was to do some maintenance on the traps. We got halfway round Katiki. There are a lot of traps!  The pups have moved into the forest and are looking for mischief On Wednesday I went to a doctor’s appointment in Dunedin for some maintenance and then Dan and I went to the pizza place at St. Clairs for lunch. I dropped Dan off in town and he headed home while I came back to the lighthouse.  Daytime bunnies in our bunny plague Murray and Robbie came out on Thursday and Robbie did more trap maintenance while Murray and I did the rounds. Sadly, we found Mr. 171 dead in front of his nestbox. There was no sign of a cause and when I contacted Megan, 2 other penguins had died that day. Mr. 171 was in his 20th year. We did not have him in care through the moult.  on sunny autumn mornings, Red billed gulls gather on the beach in their hundreds Have a great week, Rosalie   Supervised by a Molymawk Hello friends and family Last Sunday, after feeding the penguins, I headed south and picked up Dan from the 4:15pm flight in Invercargill. We stayed the night at the Ascot lodge, and in the morning headed to Bluff. After exploring the local area, we got on the ferry to Rakiura, Stewart Island. The ferry landed in Oban and our hotel – the “South Seas Hotel” was just across the road. We dropped our bags and spent the rest of the day exploring the local area.  South Sea Hotel On Tuesday, we set off for Ulva Island, a predator free nature reserve. The tracks can be covered in 2 hours, but we took 5. Every time we stopped walking and sat quietly, we saw another species of native bird. It was magic.  A Stewart Island Black Robin Then it was back to the hotel for dinner and an early night. Wednesday was our day to leave the island, so we had until 3:30pm to explore in a different direction. It was glorious. We checked out a nature reserve with a predator proof fence to keep the deer and feral cats out and walked coastal trails. In the end, Dan walked 22km and I walked 20. We got on the ferry in a timely fashion and then drove home to the lighthouse, arriving shortly after 9pm. Jan, Robbie and Murray came out to do the rounds on Thursday morning. Mrs 111 had still not gone to sea. Jason was driving by, so he took her down to the Dunedin Wildlife hospital. Let’s hope they can find out what is wrong and help her recover.  Dead Man's cove on Stewart Island On Friday, the family arrived. We welcomed Paul, Jen, Olivia, Connor, Ken and Pamela. I served up wild pork on Friday night, and we went to the tavern for tea last night. They are all heading into Central Otago today.  Not a penguin Have a great week, Rosalie   Playtime in the forest Hello friends and family Happy Easter It was windy for the start of the week, which usually keeps me close to home. I have been releasing penguins and cleaning – rinse and repeat! The exception was on Monday morning when I collected a pre-moult juvenile Hoiho from the Moeraki Boulders beach.  Hiding under a bush Jenny from the Kaik had found it and called me – a very lucky penguin! It has an old injury on the shoulder, which may be why it is so late to moult. I could not find a micro-chip, but it does behave as if it is used to people. The team came out on Tuesday, and we did the rounds in the gale. Wednesday was my day at the Toptip for April, and the sun shone, the wind dropped and it was very pleasant.  penguins are very athletic More monitoring on Thursday, Robbie brought his chainsaws and cleared the path at Okahau. Dave came out for dinner on Friday night, bringing some delicious Blue Cod that was a real treat. It was back to cleaning penguin pens yesterday, with around 70 moulting penguins, the number of feathers would be over a million!  trying to look innocent Have a great week! Rosalie   New suits - full of importance Hello friends and family The week started with glorious weather – fine warm days with a light breeze and clear nights. I got motivated and released 7 penguins on Sunday which meant I could clean out one of our enclosures. I chose ‘Robbie’s rehab’ because we had had 3 incidents when penguins escaped from there. The other enclosures have heavy duty wire around them.  The Crested has been released to complete the moult in the wild The team came out on Tuesday and there were no needy penguins here or at Okahau – just one from the Bluffs that needs fish for a while. We were all feeling that we were over the main moulting time. Any more penguins we see that have not completed the moult will be coming into care because the days, when they can fish, are getting shorter. They need time when the moult is complete to get up to fishing speed again.  The seals seek shelter from the waves Wednesday was my turn at the Toptip and after a slow start, things got busy, and Elaine came over so I could go and get Mark and I a coffee. All good.  The Kakabeak is in bloom again On Thursday, the team came out and did the rounds while I hosted a visiting group of overseas students. We got a call from Henry at Oamaru Blue Penguins that there was a dead Hoiho on the beach south of the Moeraki Boulders, so I went and retrieved it. It was a failed fledgling with no micro-chip so I don’t know where it was from.  The wild water is full of sediment The wind and rain arrived at 11am on Thursday and stayed until Saturday morning. I released 5 more penguins on Saturday morning as they were ready. Murray came and took the Bluffs penguin home, so I am down to 15 penguins in care. The rain has returned! Have a great week! Rosalie   Moulting complete - winter holiday begins Hello friends and family Great weather to start the week. The team came out on Tuesday and reminded me how awesome they are. Before we did the rounds, we felt we knew which penguins would be at home and once again the penguins proved us wrong.  Garden abundance We picked up 2 penguins that have almost completed the moult but are too thin to be able to thermoregulate. We also picked up 2 penguins just going into the moult – both have minor injuries and were quite passive. Without great teamwork, some of these penguins would be missed and not survive.  way too thin At feeding time, they lined up with the rest of them for a feed – the first feed is always a small one as their tummies have been resting for a while.  Thursday was a rerun of Tuesday; except we picked up 6 penguins. Another pair that had gone into the moult at a good weight but had just sat around and were fading away. I am releasing at least 2 penguins each day but not making much headway! The weather has been very pleasant.  This person was down the point for over an hour  Someone broke our donation penguin trying to climb over the fence Have a great week! Rosalie   Mrs 18 looked good - not so, only 6.2kgs and doomed without help Hello friends and family Things have not quietened down yet. On Tuesday morning we picked up 11 penguins that were either underweight or marginal. The lightest was only 3.7 kgs, still at home and in trouble.  the 131 pair moulted in the wild We released 2 more that have completed the moult, so we are making progress. I went to Oamaru on Wednesday and had planned to take some awesome autumn photos to share, but was so spoiled for choice, I did not take any.  autumn has been warmer than summer The team came out on Thursday, and we rounded up the last of the breeders down the hill. I was mortified to find that they too were underweight – they took 5 weeks from their chicks fledging to coming in to moult, so I really thought they were all good – not so!  Mr 212 moulted alone. His partner needed help We brought in 7 and released another 2. The penguins that need help make themselves known in several ways. Some crow as they hear us approach, some start to run and others just plonk themselves down on our path. Some head for the bush and try to make their capture interesting.  All moulted - in holiday mode My goal now is to release at least 2 penguins that have completed the moult each day – slowly reducing the total of 38 down to single figures!  Checking out nest boxes for next season Today we have 34 penguins in care. Each day they get fed a total of 240, 15cm salmon smolt. Their appetite varies with their stage of the moult and their personalities. They are demand fed, between a minimum of 2 fish and a maximum of 16 per day. They are released when they have completed the moult. Have a great week! Rosalie  |
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