Hello friends and family
What a great week this has been! On Monday I took the Varroa strips out of the beehives and so now they are sorted until spring. The team came on Tuesday and we planted another house.
I was on the Toptip on Wednesday morning and it was busy for the whole 3 hours. I was pleased to come home and make cheese and relax a bit.  It was great to see our penguin tracking data go up on the Movebank website to be shared with us all. https://www.movebank.org/cms/webapp?gwt_fragment=page=search_map.

​On Thursday I set off to the Oamaru penguin symposium, traveling with Jan and Robbie. 10 members of Penguin Rescue came along. I gave a presentation about our procedures here. We went to the Little penguin show after the last talk, or the pub, or some even went to both. We enjoyed a delicious conference dinner.

​Hiltrun spoke on Friday about double marking of Little penguins at Pilot’s beach. My episode of the rabbit story went to air on Friday morning https://vimeo.com/545815722. It resulted in a bit of interest and so I did a phone interview with Radio NZ in the afternoon. After the symposium, I picked up the new blinds for the office. A lovely couple from Wellington came out to see the penguins and so I did an evening visit, which I seldom do. I saw all of our resident penguins where we went, plus a few more, including 2 juveniles.

On Saturday I made such a botch up of hanging the first office blind, I will get help for the other one. The timber in the window frames is so old and hard, I can’t get a screw to go into it.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
After a lazy Sunday I decided on Monday, to shift some penguin houses to new places as they had not been used recently in their current location. The first one had a penguin in it! The next one had a new nest bowl and the 3rd one was anchored to the ground and not going to be moved without mechanical help! I was left with domestic chores to fill up the day.

​On Tuesday Robbie and I relocated a penguin box and the birds had moved in by Thursday. Robbie released a penguin at the Bluffs in the afternoon. On Thursday, the team was back to strength, so Robbie and Jan built penguin houses that we planted in the afternoon. Gareth from the council came to learn what we do and is very supportive of our conservation work.

​Hiltrun, Trii and Elaine came on Saturday. The weather was glorious, and it was warmer outside than in. Having our morning coffee outside was a reminder of Covid days last year.

​Hello friends and family
Happy birthday Dot!
Well, it has been a busy week. The weekday team was down to Robbie and I, so we continued with the list of jobs. This involved chain sawing, banging in warratahs, planting a new house and protecting another 40 trees. We also trapped 3 ferrets and a rat.

​On Wednesday I did the Toptip in the morning and then went into Oamaru for the ‘flu jab in the afternoon. The plumbers and electricians have finished at the house so it has been a busy site.

​On Thursday, we planted a new penguin box and banged in about 40 warratahs. This means that the swamp trees have now all been protected.
The big news is that we have had at least 4 juvenile YEPs return. This is very early – I have seen them back in May before, but it is still only April. The early return of juveniles is a good sign for the coming season.

​Elaine and Hiltrun came on Saturday and so we spent the time working out what winter maintenance we need to do. All good!

Just as Hiltrun left, we had a thunderstorm that delivered 18mm of hail. No watering needed for a few days!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
Hiltrun came up on Sunday which was a much nicer day than Saturday and we found that most penguins were out fishing. Later in the day, we got a Cape Petrel that was found on Shag Point road. It probably got disoriented by car headlights, so we kept it until Tuesday morning when we released it in the bay. I have seen several Flocks of Titi as they head north to Siberia. They will have been very pleased with the sou’wester that came up on Tuesday and delivered 25 mm of rain – the drought is broken!

​The team came out on Tuesday and began the task of tidying up some of the branches blown over in the wind last week.  We need to get dying Ngaio out of reach of the sheep as it is poisonous. On Wednesday I made cheese and preserved fruit.

​Lindsey and Margie came out on Thursday morning and we did the rounds, released two juvenile penguins and carted some tree circles. In the afternoon, I went to Hampden to see the unloading of my house. After it was safely placed on the foundations, I got to go inside, and I am very pleased with it. It looks good on the site and the view is magical.

On Friday, Lindsey, Margie, and I went to Penguin Place and then Boulder beach. Penguin Place was looking wonderful, and the trees had grown since I was last there. They had 25 penguins in care so are still quite busy. Boulder Beach involves a very long walk, and we were blessed with some decent rain while we were there! I had my coat but got wet feet – should have worn my gumboots!
Yesterday was sunny again and we worked at the north end of the reserve.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
Last Sunday we had hurricane force winds blow through for several hours. All of the pears were blown off the tree. This also resulted in leaves and twigs strewn through the reserves with some broken tree branches. Hiltrun came up and managed to mow despite the wind.

​The team came on Tuesday and did the rounds. We emptied the chest freezer and Robbie cut another pile of circles so we could clip them together. Wednesday was my Toptip day, and very enjoyable to catch up with the locals. I visited the Hampden section and work has finally begun on my house. The site has been levelled and the access for the house prepared.

​On Thursday I joined the team to do the rounds and we looked at what is needed to bring the nest boxes up to scratch for the next breeding season. The penguins have begun building nest bowls, so we need to get a hurry on! Wherever tiny chicks died we will redesign the entrance to the nest to give the breeders more privacy. We want it so that the penguins cannot see other penguins walking past when they are sitting on their eggs. We also picked up an injured penguin from the Catlins and it is now in care.

​I went to Oamaru on Friday and enjoyed the autumn display along the way. It is still very dry here and the farmer has begun feeding out to the sheep.
Yesterday we got 3 mm of rain and that stopped the dust for a few hours!

Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
Autumn has treated us kindly and all the jobs waiting for bad weather are still waiting. I am continuing to enjoy an excellent recovery and am now walking each day to keep up my spirits.

​We have only a handful of penguins in care – underweight moulters and chicks that have failed to fledge. The chicks have a fungal throat infection that makes swallowing painful. We treat that, fatten them up and then they try to fledge again.

​Lindsey and Robbie did the rounds on Tuesday and only a few penguins have yet to complete the moult. On Wednesday I clipped some tree circles together and it felt good to be doing something productive again. I also preserved some fruit.

By Thursday there was only a couple of penguins at home so in the afternoon we started protecting some small trees that had survived the sheep and the drought. Robbie got us 80 more warratahs so we will be ready for the winter planting, as soon as it rains.
Happy Easter and have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
Two weeks ago, I headed up to Christchurch and picked daughter Maria, up from the airport. We went to our motel across the road from the Riccarton Mall and settled in. The next morning, I was admitted to hospital for some serious maintenance. I was able to go back to the motel the next day and on Thursday, Maria drove me home. While I was away, the team rescued 2 needy penguins and cared for the 3 that were already in care.

​I am on light duties for the near future which is character building! Maria was doing the hard graft and I am laying about, doing my best to rest.

​Robbie and Jan came out on Tuesday to do the rounds and released Mr 83 to complete the moult at his nest site. We were joined by Lindsey on Thursday and the team rescued 3 underweight moulters.

Hiltrun, Trii and Elaine came out yesterday and did the honours, not finding any penguins in need of help but checking the reserves carefully so no penguin gets missed.
 
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
On Tuesday we released the Royal penguin. The place seems quiet without him. He would always call whenever I walked past and lived up to his reputation for being a very social species. Megan and Oscar were up here to see him go. He took about 20 minutes to orient himself, and then he was off! We also saw most of our breeding pairs moulting and a Dusky dolphin with her calf.

​On Thursday we found flipper bird home again, hopefully to begin the moult. I had big misgivings about letting her go after her injury last month, but she was unhappy in care and it has all worked out well. 

​We also picked up the breeding pair from Katiki Beach because they were in an exposed spot. Just as well because she was underweight, and he was marginal. It turns out that she is a 2-year-old from the Moeraki colony which explains why her chicks were struggling as is she. Without our help, the whole family would have died. Both of them have been in care before so know how to eat nicely so it will be very low stress for them to see out the moult here.

Elaine came out on Saturday and we took their bloods. Both looked good! We let Mrs 47 go to complete the moult at her nest and the skinny juvenile from last week is now a free bird at the Moeraki colony. We opened the door of the soft release pen for the last of the 60 chicks to go. We are very proud of our efforts with the chicks this season.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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