​Hello friends and family
The miserable weather continued onto Tuesday. I was spending time indoors but everything in the garden was growing – I had to cut the lawns on Tuesday afternoon – this is becoming a habit! The penguins are now very settled. On Tuesday we checked them for ticks and found none. They are focused on incubation and as they are all in nest boxes, the wet weather does no harm. 

​Wednesday was a hint of summer – glorious. I did spring cleaning with good cheer and in the afternoon, I planted the carrots and beetroot. After the rounds on Thursday, Robbie and I planted another 8 cabbage trees and so slowly but surely, the tree pen here is emptying out. It is still very dry but rain is forecast.

​The rain arrived on Friday night and Saturday was glorious. I did the rounds in the morning and went to the working bee at the top tip in the afternoon. The unusual activity of the week was going to Kaik 2 and photographing the Leopard Seal that was beached there. They are now considered residents of New Zealand – they can’t be living off penguins here – there are not enough of them!

Have a great week!
Rosalie
​

​Hello friends and family
We have our numbers for the new season – 20 nests here at Katiki and 17 at the Moeraki Colony.
Of the 20 females here, 14 were rehabilitated last season and 6 made it independently. This is down 3 nests from last year. One female moved to the Moeraki Colony, one died, and one has gone missing – presumed dead. There were no new recruits here.
At the Moeraki colony, 10 were rehabilitated including 3 new recruits, one yet to lay and 1 who disappeared, presumed dead. 9 made it independently and 3 disappeared, presumed dead. 17 is one down from last year.

​We have finally had some significant spring rain. This meant juggling our penguin work to fit in with the weather. Tuesday and Thursday were busy with monitoring and other jobs on the list. There were 6 of us here on Thursday dodging showers.

​I even went out twice in the evenings this week – once to a show in Hampden and once to dinner in Moeraki. My tomato plants are now in the hothouse as are my seeds for the garden. The lawn is growing so fast, I even scared away a pair of ducks enjoying some spring growth.

A new fence has been built out the front and currently the truck is parked in the carpark as the gateway has wet concrete. Wet day – empty shed – maybe it is time to sort out bee boxes!
Have a great week
Rosalie
​

​Hello friends and family
Gavin was with me for the first half of the week and the weather forecast was dicey, so we made the call to do our cycling adventure on Sunday. Robbie joined us and lent me a very nice ebike. We set off inland and left Gavin’s motor home on the side of a country road north of Omarama. We then piled into Robbie’s car and drove to the canal at the back of Twizel.

​We set off on the bikes at around 11 am and followed a sealed road to Lake Ohau. That was great as I had a chance to get used to the ebike on the easy surface. We then left the road and biked around Lake Ohau on the Alps to Ocean trail. I had never been there before, and it was magnificent. The weather did not disappoint either. The next stage was a 400 m climb over 10 kms which was where the ebike came into its own. This was followed by a very steep and rough decent, back to the motor home. We cycled 54 kms and I loved every minute of it. 

​On Monday the expected cold snap kept us indoors and on Tuesday, our working bee day, we did the rounds, Gavin and Robbie installed the first fan for the enclosures and we planted 50 Swamp Ribbon-woods donated by the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust (Thank you) at the Moeraki Colony.

​On Wednesday we had an easy day and Gavin left after lunch to have dinner with Hamish in Christchurch. Thursday was working bee day and we did the monitoring rounds in a bitterly cold sou’wester, but Friday was balmy and so Jan and I did the coast walk. It was very quiet, but we did see 2 juveniles.

Yesterday we found 3 new nests which brings our total to 34.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
​

​Hello friends and family.
On Monday the team attended the pre-season meeting in Dunedin at the DOC office. It is always great to catch up with the other penguin people and to hear that DOC will be looking into other treatments for Diphtheria. The new one will require sub-cutaneous injections so we will be getting training before November.

​We did the rounds on Tuesday and found 9 single eggs here and 3 at the Moeraki colony. We are under way! By Thursday we had 14 nests here and 7 at the Moeraki colony. Bronwyn joined us for the rounds on Thursday and then, after lunch I headed south to spend 2 nights in Dunedin with the family.

​The occasion was my investiture into the New Zealand Order of Merit, and it was an awesome event. It was held in Larnach Castle and conducted by Dame Patsy Reddy the Governor-General. The ceremony was orchestrated by experts and all went off without a hitch. A very classy event indeed!

Hiltrun and Elaine did the rounds on Saturday and found 15 nests here and 13 at the Moeraki colony.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
​

​Hello friends and family
This week it was time for me to put the Varroa strips into the beehives. Most of the hives were strong, but the apiary south of here was dead. This is the apiary that was blocked off from access by a field of corn. When it came time to harvest, the corn was higher than my truck, so I left it unharvested and untreated for Varroa – wrong thing to do. I have removed the honey which was being robbed by other bees and will see if it attracts a swarm this spring. If not, I may close it down.

​It was great having the three of us for the working bees on Tuesday and Thursday. Yet more Cabbage trees are now protected. We will not do anymore planting until we get significant rain. We visited the island and there are no Little Penguins there. The colony survived there for the last 30 years but now it has failed. I suspect Malaria is the cause.

The big day for us this week was Saturday. Hiltrun came up and we did the rounds together in the morning – 2 eggs here at Katiki!  The new season has begun. In the afternoon we went to the Moeraki hall and held the inaugural meeting of Penguin Rescue Incorporated Society. We soon will have a legal entity that can enter into contracts with others to help save penguins! I feel hopeful for the future.

Have a great week!
Rosalie
​

​Hello friends and family
It was a cold start to the week this week. I was able to complete the accounts for our Charities report without feeling that I should be doing something else. Robbie came out on Tuesday and we were joined by Ralph from Brazil. He is a penguin expert, and a Malaria expert, so it was great to talk with him as we did the monitoring round. He said that our methods fit in well with best practice around the world.

​I was on Top-tip duty this week – covering for Jan who is now back home from Alaska. It was sunny and windy – a pattern repeated on Thursday. As it was just me, I walked the coast and was pleased to see penguin sign in 4 bays between the colonies.

This Friday (20th) consultation about the future of Yellow-eyed penguins closes. You will find the consultation documents here https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/penguins/yellow-eyed-penguin-hoiho/a-strategy-to-support-the-health-of-hoiho.
Please have your say. It seems futile responding to all these consultation processes, but responses are counted and do make a difference.

​The draft Management plan for Katiki Point is also now available for public consultation. Your can view it here http://moerakirunanga.nz/news/news.htm and make a submission.
On Saturday 21st September we will hold our inaugural meeting of Penguin Rescue Inc Soc. It will be in the Coronation Hall at Moeraki at 3:00 pm. The agenda will include apologies, presentation of the annual report, signing the register, election of the committee, general business. Please come if you can!

Have a great week!
Rosalie
​

​Hello friends and family
The week began with clear skies, little wind and warm days. It was a case of shedding layers until early evening and then putting them back on again. I worked around the section on Sunday and went to town on Monday. 

​Robbie and I did the rounds and there were a lot more penguins at home, so we were able to beep them and start our season’s records. We also delivered trees to plant – believing that we would get the promised rain, but by Wednesday I was watering the plants on hold here. Eventually we will be able to begin our season’s planting.

​It was also the start of lambing on the farm. What a delight to see them frolicking for the first time. On Wednesday I did my stint at the Toptip. There was a traffic jam at 9:00 am but it was quiet after that. We got the trees planted on Thursday, but they needed watering.

Hiltrun came up on Saturday and we set out to do the monitoring and came across 2 cyclists on the Pa site. Things improved after that and we saw a lot of male penguins at home in their nests – it won’t be long now! The highlight was seeing 4 juveniles on the landing at the Moeraki colony, just hanging out with a couple of adults.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
​

​Hello friends and family
The 10th international penguin conference continued through until Wednesday afternoon. The major themes centred around the oceans; are there enough fish? Will climate change wipe penguins out? What about overfishing? The overall care and concern for penguins was wonderful. It was estimated that 80% of the planet’s penguin researchers were gathered to share ideas and knowledge. 

​It was a very well organised conference with prompt changeovers, great food and timely breaks so the audience could focus. The whole thing was run on a smart phone app which saved a lot of paper! We had attendees visit here to see penguins before heading to Fiordland to see crested penguins. A train load went to Oamaru to see the little penguins there.

​I did the rounds on my own on Thursday as Robbie has a new grand-daughter and Jan is still in Alaska. The penguin boys are staying home and beginning to build nests. What a treat to see Mr 27 hard at work. He is one of our oldest penguins and has arthritis in his left foot. We treated him for Malaria and helped him through the moult – he has survived.

The weather has been so mild that I have had to mow the lawns and my mind is turning to the spring planting of the vege garden.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
​