​Hello friends and family
The penguins keep rolling in. On Tuesday we picked up another 5. They are underweight or behaving strangely so with the risk of Malaria so high, we bring them in so at least they can get tested. The normal ones stay in the wild. On Tuesday the next shipment of salmon from NZ King Salmon arrived and the fish are just the right size for Yellow-eyed penguins so feeding is a breeze. When I try and feed them tiny fish, they look at me as if I am insulting them!

​On Wednesday I took the truck to town to get a puncture fixed. There is surely panic buying in Oamaru and the Supermarket had no flour of any kind. This is annoying as I normally only go to town once a fortnight so my supplies will run low by then!

​On Thursday we brought in 2 more penguins – both were taking 4 weeks and had not finished moulting. Their partners had been and gone and still they lingered! We also got the great news that the Council is going to supply the water for the penguin habitat for free. This is the result of the lobbying by Megan, one of our members, fighting for what is right – well done Meg!

Yesterday Elaine came out and tested the blood of the 7 new penguins in care. 3 had Malaria and 3 have an infection. Interesting blood! Hiltrun came up and released 2 Little penguins and Pablo! We now have 20 Yellow-eyed penguins in care and 5 Little ones. When it was time to go, Hiltrun had a puncture. Thank goodness for the AA – a tow truck came and took Hiltrun and her car home.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
Life continues to be busy at the lighthouse. On Sunday the Erect Crested penguin finally left and we wish him well. With live traps in place, and 2 juveniles moulting in the tent, I go to the Moeraki colony every day. On Sunday I walked there and found a penguin hiding under some tussock. This is strange behaviour for a start, and he had a partner that he abandoned. I suspect he will have Malaria.

​ The team came on Tuesday and picked up 5 adult penguins. They were all marginal. One was caught in Moulenebechia and one had slashed feet. They have all settled well. I went to town on Wednesday and got a watermelon – what a summer treat!

​On Thursday we found 3 more penguins needing help. It was a glorious day, so we went across to the island – no sign of little penguins – not even feathers to indicate moulting. We checked the traps and the penguins with great thoroughness. Al of this care comes to nothing if we miss the signs and on Friday, I found a dead penguin at the Moeraki Colony. It was Mr 127 so it was with great relief that we found Mrs 127 alive on Saturday – sure enough, she has Malaria.

It took Elaine most of yesterday to collect, prepare and read the slides for all the new birds. We are all busy and keeping up with the logistics is a priority.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
The week started off quietly – nice weather – chicks to feed in the middle of the day, so plenty of excuse to just amble along doing the small easy tasks that caught my attention. 

​The team came out on Tuesday and it was great that they too saw lots of fat moulters and no needy penguins. We opened the hatch for the chicks and released 6 penguins from hospital that were also fat and happy. Wednesday was my Toptip day and when I went to feed any lingering chicks, there were none – they had all fledged! There is now only the young one left here in care for another few weeks.

​On Thursday we found 2 of our breeding females from the Moeraki colony needing a helping hand and brought them in. Chris from the Dunedin DOC office came for a visit in the afternoon and was able to meet Nola and Patrick while he was here.

​On Friday, I released another 2 moulted juveniles and the water tank arrived. It was very windy, and the delivery man was very impressive with his ability to manage a large, light object in high wind. It is now secure and ready for water. 

Yesterday Elaine and Hiltrun came out and we picked up 2 more penguins. One had Malaria and the other was underweight.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
The weeks certainly fly by when I am so busy! I can’t remember what happened on Sunday, but on Monday we were visited by the Genome department of Otago University. There is such a wealth of knowledge about bird diseases and other interesting stuff, their visit was such a pleasure! 

​It was a working bee day on Tuesday and Tracey, Jules and Robbie came. We brought in a penguin which we found later had Malaria and dosed the soft-release chicks with a Malaria prophylactic. This set us up for Wednesday when Stephen from the ODT came and we opened the soft release pens for 25 of the chicks https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/yellow-eyed-penguins-ready-wild. By the next morning, there were only 3 left! The rest had fledged, and we wish them well!

​We released a White flippered penguin and the Erect crested on Thursday and took all but the very last chick to soft release.  We re-sited the tent for the next moulting pair and did the rounds, not finding any penguins of concern, but Elaine arrived with one from Katiki Beach in the afternoon. In between, I have done some beach rescues of little penguins – there are many dying along this coast right now. One that I picked up I sent to the Wild-life hospital and it died from its dog bite wounds.

Hiltrun and Elaine came out yesterday and we did the rounds, admiring fat moulters as we went, and trying to do an audit of our breeding pairs as they all come home to moult.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
The week got off to a quiet start, feeding and cleaning were the main tasks. On Monday I got a call out to a penguin at the Boulders. It was a starving Fiordland Crested and it had almost been forced back to sea by people taking photos of it, way too close. We had a new volunteer start on Tuesday – Tracey who has come out from Palmerston and did the rounds with us. We moved the penguin tent and were pleased to see that the occupants were very comfortable inside it – one even ran back to it when we arrived!

​On Wednesday I celebrated my 71st birthday by transferring 800 kg of fish to the freezers – happiness is lots of fish! The chicks in the soft release pen all fledged.

Thursday was the day for the big transfer of chicks to soft release. We took all the chicks that were old enough, and that came to 28. Robbie, Ann, Jules and I weighed, measured and carried them to the pens. The gender balance was even. The weights ranged from 5.7 Kg to 6.6 Kg. What a privilege it has been to work with them.
Thomas and Richard came up on Friday to put a tracker on the next Fiordland Crested penguin – called Okahau. You can follow the penguins here - http://www.tawaki-project.org/penguinrescue
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​I was saved big embarrassment when Jules identified the other penguin that was ready to go as a Snares Crested penguin. – We had 6 species at once! Elaine came and did the cleanout of the enclosures. The aviary is now empty of chicks and we gave it a deep clean, ready for adults or juveniles.

Yesterday it rained – proper rain in the morning so when Elaine came, we did the bloods in the hospital out of the weather. Stewart came with me to feed the chicks in soft release and just as we were on the way home, the sky cleared so I could hang all the wet gear outside.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
The disastrous start to the week finally righted itself when the salmon smolt arrived. We used over 180 Kgs of borrowed fish to tide us over and had run out when the truck arrived. I ordered more on Wednesday!

​By Wednesday we had 76 penguins in care; 48 Yellow-eyed penguin chicks, 13 Juveniles and 8 adults. They were kept company by 3 Fiordland Crested, 1 Erect Crested, a Little Penguin and 2 White Flippered penguins.

​On Thursday we began the great emigration. 11 chicks were taken to soft release. Their heads were measured, and we took 5 girls and 5 boys to soft release and one with a head measurement in the middle. These were the oldest chicks. They will stay there for a week being fed once a day; the door will be opened, and they will fledge off into the ocean for several months. What a milestone! It was a busy day. We had the Hui in the morning and then took blood from 5 penguins that Elaine tested. Jan and Anne did the trap rounds, catching 3 predators and rebaiting the traps at the Moeraki colony. They rescued 3 penguins, one with foot injuries and 2 with feather damage. 

​We did the rounds again on Saturday and found 3 large penguins that were left to moult in the wild and one underweight juvenile. The chicks have settled into the soft release pen and are easy to feed. (so far!) Our trial of the portable soft release pen has been a great success and so we will be able to put chicks in there next week. We do still have 76 penguins in care as the first crested has been released.

Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friend and family.
Monday was another red-letter day as we welcomed sponsorship from L J Hooker, Oamaru and an Erect Crested Penguin, a White-flippered fledgling and Amy from Kelly Tarlton’s in Auckland. Amy works with penguins at Kelly’s and has come down here in her holidays to work with wild penguins. She has much to share and we are so happy to have her helping us for this week.

​It was also special because we got a phone call from DOC in Dunedin offering help and support. Our decision to bring in the chicks was questioned which is exactly as it should be. We did not take the decision lightly and welcome debate. How else can we all learn! On Tuesday the trapped ferret count was up to 11. Case closed.

​The rest of the week was very busy, with 5 penguins coming in on Thursday and no fish delivery on Friday. I had waited 8 days already for more fish and had to ask Penguin Place, once again to help tide us over. Thank goodness for their support and generosity. They provided us with 150kg of penguin fish which will hopefully see us through until the salmon smooth arrives.

​Needless to say, by yesterday I was in a right tizzy! So much so, I managed to flood the house by leaving the tap on in the bath where I was trying to defrost fish – all the while a gale was blowing!
The team stepped up in great style and all penguins are fed and content. I will have to wear my crocs up the hall for a few days.

Have a great week!
Rosalie
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​Hello friends and family
Last Sunday was another glorious hot day and I took Daniel to the bus stop after lunch. He was a great help and left with the list of jobs back to a manageable size! On Monday morning Michelle and Charlie did their last feed before their holiday. They have been a great help, and fun as well. Anne joined our working bee on Tuesday, and we showed her the way we do beach searching and hope she will keep an eye on the Moeraki beaches.

​I went to town on Wednesday and noticed how dry North Otago was looking. On Wednesday night we got 7 mm of rain and I swear the place greened up a bit. It meant the penguins did not need a clean on Thursday morning so Jan, Robbie, Anne and I were able to get onto the rounds and then start on the upgrade of the soft release pens. We found 3 more trapped ferrets and picked up 3 underweight adult YEPs with feather damage.

​During the week we got the results of our last round of blood tests back and the Fiordland Crested penguin has a blood infection called Leucocytozoon. This is transmitted by sandflies. After consultation with Ralph, the international vet expert, we are trialling a course of Malarone which has had some success in parrots. Most Fiordland Crested penguins have this disease and it is only of concern when they are stressed by moulting or starvation – our penguin has both.

Monday was a red-letter day – not only Gavin’s birthday, but the day I signed up for a new house on the Hampden section. It means that I will have to do some work there to knock the section into shape. It will be a wonderful home and I will rent it out for the foreseeable future. I have been surprized at how quickly Genius Homes have got on with the job – the permit is already lodged with the Council and I can follow progress through an online app.
Elaine came out yesterday and we did the rounds, picking up a juvenile heading into the moult. He was rescued as a chick from the Catlins and has survived!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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