Sunday 19th March 2017

A breeding pair moulting together

​Hello friends and family
I began my week with a trip to town. It was too wet to do any work outside, so town it was! I had a long list so I took a photo of it and managed to get everything done. It continued to drizzle on and off on Tuesday so Wednesday was a big clean-up day. 

Two penguins giving a NZ sealion a wide birth

​On Wednesday night, I picked up our new volunteer, Anne Claire from the bus and she was straight into the deep end as Chris and Hiltrun arrived on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, we picked up 3 new penguins and a 4th on Saturday. They are all juveniles struggling with their first moult. Some are starting to lose their feathers too thin and others are emerging from under their old feathers like skeletons covered in skin. Most of them hatched here but we had to mark 3 who must have come from elsewhere. Some have been in care before and for others it is a new experience. We now have 11 penguins in care here and 4 in soft release.

Beautiful new feathers

​The weather has been glorious so that makes it all easier as washing dries quickly and even weeding is pleasant when the sun is shining. 

On top of everything!

Most of the juveniles and the non-breeding adults have finished their moult and are looking spectacular and the breeding pairs are arriving in the colony to moult together. Their breeding season begins with the spring equinox and the autumn equinox sees them moulting, ready for 6 months off!
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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