My plan to have a quiet day last Sunday was a failure! The morning round down the hill produced 4 penguin casts and a stranded juvenile with a sore throat – I now have 4 in care.
"I must hurry and find a wife!"
​Wednesday was my day at the Top tip shop. Karsten, a volunteer from Germany arrived in the evening, in very stormy weather.
​The weather settled by the afternoon and was glorious through until yesterday. This gave us a chance to get some more of the fencing done at Okahau point. We now have 12 circles, 11 with all the fencing in place, ready to be tensioned. The other one is in a sheep free area so will not need an outer fence.
Spotted shags in full breeding plumage.
​We also managed to fit in trapping several cats and a rat. Reporting poachers and dealing with out of control dogs – one lady brought 3 unrestrained dogs out with her when she wanted to show her children the penguins!
Yesterday I flew to Wellington for a WReNNZ meeting. I am now the only mainlander on the committee which means that I have to make a bigger effort. I was nervous about going, given the awful weather forecast but travelled safely and got home only an hour late!
We have achieved a lot this week. Daniel and I focused on building new enclosures for penguins and Chris built the houses and pruned trees to allow other, slower growing species to survive.
​The weather was kind to us until Thursday lunchtime when the wind came up and we had a few showers. Hiltrun arrived later in the day and bought new batteries for the transponder reader so we were able to identify the 2 new juvenile penguins in care. Neither have been in care before and they are both very thin. They have settled well and are eating from the hand.
​Winter monitoring rounds involves checking for stranded penguins, the traps, the trail cameras and checking for penguin vomits that contain the remains of fish bones. Chris uses these to identify the penguin’s diet. It can be very time consuming but is very worthwhile.
​With rough seas on Friday, a lot of penguins stayed home for the day. It was nice to see them in pairs at their nest sites, preening or sleeping. The shags also are claiming nest sites and building nests.
Just having a day off.
On Saturday afternoon Daniel, Chris and Hiltrun all went home after a week of wonderful progress with creating penguin habitat. Thank you all so much – the penguins are very lucky!
I have enjoyed another busy week. It started with a visit to Oamaru on Monday to see the dental hygienist and so I got the groceries at the same time. A monitoring round of both reserves filled out the day and I decided that on Tuesday I would not do the rounds.
​This freed up some time to cut another hedge, cut 100 wire hooks to hold the rabbit protectors in place and to prepare water bottles for the trees when we plant them. I was very pleased with my efforts.
​On Wednesday I did the messages in Hampden and picked up the post-hole borer, kindly donated by Hiltrun’s dad. This will hopefully make the tree planting a lot easier! Another hedge was trimmed and the timber for 8 new penguin houses arrived.
I also found out that our neighbouring Oamaru penguin rehabbers will no longer be saving penguins. This is another blow for the Yellow-eyed penguins as the rehabbers regularly searched the beaches around Cape Wanbrow which is the next headland north of here. What it means for the penguins is that if they strand on the headland in future they will not be found. Very sad.
Kathryn the vet came on Thursday to say goodbye as she returns to Aussie. She made a generous donation to help us with our work – thank you Kat and all the best for the future.
Hi ho, hi ho, its off to work we go..
​Daniel arrived yesterday and Chris is staying for the week. We have started our big winter project – building 12 new nest sites, courtesy of Speight's Brewery – thank you so much!
The first 2 nest circles underway.
I am penguin free! On Monday I opened the gate and released the last of the penguins in care. By Tuesday they had gone off to catch their own fish which is excellent. I am now in full swing with winter jobs. An important one is getting the predator traps up and running. I have a suite of 6 different kinds of traps, with the goal of being predator free by spring when the chicks are vulnerable.
The Spotted shags are showing breeding plumage.
Phil came on Monday afternoon, bringing traps, cages and most importantly, good advice. I took him to Okahau point so he could show me where to place traps and how to best set them. I will try to live up to the standard required!
Another winter job is to ensure that every penguin box is ready to hold a new family. I will make sure that all can be easily accessed and that they are secure against the weather, and on 3 sides – against predators. I have stewed up the last of the apples so now can start using the pile in the freezer.
A juvenile taking the day off fishing.
​Another winter job is to ensure that every penguin box is ready to hold a new family. I will make sure that all can be easily accessed and that they are secure against the weather, and on 3 sides – against predators. I have stewed up the last of the apples so now can start using the pile in the freezer.
Chris and Hiltrun came on Thursday night and we worked for 2 days in the reserves. Katiki Point is almost ready for the new season but Okahau point needs more work.