Hello everyone,
sorry for lack of updates, it has been extremely busy working on penguins recently but it has been getting a little more back to normal now. All but our youngest chick are now in the creche enclosure and the majority of them have had their blood test done to sex them. Once we know what sex they all are we can give them their permanent bands and move them back to the main enclosure. Most of the adults have either finished or are in the middle of their moult and the ones that have moulted look fantastic and are really enjoying being able to swim around and enjoy the pool again. I'm also happy to say that the pool water is now almost back to normal so the clarity of the water is almost back to 100%. Next job in the coming weeks will be gradually removing and then cleaning the nests.....
Hi Eddie,
unfortunately in the last 10 days we have had quite a few problems with our filtration system and basically most of it had failed so the water isn't being filtered as well as it should be so the water has more algae in it and this affects the clarity. The contractors that maintain the system are working on it and just in the last day or so it has improved a little but because it was so bad it will take another week or so to clear and be back to normal. Luckily the penguins don't seem to be too affected by it so far. At this time of year most of the gentoos are moulting as so they don't spend as much time in the pool as they normally would so that's a blessing. We have had the water tested so we know exactly what's in it so we are aware of that. For the smaller creche enclosure we have a fresh mains water hose running so they can drink from this and in the main larger enclosure the waterfall coming from the big rock is fresh mains water also. It is very unsightly at the underwater windows so we apologise for this and hope it didn't enjoy your visit to the penguins too much.
Hi, I was at the Zoo on Wednesday and really enjoyed my day as I always do when I visit the Zoo. Why is there a kind of green film over the penguin underwater view. I usually like to sit there for a while watching them swimming around but now I can only see them if they are right up against the glass.
Eddie
Hi all, I see JaneG has commented that the cam was down for a couple of days. Could you please email publisher@rzss.org.uk if you notice that the cam is down? That will let us know there's a problem. Thank you!
Hi Jane,
there's only one little chick left on the nest site now (it's off view to the left) so yes that's pretty much the breeding season finished now. The birds that are still hanging around are moulting now and they like to stay around their nests while they moult so we leave the nests where they are till maybe september. They are so many penguins just now and they are eating really well. We are having to hand feed nearly 300kg of fish a day so we are kept very, very busy ( it took my 5 hours the other day just to prepare their fish - normally takes 2 and half hours!). This might mean we don't get the nest rings removed at the usual time but hopefully we will. It's a pretty smelly job as there is a couple of months of accumulated muck in each nest but it's satisfying to have it all clean too.
Spoke too soon - there they all are again LOL! Is that it now for the nesting season penguinkeeper and if so, do the nests get cleared away or left where they are?
Oops, pressed wrong button! I was just going to ask where is everyone?! I've been away for a week and now there are empty nests and only a handful of Penguins.
Hi Carol,
yes I heard about that today, it's very sad. The changing currents and temperatures in the sea can affect the food that the penguins are looking for and if they follow it but for some reason they don't reach it then that will really affect them as they often go to sea for days for food and can be very far from land. I don't know if that's what happened in this case but food availability is one of the major factors in the decline of some penguin populations unfortunately.
Hi to all,well they all look like they are in a Penguin trance,glad to hear we will have a few more chicks to see.Cant belive you have so much hand feeding every day todo,i see that we still have a few pebble stealers,nice to see them still doing it.
Hi Lea and Jane, the moult can vary between individuals but usually lasts 1-2 weeks in total. I have been off for a week and quite a few birds that had only just started moulting before I went off are now mostly finished. We are extremely busy right now and all run off our feet! Between the gentoos and kings we are feeding 200-250kg of fish a day (hand feeding), and we also have to feed all the chicks a fish with meds in it every day (no mean feat when you have to find them all too!). The two youngest chicks are so cute and it's really odd now to see 2 little ones when all the others are so big so I was giving them a little extra cuddle this morning. They will be a bit out of place when they are bigger and won't need to move them to the creche as it by the time they are ready to move all the older chicks will be back in the main enclosure and so it wouldn't be fair to have just three wee chicks in there. They can be the children that never leave home!!
Hi penguinkeeper. Thank you for the updates. I've just read that 530 dead penguins have been washed up on a beach in Sao Paulo in Brazil. They believe it could be starvation. Isn't it awful?
Thank Penguinkeeper for the updates with the chicks and the adults - I wondered why the adults were still hanging around the nests. I miss seeing the chicks but am enjoying seeing the little one near the front growing up.
Thanks Penguinkeeper, I'm glad the chicks are all doing well. How long approx. does the annual moult last? I reckon they're lucky it's just a moult to put up with after having babies - we get a lot more after effects!!!;-D
Hello everyone, a few more chicks have been moved to the creche now and they are doing fine. A lot of the adults around the nest site now are starting to go into their annual moult so a lot will just be sitting or lying around as they are pretty inactive when they are moulting. They can't go swimming and don't have much of an appetite so they basically sit out the moult and that's why some of them might look a bit fed up. They really don't miss their chicks at all by the time they move as they have been run ragged by them for quite a while and are glad of the break!!
well things are looking a lot more lively this morning with penguins everywhere again. I think I've just missed a weigh-in too. ALERT! Seagull on nest ring cover! Keeper scared it off Hooray!
Awww, the penguin enclosure looks really desolate now some of the chicks have been moved. Penguinkeeper, the programme about the Australian Little Penguins was very good, but sad in places. They are so cute! I hope the new chick does well.
JaneG
