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18.57

(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)
Today Manaaki is 235 days old and weighed 9.2 kg at 11.30 am this morning. He had been fed by an unidentified parent behind the cam yesterday.
Nine chicks from the 33 have fledged, although that number could change at any minute in the strong winds today.
I am unable to confirm whether it was Q or DOO chick who fledged from UQ at 1345 hrs. Both have been in the area, and both were weighed this morning.
The youngest chick is now the heaviest today at 9.6 kg as all the older ones are losing weight in preparation for fledging.
As the current season is ending, we are also preparing for the beginning of the next season.
We expect that the first toroa will arrive within the next couple of weeks. We will notify everyone when that happens .
(GT0Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)
Yesterday 2 chicks were on the harbour after a failed fledge attempt. The harbour is sheltered compared to the open ocean and it can be difficult for them to get back into the air from the flat surface. There are also hazards, such as wharf structures and dogs on beaches where they may end up.
As Julia says, "Large albatross struggle to take off and stay in the air when they are near the shore.
They become tired and require rescue before they become exhausted and are at risk of drowning or injury if they are washed ashore."
If you notice a large albatross on land or in near the shore, please call the Department of Conservation's hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468)
Royal Albatross Centre staff saw one leave the headland and land on the water. It is so great to have more sets of eyes to spot the things that happen when we need to be on the other side of the hill.
A boat was necessary for the ranger team to collect the chicks and bring them back to the headland. They were
then supplementary fed and left to head out to the ocean in their own time.
A big shout out to Rachel from Port to Port on the amazing Sootychaser for giving us her afternoon to collect these 2 chicks. (They are not ones that have been on cam) It took a while to find them as they had moved around since first being spotted. They were approached carefully and slowly. A net on a long pole is used to scoop the chicks out of the water and onto the boat safely, where they are then crated up and bought back to the headland from nearby Weller's Rock.
As of late afternoon, 17 chicks have fledged, leaving 16 on the headland.
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)
MANAAKI HAS FLEDGED!
Manaaki on the Sharyn Broni)
As far as I can tell this pic below from the cam is the last known sighting of Manaaki. He is the one in the air heading out of frame to the right with UQ chick in the background.
He may have fledged at this time in the 50 knot northerlies, or he may have landed further down the hill spent the night there and fledged when the wind got up this morning.
Today, Manaaki is 240 days old, the average age for fledging. He has been a healthy weight most of the time he was a chick with only needing supplementary fed once.
His parents GLY and L may come in to feed over the next week or so as they do not know he has fledged. When they find that he is no longer here they will head across the Pacific Ocean to feed in the waters around South America. They will not breed during the 2023/24 season but with any luck come back in October 2023 to breed again for the 2024/25 season.
Manaaki will now have to get used to live on the ocean where he will spend over 85% of his life, mostly in international waters.
Plastic fragments were removed from Manaaki's nest yesterday after he had expelled a bolus.
Sadly, plastic pollution is becoming an increasing problem. Ideally, we should only be finding squid beaks like this, in the bolus that the chicks bring up in order to lose weight prior to fledging.
Tips on how you can help protect albatross are in this link: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nat...
So, the Royalcam season may not quite over yet with the possibility of GLY and L coming in. Upper Quarry chick is still around, and we will try to follow him while he is in view of the cam.
18 out of the 33 chicks have fledged with 15 remaining. We still have some that require supplementary feeding in the meantime.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for supporting the toroa at Pukekura. Asides from the DOC team we have Cornell Lab of Ornithology with behind-the-scenes Royalcam support, there is the Royal Albatross Centre providing extra pairs of hands and eyes when we need them. The Dunedin Wildlife Hospital provides us with high level care for any sick albatross and training for health monitoring techniques. Some of our fish for supplementary feeding comes from nearby Penquin Place. Port to Port provides support for rescuing failed fledglings (if you have been following that story both those chicks have successfully fledged now). Also a big thank you to all the viewers for spreading the word about albatross conservation and donating to the Give-a-little page, you are all stars!
Finally, we hope to have the IR night light back next season. On Tuesday the 19th of September there is a planned power outage scheduled for the day so maintenance work can be carried out in the area.