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[Lani]

TFT got startled (and so did I!) when the Virgin Liner it blasted its horn while passing by.

[Lani]

Royal Albatross ~ LGK Returns But Misses LGL By 3 Hours! Feeds TF & Baby-sits TFT 💕 3.23.24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvt5xlJDKrE

Royal Albatross - Mar 24, 2024
Dad LGK comes back home the same day as LGL (TF's mom) - just missing her by 3 hours! What a shame - their reunions are few & far between now with both parents out full time foraging for food for their chick. LGK sits down like he likes to do upon arrival and then slowly make his way over to TF. LGK gives TF a feeding, rests again and then walks over to sit with TFT and baby-sit LGK is a gentle albie adult and TFT is happy to have the company. LGK comes back to be with TF and give a 2nd feeding.  Thank you for watching!

Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

[Lani]

Royal Albatross ~ TF Does A Beautiful Skycall For LGL! ♫ ♥ Mum Feeds & Preens Her Chick! 4.1.24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm4bFlJgDR4&t=2s

Mar 31, 2024 - Easter
LGL is back after being gone for 6 days at sea! When TF sees that Mum is home, he lets out a beautiful skycall greeting to her! We have not heard any skycalls lately from the Royalcam chick so this was music to our ears! LGL approaches the nest and she returns the greeting - giving a full adult head thrown back version to her chick ♥ LGL will give TF a nice feeding and he gets some good mouthfuls of the squid special of the day! LGL also did a light preening on TF which was sweet and affectionate of her. LGL gets up and walks out of view on her way back to the sea to forage for food again. Hopefully she will find success close to home this time! Thank you for watching!

Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk

[Lani]

Mom BOK with her Easter chick TFT 

[Lani]

Weigh Day for TF and TFT!

Top Flat chick is 70 days old and weighs 6 kg at 9.03am today. Last week’s weight was 5.6kg. The top weight today was 6.7 kg.



Top Flat Track chick is 62 days old and weighs 4.9 kg at 9.05am today. Last week’s weight was 4.6kg.



Both chicks had feeds from parents yesterday. Parents need all the time they can get to find enough food for their fast-growing chicks.

The image below shows the GPS track of LGL when she raised Tiaki* in 2021. Albatross do not require much energy to fly as they use the wind currents. What they do need is a very good sense of smell to locate their food and to be able to fly vast distances. They will rest on the surface of the ocean and can fly 1000 km in a day. The speed an albatross flies depends on the wind speed. One of the earliest records of albatross flight speeds was when an albatross passed a helicopter travelling at 115 km/hr.

[Lani]

Mom BOK visits and feeds chick TFT 

[Lani]

Last night: the chicks were working on their nests... looking quite close here. TFT was really moving around.

[Lani]

Royal Albatross cam - 4/7 
It's the weekend and party time at Top Flat with the young adolescents, yesterday. Both Moms, LGL and BOK, were in, too.
Also New Zealand Daylight Saving ended last night. At 3am the clock switched to 2am

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1776735204058800448

[Lani]

Royal Albatross cam -

Apr 9, 2024 #birdcams #albatross #nowplaying
Watch LGK—the adult male from the Top Track nest site—wander into frame and begin feeding his lumbering, down-covered chick. This is LGK's first visit to the nest in more than 2 weeks! Adult Northern Royal Albatrosses can travel vast distances over the ocean to find food for themselves and their chick. In fact, one adult was tracked traveling more than 8000 miles in a single 2-week foraging trip!

Male LGK Royal Albatross Returns After Two-Week Foraging Trip To Feed Nestling TF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dScQ6wH9V8&t=5s




4/10 The chicks were weighed yesterday.

TF chick was 77 days old & weighed 5.9 kg, chick was then fed by Mum LGL & Dad LGK!

TFT chick was 69 days old & weighed 5.3 kg, he was fed by his Dad WYL later on.

Sharyn's update below and LGK video/news
http://AllAboutBirds.org/Albatross

https://twitter.com/i/status/1777798510710075511

[Lani]

Royal Albatross - A special skycall duet.   
Top Flat Track chick and Top Flat chick skycalling a few days ago.
Also includes their Dads, TF LGK and TFT WYL who were both away for a few weeks

Today; TFT Mom BOK and TF Dad LGK were in.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1778346497005981993

TFT chick with Dad WYL


TFT chick with mom BOK

[Lani]

Royal Albatross

Kia ora koutou (hello everyone) posted by Ranger Sharyn Broni

The new cam has been installed, thank you for your patience while we have been offline and while we have been unable to provide night viewing. We have been testing cam operations and will set presets for the cam ops this afternoon. We will, of course must wait till darkness to check out the InfraRed capabilities (visible to the cam but not the wildlife).



Toroa News

EDIT: Next week's weigh day will be on Monday 22nd April rather than the usual Tuesday.

LGK fed Top Flat chick at 1207 hours as the live stream came back online.

Weighing of chicks happened 20 minutes or so after the live stream came back online but Top Flat chick was a bit too nervous after the activity at the cam and had just been fed anyway. Risking losing a fresh meal does not benefit the chick.

Top Flat chick is 84 days old, the average weight for males at this age is 6.5 kg.

Last week's update: Top Flat chick is 77 days old and weighs 5.9 kg at 9.20am. This is just under average for this age and slightly down on last week’s weight. At 9.26am LGL came in and fed her chick. Rangers were well away from the area at this stage having already weighed the heaviest chick at Observation Post which recorded a hefty 7.5 kg.
This week the Observation Post chick was the heaviest chick again at 7.8 kg. A larger basket has been necessary for weighing of these large chicks.

Check the graph here: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nat...

Dad LGK feeding TF chick.


Dad LGK would later sleep between the two chicks


Dad WYL and his chick TFT

[Lani]

Ranger Sharyn Broni posted
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)

Weigh day has come a day early again this week. We will back to Tuesday weigh day next week.
Top Flat chick is 97 days old and weighs 7.9 kg at 12.35 today. Last week’s weight was 7.4kg.

https://www.doc.govt.nz/nat...

Top Flat Track chick is 89 days old and weighs 7.6 kg at 12.35 today. Last week’s weight was 6.2 kg.
All four parents are around but sometimes they need to take a longer foraging trip to feed themselves as well as their fast-growing chick.
In case you haven’t seen it, here is our What to Expect video for May/June.

What To Expect On The Royal Albatross Cam: May–June | Adult Feathers And Sex Characteristics video link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9ijwgtvq2k&t=5s

Without DNA testing it would only be around this early part of the winter that the sex of all the chicks would be accurately determined. The males are heavier now, although a large female could be bigger than a small male.
Chicks are starting to wander a bit more from their nests now with distances up to 50m being possible. They are likely to return to their nests as this is where their parents will return to feed them.
Exploring the area may help the toroa find the place they were raised when they return as adolescents in 5 years’ time.

Yesterday was Family time for chick TFT. Both parents come to check in for feedings. 

[Lani]

It's a beautiful Sunday morning in Albie land! 




Royal Albatross ~ LGL Is Back To Give TF A Nice Feeding! Beautiful Wingers By TFT 💕 5.3.24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCaVL4SXD_g

May 3, 2024
LGL returns home to give a feeding for TF.  She gives some good mouthfuls to our ever hungry Royalcam chick! Enjoy some beautiful coverage of TFT standing up and stretching his wings! TF will also do a wing stretch at the end of the video too! Thank you for watching! Lady Hawk

Courtesy of Dept of Conservation Royal Cam, Royal Albatross Taiaroa Head, New Zealand


Chick TF's wings are darkening!

[Lani]

TF (Top Flat) and TFT (Top Flat Track) have been identified as males after test.
Both chicks have been moving about more to visit with each other or other chick nests close by. 

5/7 - Top Flat chick is 105 days old and weighs 7.9 kg just after 10 am this morning. Average weight for 105-day old male is 7.8 kg. Last week’s weight was also 7.9 kg as LGK and LGL had both been in the day before. Top Flat chick has been fed by both parents frequently over the last week, some feeds have been quite large, but there has been a gap just prior to weighing.

The heaviest chick today was 9.9 kg.

TF chick has moved further downhill near neighbor TFT


TF chick enjoying the lower view on the hill 


The last chick at top flat, Miss NTF (North Top Flat), ventured a little further around this time to have a chat with TF....  She was very funny.

[Lani]

5/12
Happy Mother's Day!
Hope you all enjoy/ed your special day with loved ones.

You may also enjoy watching the latest video ~ Albatross Chick Goes On Walkabout
https://t.co/YW1hzekJfb
Cheers

Northern Royal Albatross Chick Goes On Walkabout In New Zealand | DOC | Cornell Lab – May 10, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkxfz9b4yMo

May 10, 2024  #endangeredspecies #newzealand #wildlife
At 100 days old, the Northern Royal Albatross chick from the Top Flat nest goes on a walkabout to explore the headland. As the chicks get older, they begin to wander further and further from their nest sites. They may even venture to areas out of view from the camera for periods, but they won't stray too far from their natal nest at this age.