Royal Albatross ~ Yellow Banded Chick Making Its Rounds! New Returnee Lying In Grass 💕 10.1.24

One of the few remaining chicks still on the headland, this female yellow banded chick wanders across Top Flat. This is the female with the dirty spot on her chest feathers (easy to ID) we saw a few days ago (not the one with the GPS on its back though).
As the chick walks down the track, she comes across one of the albie returnees lying in the grass! Welcome back! We don't know who this returnee is yet but we are starting to see more and more of the adults returning back for their breeding season.
One of the last remaining chicks to fledge still is TBT Top Bluff Track chick. This is the chick of GO & WO - two of our oldest & most experienced parents. TBT chick is believed to have wandered away from his nest a few months ago & when GO & WO came back to feed - they did not see him & thought he left and never returned. So the rangers have been giving him a supp feeding 5 times a week for the past several months now. TBT is a small male & weighs 8.5kg about the size of a female chick. The feedings will continue until he does fledge.
I believe there are 3 chicks left on the headland yet to fledge.
On other news, the very first albie to return was our dear YRK back on Sept 17th 2024! The DOC reported "YRK (yellow red black) was spotted flying around the headland by our guide Zach. She is a rather well-known bird as a former Royal Cam parent who raised Atawhai in 2020 and Lilibet in 2022, both with her mate OGK who sadly went missing in June 2022. Having hatched in 1994, YRK is currently 30 years old and has successfully raised many chicks so far in her lifetime. Here's hoping she finds a new mate this season" 💛❤️🖤 Thank you for watching!
Video captured & edited by Lady Hawk
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Courtesy of Dept of Conservation Royal Cam, Royal Albatross Taiaroa Head, New Zealand
Cam Link: www.allaboutbi...
DOC official website: www.doc.govt.n...
Royal Albatross Centre website: albatross.org.nz/
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