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Top 10 blog posts of 2011

Department of Conservation — 02/01/2012

Although kakapo didn’t win Bird of the Year in 2011, they certainly took out top honours on the Conservation Blog. Nine out of our top ten posts are exclusively, or in part, about this much loved New Zealand parrot.

#10 Notes from an island sanctuary

This fantail chick lives right outside Chris' lounge

This recent post was the first from our new ranger on Maud Island, Chris Birmingham. You loved hearing about his life on the island, which is also home to Sirocco the kakapo. We’re all looking forward to hearing a lot more from Chris in 2012.

#9 Kakapo ‘curse’ hits breeding season – but more eggs to come

Kakapo chicks

Containing some of the first news of the 2011 kakapo breeding season, as well as a cute kakapo pic, this post promised to be a crowd favourite – and it was!

#8 Animal Health Board staff help save kakapo

We love our kakapo stories, and this one – told by Jane Sinclair of the Animal Health Board, who was lucky enough to win a trip to Whenua Hou/Codfish Island – was no exception.

#7 Mini miracles as kakapo chicks pull through

Kakapo chick, just hours old

The 2011 kakapo breeding season had us all on the edge of our seats. With so few of these beautiful and charismatic birds left, we held our collective breath as news came in from Codfish Island about each and every mating, egg and hatching.

The DIY egg – stuck together with glue and masking tape after kakapo Suzanne stood on it – was one of your favourite stories of the season.

#6 The great ‘kiwi in Russia’ mystery!

Special Agent Kiwi

Remember the kiwi that mysteriously turned up in the Russion port of Sochi back in May? Oh, that’s right, it was actually a common bittern. Never-the-less, it provided the material for this tongue in cheek story that appealed to the conspiracy theorist in us.

#5 Jobs at DOC: Spokesbird for Conservation, Sirocco the kakapo

Munchin' on a kumara-pop

Our ‘Jobs at DOC’ series provides behind the scenes insights into the jobs and the personalities of DOC workers. The post about our very own spokesbird for conservation, Sirocco the kakapo, was by far your favourite of these, taking out 5th place in our top 10.

#4 Vote now! Remix the sounds of NZ competition

The grand finale of our New Zealand Music Month competition was always going to be popular. In it, our judges – Sirocco the rock star kakapo and Simon the mad morepork owl – played and commented on the top five tracks and then left it over to you, our savvy readers, to pick the winner.

#3 What New Zealand native species are you?

Native species quiz

This native species determination chart was the star of our Conservation Week series.

Over 3,000 people took the fun and fact filled test and, interestingly, we discovered that readers of the Conservation Blog are overwhelmingly kea!

#2 The world’s first takapo eggs

Our April Fool’s day post, about the world’s first takapo eggs being discovered on Maud Island, was a huge hit.

Haggis and Sirocco with their newly found eggs

Almost 5,000 of you have read and shared this fun and far fetched story.

#1 Remix my mates during NZ music month and make me a bona fide rock star!

To celebrate New Zealand Music Month, and to raise the profile of New Zealand’s avian songsters, Sirocco the kakapo put out the call for the musically talented to remix the sounds of New Zealand’s unique birds.

Sirocco the rockstar kakapo

This post received over 3,500 views in one day, and thousands more since then, making it the clear winner of our most popular post of the year.

What was your favourite?

Our top 10 blog posts for 2011 were chosen based on the number of people who viewed them. Do you think this accurately reflects the best of the blog?

Do you have a personal favourite that you’d like to comment on (that either did or didn’t make it onto our top 10 list)? We’d love to hear from you.

In Kiwi, Native animals, Sirocco the kakapo kiwi, kākāpō, sirocco, top blog posts

La De DOC

— 22/12/2011

Martinborough may only be a small town, but if you’re going to La De Da and you’ve got some time to spare, there are plenty of great activities to do… if you can pull yourself away from the vineyards.

250 steps to the top

Palliser Bay

If you haven’t planned for all of your days to involve wine and tasting it, perhaps a trip out to Palliser Bay might take your fancy. This place is one of the earliest Maori occupation sites in New Zealand, and is also the only fur seal colony in the North Island where breeding is well established. If you want to earn some cheese for that wine, or would like a little shapeshifting on your buns, there’s an old lighthouse 250 steps up a hill, with some great views of the coast.

Waiohine Gorge

Take a dip in the Gorge's swimming spots

If you’re thinking ‘I know that we’ve got only a little time, so like it or not, we’re gonna be drinking wine’, then the Waiohine Gorge has a number of short tracks suitable for quick, light exercise. There are also several good swimming pools in the river (which are popular for rafting, tubing and kayaking in) so after a splash, you can head back to Lullabye Lane feeling cool and refreshed.

Pukaha Mount Bruce

Manukura - the world's first white kiwi

Visiting this place on State Highway 2 between Masterton and Eketahuna is a must. It’s the home of Manukura and Mauriora (the little white kiwi), tuatara, kaka, kokako and some very impressive eels! There’s also a pretty native bush track, with a picnic area at the top so you’ll be able to drink and laugh till you feel right.

Castlepoint Scenic Reserve

Don’t forget to pack a fishing rod—taking a trip out to Castlepoint is a popular place to dangle the line or pull the catch as one. If you’re into one-offs, then you’ll want to take note of the Castlepoint daisy shrub—named this because Castlepoint is the only place in the world it grows. Frequent visitors to the area include dolphins, fur seals and the odd small whale. The lighthouse here is also a drawcard. There are a few walks around the Scenic Reserve and a nice sheltered lagoon for swimming in.

Lay in the lagoon

In Kiwi, Native animals, Recreation, Regions La De Da, Martinborough, nature, New Years Eve, Travel, Wairarapa

Vote for your favourite kiwi name

— 11/10/2011

What’s in a name? After recently reading about the release of Richie McKiwi, I decided to investigate what other cool kiwi names are out there, and how they came about.

I also came across a newborn at the West Coast Wildlife Centre. Any ideas for names? Submit your suggestions by commenting below.

As far as kiwi that already have names go, here are some (in no particular order) that stood out:

1. Gingernut – Named because there were orange patches on its head and back (West Coast Wildlife Centre).

Gingernut and his orange patches

2. Pike – Hatched on the day of the Pike River mine memorial (West Coast Wildlife Centre).

3. Koanga – Meaning ‘spring’, named because it was the first chick hatched for the season (West Coast Wildlife Centre).

4. Bella – Meaning ‘beautiful’, named by an Italian tourist (West Coast Wildlife Centre).

5. Shadow – Because the kiwi had interesting shadows inside its egg during incubation (West Coast Wildlife Centre).

The reason Shadow is called Shadow

6. Sonic the hedgehog – Given to a feisty wild chick who was super-active (West Coast Wildlife Centre).

7. Hupai – Around the hatching of the 1000th Operation Nest Egg chick in 2007, Save the Kiwi Trust had a contest to select a name for the chick. More than 1000 entries were submitted. The name ‘Hupai’ which means ‘to overcome’ was chosen (Waimarino Forest).

8. Patch – Named after John Cumberpatch, who had just retired from DOC. Coincidentally, the egg had a tiny hole in its shell that had to be ‘patched’ up, and it hatched with a massive patch of white feathers on its head! (West Coast Wildlife Centre).

9. Bacon – Mainland Foods (Kiwi Bacon) were a sponsor of the Save the Kiwi Trust for a short term, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Kiwi Bacon. To launch the sponsorship, a kiwi was released in Whangarei, with the somewhat dubious name ‘Bacon’ (Whangarei Sanctuary).

Richter cuddling up to another kiwi (Howie), on Valentines Day no less

10. Richter – Named after the Christchurch earthquakes (Richter scale) (West Coast Wildlife Centre).

11. Kimposter – A male who was found incubating another male’s (Kim’s) eggs (Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary).

12. Liz Taylor – Named after being caught with eight different males (Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary).

13. Crikey – Named in memory of Steve Irwin (Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary).

14. Fat Freddy – Named after the New Zealand band—and his fat puku (Whangarei Kiw Sanctuary).

15. Scratch – Named after the blood he left on kiwi ranger Peter Graham’s arm when he was first caught (Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary).

DOC's Paul Cornille with Richie McKiwi

16. Richie McKiwi – Named by children from Purua School to celebrate the Rugby World Cup (Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary).

17. Nack and Paddywack – Offspring of Nick (Whangarei Sanctuary).

18. Doug and Lass – Doug was caught in a small stand of Douglas fir trees. He had to be chased around the tree trunks, before being caught. Lass is Doug’s mate. She was caught in the same small stand of Douglas fir trees (same place, same night). They had a chick called Fir… (Tongariro Forest Kiwi Sanctuary).

19. Sparkler – Hatched on Guy Fawkes day (Tongariro Forest Kiwi Sanctuary).

20. Peter Pan – Named because he ‘flew through the air’ over a log while being chased (Wendy is his mate) (Tongariro Forest Kiwi Sanctuary).

What’s your favourite kiwi name? Vote here:

Name ideas for the newborn

What should my name be?

A kiwi chick at the West Coast Wildlife Centre hatched yesterday—what are your name ideas?

Bevan Cameron, one of the Haast Biodiversity Asset Rangers, delivered the Haast tokoeka kiwi egg to the West Coast Wildlife Centre on September 28. The Haast DOC rangers actually went in expecting to rescue a chick which was about a week old, but were surprised to pull out an egg instead!

The parents of the egg are called Lightning and Thunder. Yesterday morning the wee chick inside the egg had made the first cracks to the egg overnight—the rangers were lucky enough to be watching when the chick made a third hole with his/her bill! This chick is really vocal and his/her egg was always wobbling around on the bench as the chick was busy inside trying to break out of the egg! It made its grand entry into the world at 1.30pm yesterday!

Jobs at DOC: Kiwi ranger and rodent dog handler, Miriam Ritchie

Department of Conservation — 15/08/2011

Every Monday Jobs at DOC will take you behind the scenes and into the jobs, the challenges, the highlights, and the personalities of the people who work at the Department of Conservation.

This week we look at kiwi ranger and rodent dog handler, Miriam Ritchie:

At work:

Miriam Ritchie holding a kiwi

Name: Miriam Robin Deans Ritchie

Job: Kiwi ranger and rodent dog handler, Whangarei Area Office

Describe your role

I have two part-time roles: I monitor kiwi in the Whangarei Kiwi Sanctuary to gather data for a long-term study of Northern North Island Brown Kiwi, and do some predator trapping within the sanctuary. I also do surveillance and monitoring of New Zealand’s offshore islands and rodent-free mainland sites with my certified rodent dog, Occi.

Miriam with rodent dog, Occi

What kind of work /projects are you currently involved in?

I am currently removing transmitters from most of our adult kiwi sample as our project is undergoing a major change from intensive kiwi monitoring to a community relations/kiwi vs. dog advocacy campaign. I am also spending a bit of time with my dogs in the Bay of Islands working on Project Island Song, hunting down a trickle of invading rats that are threatening the potential rat-free status of the islands.

What led you to your current role in DOC?

Hard work, Raoul Island, persistence and taking opportunities.

Taking a helicopter ride to Three Kings Island

The rule of three…

Three loves

Bush
Coast
Freedom

Three pet peeves

Injuries
Being late
People trying to run me over on my bike

Miriam and Occi

Getting personal:

What three things do you always have in your refrigerator?

Some greenery
Cooked rice
A half-eaten avocado

What was your favourite birthday present as a kid?

My first pony—her name was Kindy, and I had her ’til she died at 27 years old.

Tell us about your 15 minutes of fame

Hah, I think that’s yet to come.

Miriam with 'rodent dog'

What is your dream holiday location or activity?

A chunk of swimmable coast, some hills to sweat up and some dogs to chase.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?

Plant things, garden, ride my bike and explore with my dogs.

What was the most useful thing that somebody once told you?

I don’t think anyone told me this but with hard work and the will, you can do anything.

Name a book and movie you would recommend:

Wouldn’t presume to be able to do that, people vary too much in what they like! Although…

Occi staying safe in his high visibility outfit

Book: John Salmon’s Native Trees of New Zealand, despite being a bit out of date now, is a great reference book for anyone who loves the bush. Movie: The Flying Scotsman.

If there was a competition for best place in New Zealand where would get your vote?

North Cape, Cape Reinga, Cape Maria Van Diemen—the tippy top of Northland.

And if there was one native species that ruled them all, what would be your pick?

Maybe the Kauri, being from Northland and all. They are pretty awesome in every sense!

In Animal pests, Jobs at DOC, Kiwi, Northland conservation jobs, dog handler, dogs, kiwi, Miriam Ritchie, ranger, rodent dogs

‘Bird call’ wins in remix competition

Department of Conservation — 17/06/2011

Simon Owl, judge in our very own New Zealand Idol for native birds competition

‘Bird call’ is the winner in our remix the sounds of New Zealand competition, dubbed New Zealand Idol for native birds.

Shayne Burrows of New Plymouth made the track from bird song on the DOC website, remixed with his own music.

The competition was perfect for Shayne who has always been interested in music and birds – he even uses kokako as his avatar on Twitter and as a logo for his work.

Shayne receives a copy of the brilliant Unnatural History of Kakapo DVD and Alison Ballance’s award winning book Kakakpo: Rescued from the brink of extinction.

Listen to the top five!

Listen to some of the other entries:

About the competition

The competition to remix New Zealand bird song ran throughout New Zealand Music Month. Entries came from New Zealanders as far away as Melbourne, Amsterdam and London.

Our judges picked the top five entries which were posted on the Conservation blog and here on the DOC website. The public voted to choose the winner.

In Kiwi, Native animals, Sirocco the kakapo Birdsong, competition, NZ Music Month, remix

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