Skraaark! Sometimes it’s tough being a kākāpō. In the last month we’ve lost a couple of our elders, Richard Henry and Whiskas, and now it looks like bad news for the breeding season.
We kākāpō are a simple bunch – feed us up and we’ll get a bit frisky, but take away the food and we just won’t be in the mood. What that means in reality is we rely heavily on there being a good supply of rimu fruit down on Codfish and Anchor Islands, and talking to the DOC rangers down there suggests it’s not going well.
Mmm... juicy rimu fruit!
Here’s the deal (they explained it to me simply as maths isn’t a kākāpō’s strong point). Around 11-12% of the rimu fruit on the trees needs to ripen enough for us to eat it. Back in October last year the level was around 21% on Codfish, so it was looking good. But now, it’s gone pear (or rimu) shaped, and it’s down to about 9%. That means there’ll be some nests, but not the 20 we were hoping for. The rangers are now hoping for around five.
On Anchor Island it’s down to 6% on most of the trees. There might be enough on a couple of trees to prompt a couple of nests – but hopes for the first of our kind to be born in Fiordland in decades are fading.
A grand old rimu tree
It does make you think – go back to pre-human times in NZ, and we were one of the most common birds here (when I say common, I mean in terms of numbers…we were always pretty superior…). So imagine how much rimu fruit there must have been to keep us going. But now, vast amounts of those trees have gone, mainly because of logging and possums.
So it’s a bit sad, but when it comes to breeding, us kākāpō don’t make it easy. Last year wasn’t good but 2009 was a great one. So we’re doing okay…and who knows, keep those wings crossed for some more kākāpō action this season!
If you want to keep track of which kakapo are mating and who has laid eggs this season check out the nesting table.
Sirocco
PS I’ve been asked how my dear friend Whiskas got his name. Well, when you’re a kākāpō – or a DOC ranger working with us – you’ve got to have a sense of humour. He was called Whiskas because if they’d left him on Stewart Island, he would have been cat food… Skraaark!
Gemma from NZ on Screen got in touch with me this morning and recommended the following videos as great Conservation Week viewing. These are all free, high-quality videos from NZ screen history, available to all.
A big thanks to all the schools who took part in the live blogging:
Remuera Intermediate School
Verran Primary School
Hurupaki Primary School
Tokomaru School
Avonhead School Inquiry class
Alexandra Primary School
Taradale Intermediate School
Taneatua School
Lake Rotoiti School
And a special thanks to Ruud for sharing so much about the amazing world of bees, bugs & birds!
What’s this about?
During Conservation Week 2010 the Bugman (Ruud Kleinpaste) held 3 live blogging sessions. Schools around the country got involved, asking all kinds of fantastic questions. You can read Ruud’s post, and the questions and answers below.
Students at Hurupaki Primary School blogging live with the Bugman
Have you ever wondered what all those bugs, bees, flies and birds are doing in your garden?
Go out into the garden at home, in the school grounds or even in your local park or Botanical Garden and find a spot with many flowering plants; it could be Camellias or Manuka.
Go on! Just sit down for half an hour in the warm spring sun-light and count how many different species of pollinators visit those plants. Take a magnifying glass if you want to get up really close. Are they all insects? Or are there other groups of animals involved?
Just make a note of who turns up – if you can take a photograph of them, so that you can find their image in a book in the library or on the net.
A native bee collecting pollen
So what are they doing? Have you thought about exploring the world of pollination and honey? Try to get a handle on how much our economy relies on pollinators and their activities. For starters it may be worth-while to find info on the economic contribution of just honey bees; that’s reasonably well documented.
Look at the different honey types in our shops – how many involve native plants?
And once you’ve calculated the honey bee contribution, try guessing how much our native bees do in terms of forest survival and rejuvenation.
And then there are native pollinating flies and little beetles and moths at night and birds and geckoes and… Is your head spinning yet?
Watch this video to find out more about the amazing process of pollination and why it’s so important.
The Magical Land of Far Far Away
Now – while you are doing your investigations on pollination, have a look on the ground or higher up in the shrubs and trees and see if you can find any creepy crawlies that are doing the recycling in your neighbourhood.
We can learn a lot from nature and especially from bugs, invertebrates, insects and such creatures. They live in a no-waste society. Everything is used or recycled by some other creature – “waste” becomes a “resource” to other organisms.
We create a lot of waste – rubbish – trash… Call it what you like!
Some people say that we live in a throw-away society; we throw things away when we have finished with them.
A pile of typical househould waste
Let’s just do an exercise. Have a look at a map of the world and tell me: where exactly is that magical place “Away”? Can you point at it?
Away is really not away, don’t you think?
Ruud (the Bugman) Kleinpaste
The topic for Wednesday:
Let’s explore what would happen to New Zealand and the World if we didn’t have all this wonderful biodiversity to keep the ecology ticking?
What would be the consequences of species going extinct?
Have you got any ideas about that?
Let’s stick to this topic today. If you’ve still got an unanswered question Ruud will try and get to it later.
The topic for Friday:
Hey guys!
We’ve had now two great blog sessions. One on the ecological services that Bugs and other creatures provide – stuff like pollination and recycling.
Then, last Wednesday we were thinking about what would happen if all the bugs or our biodiversity would disappear from the World.
Didn’t look too good, now, did it? I reckon it would spell disaster for all of us!
This Friday (from 11am till noon) we will have another go at blogging, but this time, I’d like to explore how we all can HELP our biodiversity be HEALTHY. So:
How can we make our world and it’s biodiversity a much better place?
How can we RESTORE our biodiversity, if a lot of it is lost?
What can we do in our neighbourhood to restore our animal and plant communities?
I reckon… that if we all work together, maybe as classes of school kids or as groups of cubs, brownies and scouts, we can make serious differences to habitats.
There are many websites you can consult on this; one that I am involved with is www.kidsrestorenz.org.nz
Have a look and let’s talk about getting the tuis and bellbirds back into our backyards and the rare plants and lizards too… and what about wetas and brilliant beetles? Let’s invite them all back into our local gardens and parks.
Noticed that little island in the middle of Wellington Harbour? Not sure whether it’s worth a visit? Didn’t even know you could go there?
Matiu/Somes Island, Wellington Harbour
Well Matiu/Somes Island Scientific and Historic Reserve is open to the public 364 days of the year. Now with the Matiu/Somes Interactive Tour you can check it out before you go!
Matiu/Somes Island lighthouse
Before I joined the Department of Conservation I wasn’t sure what the deal was with Matiu/Somes Island. One person told me there were heaps of lizards and a lighthouse – not much else. But then I didn’t have the benefit of the interactive tour to get a taste of what’s really there.
I know I’m the Wellington community relations ranger, and I don’t use this word lightly, but Matiu is an AWESOME place with a lot more to see than just lizards and a lighthouse! You can see for yourself by following the link and having a virtual wander around to glimpse some of the things that make it such an important place for helping to conserve some of our endangered species, habitats and historic heritage.
The historic caretakers cottage
The team at Beek developed the Matiu/Somes Virtual Tour using 360° panoramic views to maximise the interactive experience, allowing you to ‘stop’ at the click of a button and look all around at some of the views and features, explore information panels and discover some ‘hidden’ attractions, including Wellington’s iconic little blue penguin and the gentle giant weta – one of the world’s heaviest insects.
Blue penguin
You can even enter some of the buildings to explore and get a real sense of some of the island’s history. See if you can spot the World War II anti-aircraft gun…
Now if you’re a bit of a natural cynic like me you might be thinking why do I need to bother going to the island if I can see it all from the (relative) comfort of my own chair? Well, for a start you don’t get to take the Dominion Post Ferry ride (look out for feeding penguins on the way) or meet the friendly island rangers – who are always happy to answer questions and spin you a yarn or two about island life.
You can also stay the night on the island in one of two houses available to rent or at the campsite, dotted with majestic cabbage trees with a stunning view down the gully towards the southern part of the harbour. Another thing you can’t do online is take a nightwalk where you’re almost guaranteed to see penguins and if you’re lucky and very quiet a tuatara or two – the only surviving reptile of an order that roamed the earth 200 million years ago. Tuatara are also regularly seen in the daytime, along with a host of other animals including seven species of skink and gecko and many people’s favourite – the chattering red-crowned parakeet (kakariki).
An isolated island archipelago in mid ocean with a relict population of plants and animals found nowhere else and under threat from invasive species. Does that sound familiar? Nahh! Not New Zealand this time!
What’s natural?
The Azores are a group of volcanic islands in mid Atlantic and have small remnants of forest types that once covered much of the land around the Mediterranean Sea. These remnants are fragmented and scattered over the 9 main islands of this Portuguese autonomous region. The native plants and animals have taken a huge hit over the last 600 years of human occupation and live on the verge of oblivion with many already extinct from human induced activities. You know the story… Clear the land, bring in domesticated beasties to enable farming. Oh, and don’t forget a few unwanted hitch-hikers!
Indigenous Azorian forest remnant
What spins your wheels?
Still, the attractions in the Azores are stunning! The overlay of historic, cultural and natural attractions has put it among my favourite places on Earth – OK I haven’t been to Kazakhstan!
And weeds! Whoa! I was staggered to find so many of the weeds there are our dire enemies here too. The cliffs are strewn with ginger, woolly tobacco weed and bamboo. The exotic forests are asserting themselves in the spread and conquer process and hydrangers are the adopted regional flower in spite of being a noxious weed.
Grapes, bananas and bamboo going wild
Homesick?
An interesting feature of the landscape was the use of New Zealand pohutukawa in main amenity areas. The islands are at the same latitude as Auckland and my guess is that the pohutukawa found their way back to the Azores with whalers in the 1800s. And, the former flax industry has left New Zealand’s harakeke all over the main island.
Pohutukawa planted in a park on Sao Jorge
On the beaches, there is New Zealand spinach and on the shore line there are karaka trees and cabbage trees.
New Zealand spinach on the rocky shore
In spite of any degradation in the original natural state of the region there is a fierce pride in retention of the remaining natural values and there are the same tensions we have here. You can imagine that power supplies on an island archipelago are difficult. Wind power is going full tilt ahead on the islands to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Dairy farming has intensified (the cheese is magnificent!) but cows dot the upland landscape to fill out the postcard quotas. The grapes eek out an existence in harsh conditions and produce good rich wines from rough volcanic soils. Quality water is at a premium.
So next time you are thinking that New Zealand is the only island archipelago with major invasive pest problems, give a though for the Azores and pop in to mid Atlantic to say Hola! They would love to see you.
