Conservation blog

Jobs at DOC: Trainee Ranger, Sacha Astill

Department of Conservation — 09/03/2012

Every Friday 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.

Today we profile Trainee Ranger, Sacha Astill.

At work…

Position: Trainee Ranger, Greymouth Area Office.

Taking a kiwi egg for artificial incubation in Christchurch

What kind of things do you do in your role?

A bit of everything. Over the two year traineeship the idea is to get work experience with each team—visitor assets, biodiversity, community relations and historic.

Over the last few months I have been part of the bio team monitoring great spotted kiwi/roroa in the South Eastern Paparoa ranges and blue duck/whio up the Kawheka Creek behind Kumara.

A whio release at Moonlight River

What is the best part about your job?

Tracking down and catching kiwi. We end up in some pretty neat patches of West Coast forest and get some fantastic views from the ridgeline down the coast to South Westland. The birds themselves are very cool. Being the largest species of kiwi, they are really strong and have quite a prehistoric look about them.

What is the hardest part about your job?

Kiwi poo—very smelly!

Sacha kneeling on the ground, holding a large kiwi.

Female Great Spotted Kiwi at Nelson Lakes

What led you to your role in DOC?

After working in the design and museum industry I needed a career change into some sort of outdoor or environmental role. I was already quite passionate about looking after New Zealand’s flora and fauna, so moving into a field work position for DOC made sense.

I went through the Nelson NMIT Trainee Ranger course last year which included an awesome three month work placement at Nelson Lakes National Park. I then managed to get a two year placement with the West Coast Conservancy.

Sacha holding a chainsaw about to cut through a large log.

Chainsaw training on NMIT Trainee Ranger course

What was your highlight from the month just gone?

Catching and weighing one of the newly released sub-adult great spotted kiwi/roroa by myself. ‘Stamper’ usually runs off before you get to it’s burrow and is generally quite hard to catch.

The rule of three…

Three loves

Kayaking around Whangaroa Harbour
Mountain biking
Swimming at the waterfall back home in Kerikeri
Tramping along cone ridge on the Tararua Ranges

Three pet peeves

Rubbish on the beach
People who don’t compost their organic waste
Supermarket trolleys that don’t steer properly

Three favourite foods

Lindt sea salt chocolate
Cream cheese
Good musli

Three favourite places in New Zealand

Rarawa Beach in Northland
Kahurangi National Park
The Mussel Inn
Tramping near Dunn Mountain

Favourite movie, album, book

Movie: Don’t really have a favourite—anything directed by the Cohen bros is usually pretty good
Album: Anything by electronic duo Pitch Black
Book: I have just been given the massive 500 page + (!) reference book on New Zealand native trees, currently my favourite book for plant ID

Deep and meaningful…

Who or what inspires you and why?

The retired volunteers that contribute to our community conservation projects, particularly the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary in Nelson. It’s great so see these people still out there in their 70s, putting in so much time and dedication to pest control and track clearing.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A sculptor or some sort of artist.

And now, if you weren’t working at DOC, what would you want to be?

In a role involved with environmental education.

Sacha in takahe suit posing with Mitre 10 'Big is Good' giant Levi Vaoga and a small girl.

Me as takahē for a Mitre 10 Mega opening

What sustainability tip would you like to pass on?

Try to buy second hand as much as possible, and of course get on a bike or walk. It’s amazing how much shopping you can fit on a bike.

Which green behaviour would you like to adopt this year—at home?

Buying in bulk so we don’t end up with so much plastic food packaging to deal with.

If you could be any New Zealand native species for a day, what would you be and why?

Thats a hard one to choose… Perhaps a fantail/piwakawaka—they have quite a bit of character and it would be pretty fun to do such acrobatic moves in mid air.

What piece of advice or message would you want to give to New Zealanders when it comes to conservation?

Appreciate what we have. Aotearoa is pretty dam unique and educating the next generation about respecting and protecting it is crucial.

In Jobs at DOC great spotted kiwi, kiwi, nature, people, Sacha Astill, trainee ranger, whio

Raoul Island Diaries: Brooke Connolly realises her Raoul Island dream

Department of Conservation — 07/03/2012

Raoul Island is one of the Kermadec Islands, about 1000km north-east of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. DOC have a small team of staff and volunteers who live on the island in relative solitude, doing research and maintaining the native species on the island.

Since the island is so remote, we get these diary entries from the team and post them up on their behalf. Today’s diary is by ranger, Brooke Connolly, who has dreamt of being on Raoul Island since university.

Tropic bird

Getting to Raoul

After our extensive training and preparation for our stay on Raoul Island we were finally at the Devonport naval base ready to board the HZMS Canterbury.

Our cabin was small and cozy and our voyage was rather rough for such a large ship. We were looked after extremely well by the navy, fed like kings and had guided tours of the engine rooms and up to the part where they steer the boat. I woke up at 6 am on the morning of the 3rd of November; we were due to be at Raoul at 6.30 am. I remember rushing to the flight deck and seeing the island blanketed in cloud for the first time, my dream had finally come true.

Getting onto the island from the navy ship was very fast and bumpy, much like a ride at an amusement park. I was second to set foot on fishing rock to a warm welcome from the current team. Finally; I was on Raoul Island, my home for the next year. I almost cried I was so happy!

White tern

The change-over

The change-over period flew past, receiving and unloading all the supplies from the Sea-sprite helicopter, feeding the mass of 40 people as they worked hard to complete their assigned tasks and creating a new era using solar energy (instead of diesel) on Raoul.

The main task for our team of seven people staying on the island was learning how to run and weed the island. During the change-over period we learnt to grid search the bush for weeds. We also had the opportunity to boat to the nearby Meyer islands to do some tobacco weeding. What a privilege to be in such an untouched ecosystem. I cannot describe how amazing it was to see so many sea birds on one rock. The call of the Kermadec petrel was like nothing else I’d ever heard before. Yyeeeeeeeooooowwwww waaahhooo waaahhooo waaahhooo waaahhooo.

Everybody on the island has also been blown away by all the humpback whales up here. Daily we see full breaches, tail slaps and general mulling around the island.

The island routine

When the boat left, the island was comfortably yet strangely quiet. We were sad to see everybody leave, but at the same time we were all ready to start our own adventure.

We began by giving everything a big spring clean and organising all our food. We are now settling into a routine on the island. We cook together at night time which is somewhat difficult; we have to modify each meal to be meaty, vegetarian and gluten free. All our meals have been great so far and the variety of food is great!

White tern egg

The plants on Raoul

I love plants! The differences and similarities of the plants on Raoul compared to mainland New Zealand is fascinating to see, as are the plants that are endemic to Raoul, or only occur on some Pacific Islands.

We have been teaching our volunteers about the native plants and the weeds on the island and they are learning to tell the difference very fast and are enjoying spending the day out in the bush.

Weeding has been exciting so far. We have been finding some weeds, which has been good to make sure we are searching for the right ones because the seedlings can be tricky to tell apart. We have also been finding a lot of the native cucumber, Sicyos. It has large prickles and they end up in you!! They are not particularly nice when they get in your ears, or anywhere else on your body for that matter! Some of the weed plot names are very deceptive, Low flat plot 8 is not very low or flat like it suggests, it is very high and steep and full of fallen trees, large bluffs and slips.

The birds on Raoul

I also love birds! The tui have a rather different call up here on Raoul, and the kākāriki graze on the lawn like sheep, they also graze on my corn seedlings. Grrr.

Black-winged petrels fly over the hostel at dusk. My favourite so far are the white terns at Boat Cove. They fly in pairs or groups on wind draughts up and down cliffs and valleys. They nest in trees, which like the Noddy on the Meyer Islands or other sea birds on the main island, isn’t all that uncommon. But what is rather strange is that these birds lay their green blotchy egg on a flat bit of a pohutukawa branch. It is the most uncanny thing I have ever seen, but also the most awesome.

A noddy (seabird from the tern family)

I can truly say coming to Raoul Island is both the biggest opportunity I have ever had and the best decision I have ever made.

In Islands, Raoul Island kakariki, petrel, Raoul Island, white tern

Jobs at DOC: Little Barrier Island Ranger, Nichollette Brown

Department of Conservation — 02/03/2012

Every Friday 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.

Today we profile Little Barrier Island Ranger, Nichollette Brown.

At work…

Position: Ranger, Little Barrier Island

What kind of things do you do in your role?

As Ranger on Hauturu/Little Barrier Island my role is pretty varied. My ‘office’ and home is a 2817 hectare island and nature reserve in the Hauraki Gulf. I share the role of kaitiaki with Richard Walle and his family; his wife, Leigh Joyce, and children, Liam (7) and Mahina (9). My main role involves running the island’s weed programme.

This is me weeding for Madeira vine on the cliffs at Raoul Island

Due to the terrain, (steep!) the ground-based grid searching can get pretty exciting and if that doesn’t get the adrenaline pumping, flying in the helicopter strop for pampas spraying will!

I also run the annual reptile monitoring programme which, since the rodent eradication in 2006, has shown a promising recovery. When I’m not involved in these programmes I assist Richard with the island maintenance and operation, the tuatara breeding programme and provide support to researchers and translocation projects. We also host volunteers and visitors to the island.

What is the best part about your job?

Me in my get up for heli spraying pampas grass on Little Barrier Island. I'm hanging from a 70m strop beneath a helicopter

Waking up every morning to a dawn chorus lead by kōkako, and sharing the path home in the evening with kiwi, bats and the scratch of wētā punga in the trees.

It’s easy to become blasé about it all after a time until you get to share it with visiting researchers and volunteers who remind you what a beautiful and unique place Hauturu is. I think Marcus Lush (when he visited Little Barrier in his series North) put it perfectly: “(the ranger) clearly has the best job in the world…”

What is the hardest part about your job?

Being away from friends, family, and events on the mainland for long periods.

What led you to your role in DOC?

A lifetime exploring New Zealand’s bush, mountains and oceans; a postgraduate degree in ecology; and a love for conservation, and maintaining and improving our natural resources. Oh, and several years in the corporate world wondering why I was there!

What was your highlight from the month just gone?

So many! Generally, the excitement of never knowing what the day will bring. More specifically, the release of two captive bred tuatara, hanging 70 metres below a helicopter to spray pampas grass on the island’s cliffs, tramping from one side of the island to the other over two days, and meeting lots of interesting and dedicated people as part of the reptile monitoring programme.

Back in September 2011 we welcomed 28 baby tuatara back to the island. They had been sent off as eggs the year before to Victoria University in Wellington for hatching