Titi, or sooty shearwaters, have one of the longest migrations of any bird on the planet.
Department of Conservation sea bird scientist, Graeme Taylor, is on Rangatira Island, in the Chatham Islands, to find out where they go.
His team employ a novel approach to try to retrieve 16 geolocators in 10 days.
Have a watch…
Rangatira Island, is one of New Zealand’s premier sea bird islands. It is free of all introduced pests and it is riddled with sea bird burrows.
As New Zealanders our natural environment is closely tied to our identity—it’s part of what makes us who we are. It’s no wonder then, that our natural environment serves as a muse for so many of our musicians and artists.
Today, as New Zealand Music Month draws to a close, we delight in this connection with a visual feast of album covers inspired by our natural environment.
So many great album covers, so little bandwidth to transport them all to you…
Do you have a favourite New Zealand ‘inspired by nature’ album cover?
For the first time ever, you can watch kākāpō nesting activity streaming live from remote Whenua Hou/Codfish Island.
Our photo of the week shows foster mother Esperance caring for a chick but, if you head over to the Kākāpō Recovery website, you can see streaming real time footage of the pair.
Nestcam footage will stream 24 hours a day, however the activity will occur during the New Zealand night time, because kākāpō are nocturnal parrots.
Telecom NZ who supplied most of the technology:
“Because so much of the recovery programme takes place in the wild, on remote and protected islands, kākāpō nesting has to-date been limited to a very small audience. We’re delighted to have the connectivity in this remote location, and to contribute the technology needed to enable this precious event to be shared live with the world,” Andrew Pirie, Telecom General Manager Corporate Relations.
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Ltd (NZAS) as major sponsor of Kākāpō Recovery NZAS has contributed significant financial support, while its employees assist with operational support.
“Our staff at NZAS have loved working in partnership with the Recovery team during the past 24 years, helping out on the island with maintenance, supplementary feedout and nest minding. It’s great that the team can now share part of that special kākāpō experience with the rest of New Zealand,” NZAS general manager Gretta Stephens.
Forest and Bird who administer the trust account that external donations and sponsorship money are made to. This ensures supporters can be sure all financial contributions to the programme go directly to Kākāpō Recovery.
Most of my strongest childhood memories are of free, unstructured play in wild places near my home—building huts out of fern fronds, playing explorers by wading down a stream in the Kaimais, collecting tadpoles, and waving toi toi flags.
Childhood memories of exploring streams in the Kaimais. Photo: Dennis Kuhn
These experiences were a huge influence on the adult I am today—someone who believes conservation is vital.
I’m trying to do the same for my own kids—but in this increasingly urban and tech-driven world it’s getting pretty hard. There are less “wild places” in cities. I’m competing with the TV, the computer, gaming devices… for their attention—and not always winning. Homework, sports and structured extra-curricular activities makes for busy lives.
We need to help families that are struggling to find time to reconnect with these wild places. Here in Christchurch DOC has partnered with the Greening the Rubble Trust to create a nature-play park in central Christchurch.
Greening the rubble in Christchurch. Photo: Christchurch City Libraries
The park will encourage families to discover—through free play—what is special about Canterbury plants and wildlife, and how they can make conservation part of their urban lives as they recover from the devastating earthquakes.
It will be interactive and exploratory, allowing for fun and learning. It will be a key drawcard to engage children and young families within Christchurch’s regenerating CBD.
We hope the site will be well-visited and part of any trip to Central Christchurch, and we plan to run several events and activities here over the coming year—starting with an opening ceremony as part of the Open Streets event on Saturday 29 September.
Turning the sod at the new nature-play park. Photo: Fiona Oliphant
We have a lot of work ahead of us to create this space, and it’s projects like this that make you realise that it’s people that bring the magic. Without a whole lot of people happy to help and donate time or materials, this park will not happen. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in!
The newest Kiwi Ranger site is Ōtamahua/Quail Island near Christchurch – the first island site and the first Kiwi Ranger site close to a city. It’s a perfect place for families to make memories together.
Maddie Harrison and William Webb at the ships graveyard, Otamahua/Quail Island
The author Sarah, as a leggy 13-year-old in the Kaimanawas.
My own strongest childhood memories are all of experiences in nature, thanks to my father who took me to lots of wild places. I have memories of walking behind him holding onto his pack as we balanced across a log bridge; of playing explorers by wading down a stream in the Kaimais, collecting tadpoles and waving toi toi flags. As a teenager he took me on wilder tramps, where we camped under tent flies and saw no one else for days on end.
These memories and experiences were a huge influence on the adult I am today, someone who works for DOC because I believe in the work we do. I’m trying to do the same for my own kids – but in this increasingly urban and tech-driven world it’s getting pretty hard. There are less “wild places” in cities. I’m competing with the TV, the computer, gaming devices, for their attention – and not always winning.
There is growing evidence that children are increasingly disconnected from that natural world. International surveys show that fewer children are experiencing nature directly, with many playing indoors rather than out. Research also shows that childhood experiences with nature plays a critical role in determining life attitudes, knowledge and behaviours towards the environment. I know that’s true for me.
Maddie filling out her Kiwi Ranger activity booklet
But how do we help families that may be disconnected from these opportunities, or who may not have had the same influences in their own lives, get reconnected?
Kiwi Ranger is one way. It’s a network of experiential interpretation sites, designed to help families connect with key conservation places. At its core is a booklet of activities and a badge to collect each unique to each site, similar to the highly successful Junior Ranger in USA.
Each booklet acts like a guide to experiencing our wild places, some of which are a bit daunting to families visiting for the first time. It helps them to stop and take a closer look, to make the most of their visit, so its not just a nice walk, but an experience worth remembering and treasuring.
So far it’s only in the South Island – but North Island sites are coming on board next year.
On Sunday 9 December we are launching Ōtamahua / Quail Island. My son William and his friend Maddie helped trial the booklet and will be getting their badges presented to them in a special ceremony. We will have a sausage sizzle on the beach and we hope lots of other families will come along and become Kiwi Rangers too.
I’m hoping this will be an experience they will remember.
William Webb and Maddie Harrison – Kiwi Rangers
P.S – The Ōtamahua / Quail Island Kiwi Ranger booklet can be picked up from Black Cat Ferries, the Lyttelton i-SITE or from the Mahaanui Area DOC Office in Sockburn.
Return your completed booklet to the any of the three locations above to claim your badge!
Youtube clip: Quail Island Kiwi Ranger
