species |

Protecting rata’s red and green

Department of Conservation — 23/12/2013

By Elizabeth Besley, Volunteer

The rich red and green colours of New Zealand’s pohutakawa and rata trees are an iconic part of the kiwi summer and holiday season, but our native “Christmas trees” are facing various threats, including the insatiable appetite of introduced possums.

Rata tree in flower. Photo: Lance Andrews

In April, a group of Pohangina Valley residents, DOC staff, and rata experts, began a seed collecting expedition to help preserve the local populations of Northern rata.

Pohangina Base rata tree

A rata tree opposite the Pohangina Base, belonging to a local farmer, had been seen flowering in the previous year and was the perfect candidate to start the expedition. We simply had to phone the farmer with a request to collect seed and then stand on the cliff edge and pick bunches of mature seed capsules.

The second source of seed came from massive rata trees along the Kahikatea Walk. The logistics necessitated collection using a different method – in this case spreading matting over the soil surface at the base of the trees and collecting seed as they fell over the coming months.

Rata experts Chris Thomasen and Viv McGlynn demonstrated how to prepare the collected seed for germination. Containers were half filled with potting seed mix, followed by a layer of ‘duff’ – a name given to the nutrient rich soil that builds up at the base of rata trees. The rata seed were then thickly sprinkled over the top. Watering needed to be gentle but regular, using a fine mist, as the seed can be prone to pathogens.

Pohangina Valley volunteers preparing rata seed

The team came together again in November to carefully transfer the thirty odd small seedlings to individual planter bags where they will grow on for another season.

The ultimate aim is to grow plentiful rata plants from locally sourced seed, thereby ensuring it is genetically suitable for using at various sites in the Pohangina Valley. The vision is of a corridor of red flowering rata trees in summer, leading up the valley and into the Ruahines.

Interested in protecting the native pohutukawa and rata trees in your area? Find out about the work that is being done by the Project Crimson Trust on the DOC website.

In Native plants Christmas, Flower, Kahikatea Walk, Manawatu, Pohangina Valley, Pohutukawa, Rata, Seed, species, Tree

These are the Days of our ‘takahē’ Lives

Department of Conservation — 19/11/2013

By Jeff Hall, Biodiversity Ranger, Mana Island.

The takahē population on Mana Island have had a few new pairings formed over recent months, as a result of the sort of behaviour that could only be likened to an episode of “Days of our Lives” or “The Young and the Restless”.

Takahē home on Mana Island

While it is not always a good idea to anthropomorphise a wild animals behaviour, the antics of one of our recent immigrants does seem to warrant it.

McCaw (named when she hatched soon after the All Blacks won the 2011 Rugby World Cup) came to Mana Island from Maud Island in the Marlborough Sounds for an “arranged marriage” with one of our young lads.

McCaw spent three weeks in a large enclosure with her new suitor, Nohorua. They appeared to be getting along, but as it turned out she had other plans. The male from another pair that lived beside the enclosure had caught her eye. Within a couple of days of release McCaw left Nohorua, and used her youthful energy and good looks to split up the long established pairing of Kat and Santi.

McCaw and Santi the takahē are nesting

But like all good day time television dramas these heart breaking acts had a happy outcome for some; McCaw and Santi have just started nesting. Kat – after licking her wounds and shaking her tail feathers has landed herself a younger man in Hori. But what of the jilted Nohorua you ask? His quest to find the perfect match continues.

Our takahē are well into another breeding season, with nine pairs nesting. The first nests of the season have started to hatch so hopefully we get a reasonable run of weather to help the chicks establish.

Three children coming face to face with a takahē on Mana Island.

Meeting a takahē

We had planned to do another egg transfer to Southland this year, but the birds had other plans. Our birds were a bit tardy in getting going while the southern “foster” pairs started earlier. The requirement for them to start around the same time was lost on the takahē, but at least they’re nesting!

Conservation Week in the backyard

Department of Conservation — 13/09/2013

Aucklanders, Magda Smolira and her daughter Jane, have been busy fulfilling their Conservation Week pledge and turning their backyard into a haven for New Zealand native species. They tell us what they’ve been doing…

We are so pleased to take part in Conservation Week—mainly because we have been doing many things to invite native species into our backyard and it gives us a chance to share our story.

Building bug hotels

When we were getting rid of an overgrown hedge and broken fence we encountered a family of weta.

We presumed that they were not very happy to be evicted and we tried to make it up to them by building two ‘bug hotels’.

A weta household

We used logs of privet that we had cut down and replaced with pohutukawa, a broken clay pot (that the pohutukawa used to grow in), and some left over paving stones.

We hope the hotels are occupied by insects and reptiles, not mice, but to make sure of it we put some Ka Mate traps in the vicinity of the bug hotels and around our compost bin.

A bug hotel

Tracking and trapping rats

Last year, during winter school holidays Jane took part in ‘Eco Warrior Workshop’ (organised by Kaipatiki Project). She made a tracking tunnel and was given the paw print chart.

Tracking tunnel

We were finding rat prints until the day Mr. Rat decided to try a pistachio nut from one of our ka-mate traps!

We were wondering whether Mr. Rat had a family, but we found only snail trails in the tracking tunnel for the rest of the school holidays.

Traps are still in place in case another adventurous rodent visits our backyard.

Attracting the birds

Our neighbours have beautiful kowhai tree and we have some kind of ornamental plum that attracts tui and silvereye when in bloom.

A silvereye hanging in an ornamental plum tree.

A silvereye in our backyard

On our last visit to Tiritiri Matangi we bought a nectar feeder that will hopefully give those birds extra support and stop them raiding my fig tree.

A young puriri tree is our Fathers Day gift to our dad. We hope to see wood pigeons feeding on it in the not too distant future.

Welcoming wildlife

We haven’t seen any reptiles in our backyard yet. We are hoping to though. We grow organic vegies, made bug hotels and are currently planting plants that will attract insects so we are hoping that geckos and skinks will move in. The concrete tubes from Habitat for Humanity shop (anybody knows what they are for?) should make good hiding places.

Lizard home

Proud to pledge

We are proud and privileged to celebrate Conservation Week. We still have to do the online bird ID course to fulfill our pledge.

The backyard

In Conservation Week 2013 Backyard, Conservation Week, Kowhai, Lizard, Silvereye, species, tui, weta

Jobs at DOC: Fern—Species dog

Department of Conservation — 28/03/2013

Come behind the scenes and into the jobs, the challenges, the highlights, and the personalities of the people who work at the Department of Conservation (DOC).

March is Whio Awareness Month. To celebrate this, we thought we would profile a slightly unique staff member, Fern the whio dog based in Ohakune.

I love going to work in rain, hail or snow

Name: Fern Dog.
Position: Species dog – kiwi and whio.
Office: Ohakune.

At work

Some things I do in my job include… finding kiwi and whio that humans seem incapable of locating. It’s so easy to sniff them out and I’m not really sure why they have noses if they aren’t prepared to use them. I’m also involved in advocacy work at schools and end up with a heap of kids sitting on and around me. I don’t really mind that because the kids make quite a fuss over me, and my ranger (Malcolm) talks about cool stuff like stoats and rats and possums.

The best bit about my job is… finding whio that the rangers can’t locate and listening to them discussing when they had last seen the birds and how they thought the birds had either been preyed upon or left the area. I have just started to help my ranger move the whio into nets for banding and that is very cool. I don’t like herding sheep but ducks are neat to herd and I get to swim in the deeper water because Malcolm is a bit of a sook once the water gets up to his waist.

Fern the whio dog crossing a swing bridge.

At first my ranger Malcolm was a bit scared of crossing swingbridges, but I showed him how it is done

The funniest DOC moment I’ve had so far is… when we were herding ducks into a net and I had done a great job when ranger Bubs said he would move the last ducks with a volunteer (as he had a real rapport with this pair). I lay in the sun with Malcolm and then we got a radio call to say the ducks had gone to ground and they couldn’t find them. I took Malcolm downstream and located the first one in a cave but was informed Bubs had already checked that cave out. Well he must have been using ‘boys eyes’ because ranger Ali looked in the cave and came out with a whio. How surprising!

Then I took Malcolm further downstream and pointed the second bird out to Bubs who actually managed to catch it. ‘At least he got that right,’ I thought to myself. When Malcolm told ranger Ali that we had caught the second bird she was very indignant as she had a huge net across the river and a heap of volunteers ready. I couldn’t help laughing to myself and I am pretty sure Malcolm had a grin on his face.

The DOC (or previous DOC) employee that inspires or enthuses me most is… Neo, a male German short hair pointer who owns Andy Glaser. He’s not quite as big as me but he is very handsome. We have discussed having puppies together at some stage. He bought ranger Andy down to Mangatepopo a few weeks back and showed me how good he was at locating and herding whio. He is seven years old and works whio very well. Once I saw him working I thought ‘I’m going to be as good as him,’ and I have stepped up to be like Neo. He said he has taught Andy all he knows about species dog work and I am teaching Malcolm so that he can work at a higher level too.

The nose knows

On a personal note…

The song that always cheers me up is… ‘Who let the dogs out’.

My stomping ground is… Mt Ruapehu and the rivers of the central plateau.

If I could trade places with any other person for a week—famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional—it would be… Neo.

The best piece of news I’ve heard lately is… that I passed as a fully certified whio dog for the Department of Conservation.

Fern the whio dog pointing out whio on the river.

Here is me doing what I do best: pointing out whio to humans

In my spare time I… rush round on Malcolm’s farm and show up the farm dogs that are slow and have noses and ears painted on their faces.

If I could be any New Zealand native species I’d be… a falcon/karearea because then I could fly to the whio and give them one hell of a fright.

My secret indulgence is… food and I would make a good biosecurity sniffer dog at an airport.

If I wasn’t working at DOC, I’d like to be… a deer dog as deer are so easy to locate compared to kiwi and whio.

Fern and Ranger Malcolm monitorwhio in the Tongariro forest.

Me and ranger Malcolm monitoring whio in the Tongariro forest whio security site

Deep and meaningful…

My favourite quote is… ‘They are still making them!’ when humans whinge about something broken or missing.

The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is… don’t be grumpy because life is too short.

In work and life I am motivated by… DOC rangers who are so passionate about New Zealand’s environment and biodiversity.

My conservation advice to New Zealanders is… look after it or lose it.

In Jobs at DOC Awareness Month, conservation, Dog, species, Staff, whio

Bird of the Year – who to put your money on!

Sirocco the Spokesbird — 09/10/2012

Skrraaaarrk! When it comes to choosing which bird to back you’ll never go wrong putting your money (or in this case vote) on kākāpō. However, in my official role as Spokesbird for Conservation, I thought I should be a little less biased. So today, filled with benevolence, I’m going to profile some of the lesser contenders for 2012 Bird of the Year.

And what better place to start than the native birds on that rare species – New Zealand’s bank notes…

Yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho

A New Zealand $5 bank note featuring a Hoiho/Yellow-eyed penguin.

Yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho

Kākāpō and hoiho are more similar than you’d think: We’re one of the world’s rarest parrots and they’re one of the world’s rarest penguins. We mostly live on small islands around the south of New Zealand, and so do they (although they’ve got a colony on the Otago Peninsula just out of Dunedin too). We’re also both flight challenged, but make up for it with dashing good looks.

Blue duck/whio

Whio/Blue duck

Kākāpō aren’t the biggest fans of water (although I have been known to take a dip), but whio are built to swim. While the fast flowing mountain streams are too rough for most ducks, whio love these hectic habitats and can easily negotiate rapids, boulders and logs in these swift currents. Whio are reluctant flyers, but I say flying is overrated anyway!

New Zealand falcon/Kārearea

A New Zealand $20 bank note featuring a Kārearea/NZ falcon.

Kārearea/New Zealand falcon

I may hold the title of New Zealand’s biggest show-off, but kārearea aren’t far behind. They can fly, and love to rub it in, with acrobatics and speeds of 230 km/hr. Boom! And with vision six times more powerful than a human and a terrifying scream, usually executed before descending on its prey, kārearea are a force to be reckoned with.

Kōkako

Even I don’t mind admitting, kōkako are beautiful singers. Once upon a time kākāpō and kōkako use to run into each other all the time, but the introduction of pests saw both our species start to disappear – the South Island sub-species hasn’t been seen since 1967 – skrraaaaarrk!

Yellowhead/mohua

Mohua/Yellowhead

Like many of us natives, a few hundred years ago mohua were quite common. They weren’t built to survive rats and stoats though, and now this beautiful, bright bird is counted among New Zealand’s threatened species. Luckily, they’re quite good at reproducing (unlike a certain large, green, flightless parrot :<>) so, if we can get rid of the nasties that have caused their decline, then mohua have a good chance of recovery.

Mohua in a tree: photo from the Department of Conservation.

Mohua/yellowhead in a tree.

So there you have it, a quick profile of some of the competition that kākāpō are up against for Bird of the Year. Remember to vote before October 10 and let me know in the comments what your favourite New Zealand bird is (after the kākāpō of course!)

In Native animals, Sirocco the kakapo Bird Of The Year, Birds, endangered, new zealand, species

Archives For 30/11/1999

Protecting rata’s red and green

These are the Days of our ‘takahē’ Lives

Related links: