The big and small of it all

So it was up and off to breakfast at a civilised hour, keeping in mind we had been up till late the night before.  A beaut breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, cereals and toast had us powered up for the day and we headed northwards with the sun shining again.  We took the short walk in to visit Tane Mahuta – the largest of the kauri trees, and possibly around 2000 years old.  Whatever its age it really is a spectacular tree and we even had some lovely Earina orchids flowering and a few Pterostylis (Greenhood) orchids flowering, although almost finished.  A couple of nice male tomtits kicked the days list off to a good start.

We headed southwards back towards Dargaville and then across towards Waipu, stopping on the way to visit a small pond where both Australasian and New Zealand grebes breed.  The Australasian grebes didn’t seem to be breeding yet, but the NZ grebes had at least two chicks and both adults were busy diving with the chicks protected under their wings.  Very cool watching the heads pop out from under the wings to be fed by the adults.

We then headed down into Waipu to grab some lunch and headed to a nearby estuary.  Within seconds we’d spotted a fairy tern roosting on the mudflats right away down the estuary.  We had it in the scope for everyone before it took off whilst we ate our lunch.  We then scoped the rest of the estuary seeing all the usual suspects – bar-tailed godwit, a single red knot, a few turnstone, lots of variable oystercatchers and a good number of New Zealand dotterel.  It was a nice opportunity to spend some time checking out the endemic waders, enjoying the sunshine, and waiting for a fairy tern to appear, and they did.  We spotted two birds roosting further down the estuary, and as we headed towards them they took flight and one ended up hovering over a small pool not far away, before doing the same over the main channel.  The other then did almost the same thing before landing, and we had closer scope views.  Pretty happy with that, they flew off back up the estuary and we decided to head off as well.

We checked out another estuary along the coast, finding a non-breeding little tern and a great egret, along with a heap more white-faced herons, before heading further south to a great spot for buff-banded rails.  We ended up with three in one binocular view, with excellent views of them walking along the shoreline.  A small flock of brown teal was also nice.

Lastly, as if the day hadn’t been good enough, we managed to find two kookaburras perched and had good views of them, before a lovely dinner in the little town of Warkworth.  And the forecast looks good for the pelagic tomorrow...

Bird of the day – Fairy tern 2x, buff-banded rail x4

Day total – Seen = 59 + 3 heard (kaka, shining bronze-cuckoo, bellbird); new for the trip = 17; total for the trip to date = 68

Earina orchid in flower

Closer view of the flowers

In front of Tane Mahuta, I can see there is going to be a lot of posing on this trip!

The big of it...

Fun with gannets - Day 1 - 21-day tour

We were all up bright and early and ready for action.  The sun was shining, there were still All Black supporters reeling from the close victory over France, and everyone was poised like a coiled spring.  We headed out through the sprawl of Auckland to the west to the Waitakere’s where we had a stop overlooking a nice patch of kauri forest.  Along the way we had quick views of spotted dove, and a bunch of other introductions, but nearing the park we had our first views of tui, New Zealand pigeon, and purple swamphen (pukeko).

Standing in the sunshine overlooking the forest we had good views of tui, pigeon, fantail, silvereye and heard shining bronze-cuckoo and tomtit.  A very confiding male North Island robin came and checked us out and sang his heart out right in front of us.  Eastern rosellas flitted around the place giving colourful but brief views and another noisy Australian flew out of the forest scrakking away as it flew – Sulphur-crested cockatoo in the bag.

We then headed up the coast and checked out the beautiful but rugged West Coast at a local Australasian gannet colony.  The birds were all in attendance, mostly with eggs, although the odd small chick was also visible.  There were also about 400+ white-fronted terns in attendance, some nesting and some with quite large chicks, quite a spread of breeding stages.  A pair of variable oystercatchers were down on the beach, and tui, yellowhammer and a sacred kingfisher were seen around the area.

We then grabbed some lunch enroute, and headed on towards Waiwera where we sat and ate lunch overlooking a patch of tidal mudflats with mangroves.  Fleeting glimpses of buff-banded rails were not enough to put on the list, but it was a nice spot for lunch.  We then headed on to some wetland areas with small numbers of New Zealand grebe, New Zealand scaup, Australasian shoveler, grey teal, Pacific black duck, and black swan.  A lone little black shag sat in the sun looking on.

We then headed northwards, basically making a b-line for Dargaville and the Kauri Top 10 holiday Park.  We checked in to our accommodations, and then settled in, having an hour or so to check out the local birds – tui, rosellas, etc.  After dinner at the local Kaihu Tavern (built in 1855) we headed out with Herb from the holiday park into Trounson Kauri Park.  Expectations were high and before too long we heard the first male kiwi call.  However, they made us work for it, with two rather obscured views before a last-minute good but brief view of a bird out in the open grass.  We did had fantastic close views of a morepork for several minutes, as well as kauri snails, banded kokopu, long-finned eel, fresh-water crayfish, glow-worms (actually a fly maggot!), cave wetas, and even a possum.  All in all a great night, and excellent first day of the tour.

Bird of the day – Northern brown kiwi x2, Australasian gannet x1, New Zealand dotterel x1, New Zealand pigeon x1, North Island robin x2.

Day total – Seen = 51 + 3 heard (shining bronze-cuckoo, dunnock, North Island tomtit); new for the trip = 51; total for the trip to date = 51

The gang

The rugged West Coast looking south

Muriwai

The rugged West Coast, looking north

Gannets doing their thing

Coming in to land

A nice backdrop

White-fronted tern against the sky

Surf's up

White-fronted tern bringing in a small fish

White-fronted terns nesting

A change in direction

Well had almost three weeks at the Rena Spill in Tauranga.  Whilst there I was managing the Wildlife Field Operations, so during the peak of my time there we had almost 40 teams of 3-4 people each out on the beaches recovering wildlife, ranging over up to about 160km of beaches.  The work was incredibly challenging, not made any easier by political and financial grandstanding by conservation organisations who should know better, and at least one that is renowned for such antics.

But we had an incredible team of skilled people onboard, from Massey University, Maritime New Zealand and several overseas Bird Rescue and Oiled Bird response facilities.  A big thanks to Kerri Morgan, Helen McConnell, Brett Gartrell, Jim Lilley, Bill Dwyer, Phil Battley and Lynn Adams, as well as Barbara Callahan, Curt Clumpner and Mike Ziccardi.  Luckily, we had been training for such an event with regards to a Wildlife response for quite sometime, the impacts are still there, but we were able to react swiftly, with skilled trained people.  And of course then there were our trained responders and the huge number of volunteers that came out enmasse to help.  Truly wonderful to see.  And great to have such experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to call upon - people like John Dowding, David Melville and Tony Harbraken for the NZ dotterel capture, Paul Cuming and Dave Richards for taking the reins on the night penguin work and putting in so much effort, and all those teams on the beaches.  And then of course there is the massive contribution from the Department of Conservation...a government department currently stricken with the loss of around 100 jobs...the very people we have called upon in this time of need.  Let's hope this acts as a wake up call as these guys came from all around the country, eager to help, with skills, knowledge, and the logistical support we needed to lead the field teams.  It would have been a lot more difficult without them.

So with long days and not much time off it was home to repack and drive to Auckland to start again, this time a 21-day tour with Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ.  Did get to watch the All Blacks beat the French though!

M/V Rena on 7 October 2011 with Motiti Island in the right background and the mainland further beyond.

Wildlife response - Rena oil spill

Well the last week has been one of the most hectic I've ever had to deal with.  So you haven't heard much from me lately...

Last week I was called within hours of the MV Rena running aground in Tauranga, NZ, and mobilised as one of the core National Oiled Wildlife Response Team members to Tauranga.  I've been here since, and likely to be here for a little while yet.

Below is a link to an interview I did the other day on TV3, and thought I'd post it here just to give a little info on what I've been doing. I would just say that having been involved with this from the very start I am constantly amazed by the knowledge, expertise, and drive of the people involved, from all aspects of the response. This is not an ad hoc group running this response, but a team of incredibly experienced people who know what they are doing. If things haven't been done as those in the public expect, it has been for good reason.

I'd ask that people be as supportive of the efforts as possible, work with those involved directly and not form splinter groups of well meaning people. Lets work together on this. If you want to be involved with the Wildlife Response then please call 0800 333 771 (experienced bird handlers will be especially valuable over the coming weeks), and if you want to be part of the wider cleanup response then please call 0800 645 774.

http://www.3news.co.nz/VIDEO-Wildlife-expert-on-Rena-stranding/tabid/1216/articleID/228997/Default.aspx

New Zealand storm-petrel in the news

Well this is a little late, but things have been so hectic lately, that I thought better late than never!  Been trying to get my report on the Tukituki River Catchment completed, and it is taking a little longer than expected, and of course there is always something else to add.  I should have that finished in the next few days and then can get a few photos taken over the last few weeks on here...some good stuff of Australasian bittern, orchids, and plumed whistling ducks to put up.

In the meantime this article ran in the Sunday Star Times just over a week ago - on 25 September 2011.  The article had two of my images accompanying it - including the front cover of the 'Focus' section.  They came out really well, and in fact the article has received a lot of good interest.  It was really sparked by the publication of a paper in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, by Dr Bruce Robertson, with myself as a coauthor, entitled "When rediscovery is not enough: Taxonomic uncertainty hinders conservation of a critically endangered bird".  You can read that article here.

Anyway, more exposure for the story, the bird, and us.  The articles can also be seen here and here.