I have dried and ground all of my samples and received confirmation that they are safely at Waikato University for processing. This project will be on hold until I get result back from the isotopic analysis. In the meantime I am preparing for the World Seabird Conference in October and working on wrapping up my dissertation. In NZ I was fortunate to work with several seabird biologists who will be attending this conference, I am looking forward to seeing them again. Strangely, i have been asked to participate in the symposium on ecosystem services provided by Arctic seabirds. My talk at the conference will be on ecosystem services of seabirds in Hawaii with a focus on the costs and benefits of seabird restoration actions.
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This is a 220 ha island and is one of New Zealand’s premier island sanctuaries. It is managed as a scientific reserve and allows visitors all year round. There is one bunkhouse on the island that people can reserve a bunk in to stay overnight and a ferry that makes trips to the island several days per week. Originally this island was covered in pohutukawa forest with kohekohe and taraire in the sheltered valleys. However, the Maori settled on this island for centuries followed by European farming, and by the 1970’s the island was a rolling grassland with only a few pockets of native forest remaining. Conservation began on Tiritiri in the 1970’s when farming leases were not renewed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). A huge native plant and tree program began in 1984. A nursery was set up on the island and by 1994 more than 280,000 trees had been planted. Thousands of volunteers have helped over the years with participants including school children, conservation groups, sports clubs and many others. It is now 60% forested and 40% open grassland. The reason for my trip to Tiritiri Matangi was purely recreational. I went to see birds. The weather was perfect, it was sunny and fairly warm. On the ferry ride over we disturbed hundreds of fluttering shearwater and saw Variable Oystercatchers, Australasian Gannets and Black-backed Gulls as we pulled in. The birds on the island were amazing. There were so many of them, such close amazing views. I saw almost everything that I had hoped to see in the first day of cruising around the island. A good pasta dinner was complemented by good company. There were 2 researchers, two volunteers and a family of 7 also staying in the bunkhouse overnight. Around 8pm, with red cellophane on my head torch, I wandered out into the night to look for kiwi. The moon was full and the night still and lovely. First I saw dark blobs run away from me in a field, I wanted them to be kiwi, but they looked too dark and they ran an awful lot like Pukeko. Then I went down to the beach, since I had seen kiwi foot prints on the beach earlier in the day. I saw two birds near the water but again they didn’t quite look right for kiwi. I got closer and finally determined them to be a pair of Brown Teal, the nocturnal endemic duck. I walked through the forest and followed the tracks up and down for about an hour and a half, scanning my light through the forest and to the boardwalk, when suddenly maybe 1.5 m away was a kiwi, standing in my light and looking at me. We stared at each other for a bit and then it turned and started to walk away. I was pretty excited, so I watched it for a few seconds longer and then left it to forage for dinner. I saw another one a few meters further only mostly just its eye shine and then its furry looking rump moving away. I was pretty happy as I walked out of the forest and back along the beach. As I walked on the beach the foam of the small crashing waves was so bright, I wondered if it was due to the very bright moon or phosphorescence. Then as I caught up to the two researchers who had been out collecting blood from Grey-faced petrels I saw them stomping and swirling a stick around in the water and knew for sure it was phosphorescence. Every step as I neared the water caused shockwaves of phosphorescence out in the sand. A beautiful night and I was happy in my sleeping bag till dawn. It is probably no surprise that the birds on Tiri are almost overwhelming in the morning. There were so many parakeets, tui, Kokako, whitehead and everything else that it was an amazing cacophony. I birded away the morning and hiked the more scenic hikes in the afternoon. A big shout out to all of the work that the volunteers and rangers do out there. The island was so inspiring and such a great example of what is possible. Full bird list for Tiritiri Matangi:
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AuthorI am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Natural Resource and Environmental Management (NREM) interested in an interdisciplinary approach to conservation and natural resource problem solving. Archives
January 2017
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