The News, Central Otago interviewed me a couple of weeks ago because of this web site initiative. The paper and…
Read More >>Rachel Hufton of Illuminate Ecology, reports following a cannon netting bird banding trip at Awarua Bay, Invercargill, an important wintering…
Read More >>above: “The Boss” of three kea resident near Aspiring Hut in the West Matukituki valley, Mt Aspiring National Park Mar…
Read More >>My favourite kea photo ~ why? I like the smug and comfortable look of confidence and happiness. Yes, kea can…
Read More >>above: an injured ruru / morepork found recently mid Feb. 2017 near Aspiring Hut, Mt Aspiring National Park A few…
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First we need to talk about the lupin’s favoured environment being mainily the braided rivers which drain the Southern Alps – rivers that find it impossible to run in a straight line, and be anything other than dynamic. When in flood braided rivers carry sediment from the ever rising mountains [geologically speaking] and landslides that…
The News, Central Otago interviewed me a couple of weeks ago because of this web site initiative. The paper and article will hit the streets today apparently. I’m wondering how it’ll present! Simon the interviewer steered me into aspects of my history in a very professional manner. Then sooner rather than later, since the web…
From the headwaters of the Makarora on the eastern flanks of the Southern Alps near the Haast Pass in Mt Aspiring National Park. The Makarora River flows south west and is joined by the Blue and the Young Rivers, then extending its braid plain further meeting its confluence with the Wilkin River before dissipating its…
The kakī, or black stilt, is an endemic native wading bird found only in New Zealand, and it is regarded by the Māori as a living treasure – a taonga species. The population in 2017 is 106 wild adult birds, so the release represents a significant increase in numbers – lets hope stoats and cats…
Last winter I attended the inaugural, for NZ, Sustainable Summits Conference, at Mt Cook Aoraki Village and did several posts on same. It was one of the most interesting multi-day events I’ve ever attended. For it’s duration my friend Carla Braun-Elwert filmmaker editor artist, made videos, and she has now published them as below. Click…
The Matukituki Charitable Trust which operates in Mt Aspiring National Park has just released a newsletter which is reproduced below, [unless otherwise indicated photos and italicised text are by Donald Lousley who btw is proud to have been involved trapping, monitoring and making photos towards assisting with the great results as outlined below]: Kia Ora…
A personal view by by Laurel Teirney, a former manager at Ministry of Fisheries The success of the community based/scientist/agency approach we adopted for looking after the whole of the Fiordland, and then the Kaikoura Marine Areas makes me feel we’ve struck on a “magic” formula that just might apply to our lakes and rivers…
Exciting News Today – kakī New Zealand’s black stilt, has been granted funds to help secure the population status of the worlds rarest wader. Juvenile kakī following release at Tasman Delta, Nov 2016 (Photo by Rachel Hufton) Finally, the Twizel Recovery Centre can begin to increase its capacity for hatching, rearing chicks and releasing juveniles…
Rachel Hufton of Illuminate Ecology, reports following a cannon netting bird banding trip at Awarua Bay, Invercargill, an important wintering site for the South Island New Zealand dotterel. A Nationally Critical Threatened Species of conservation concern. above: South Island dotterel with South Island pied oystercatcher and a bar-tailed godwit at high tide roost site, Awarua…
Today a very timely report was released by Parliamentary Commissioner for the environment. Dr Jan Wright. It follows on from a very succinct series of non political reports including the use of 1080 poison to help our birds: In a new report, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says New Zealand’s native birds are in a desperate situation.…
The Ida Valley and the little town of Oturehua is one of my favourite places, so I was very thrilled to come across this nice story today… Four Ida Valley owls were once centimetres from disaster.Now, with the strength to fend for themselves, the birds have flown off into the wild.Yesterday the young little owls…
Corey and his dog Ajax have stayed with me a few times at Aspiring Hut in Mt Aspiring National Park, and this morning on National Radio he was interviewed by Kim HIll, where he gives an excellent 15 min. interview about where we’re at in saving our incredibly intelligent, loveable and witty alpine parrot Hear…
The South Island kākā are Nationally Vulnerable and of significant concern, especially when you see how they behave with bearded men. Their amusing antics and raucousness led Māori to refer to them as chattering and gossiping – now we can add grooming: Video courtesy of Brian Miller ~ https://lifelogs.co.nz
Over the last few weeks a funny thing has been happening to me re. our New Zealand bird, the iconic tūī. Perhaps because I’ve been able to spend sometime with a few and apart from taking the opportunity to capture the way light reflects from their stunning feather colours and texture, I’ve also used their…
More properly named the Te Waikoropupū Springs, they’re the largest freshwater springs in New Zealand, and the largest cold water springs in the Southern Hemisphere and contain some of the clearest water ever measured this side of Antarctica’s near-frozen Weddell Sea, with a visibility of 63 metres. Antarctica aside the water clarity is in fact…
Mt Hobson (Hirakimata) on Great Barrier Island at 621m, is home to the largest breeding colony of black petrel (Taiko) Procellaria parkinsoni. The geologically and ecologically captivating slopes of Mt Hobson comprise semi-mature forest with remnants of ancient and precious conifer forest. The woodland assemblage combines endemics such…
Over the last few months I’ve often posted about the work being done in the West Matukituki Valley [home of Aspiring Hut] in Mt Aspiring National Park. Two of the key players are my old friends Stu and Heather Thorne, and I’m delighted here to repost an article by local journo Marjorie Cook of stuff.co.nz…
New Zealand’s clean green image personified in the Strath Taieri ~ photo Southern Light For the third summer running now in Mt Aspiring National Park, I interact with many tourists intent on being the overseas equivalent of a New Zealand tramper. Most know our “Clean Green” marketing ploy is not what it seems, and that…
A stoat killed by 1080 in Mt Aspiring National Park two years ago ~ photo southernlight.co.nz New Zealand’s imported predator the stoat, is quite an amazing animal, somewhat beautiful too, until you look at it’s claws and teeth! They have a very fast metabolism, thus needing constant snacks, and they don’t live to a…
Sunrise on Lake Wanaka from the mouth of Bullock Creek near the town center and dinosaur park children’s playground A summer “chop” on Lake Wanaka from the prevailing nor west winds in summer. The edge of Ruby Island to the right June 2017 – Black Peak in the back ground of this Lake Wanaka photo,…
Temperature inversion is a reversal of the normal distribution of temperature near the ground, in which a layer of colder air is overlain by a layer of warmer air. Whereas normally air temperature usually decreases as you go higher. There are four types: ground, turbulence, subsidence, and frontal, but in the case of large areas…
