Exploring the Catlins – New Zealanders playing as tourists – part 1

While composing the first of three posts [too many photos for one] on this southern Otago coast-line what comes to mind is shipwrecks! This, because of spending an hour or two in the museum at Owaka, and if I recall correctly there have been dozens of them [an on-line search will easily bring up the major 20 or so].

Maybe this emphasis on shipwrecks has been a marketing ploy to increase a sense of romantic associations with drama and the sea, but I note “The Catlins” were named after the whaler Captain Edward Cattlin, and that the region supported four whaling stations at one time.
Cattlin apparently purchased some land from chief Hone Tuhawaiki of the Māori Ngāi Tahu in 1840. The sale however was not endorsed by the relevant government agency/inquiry into the validity of claims land purchased by settlers from the Māori prior to 1840.
The main town relatively close to Dunedin is Owaka, which in Māori means “place of canoes”.

Never a truer word spoken – OK well, written on the well trodden path to the famous Nugget Point / Ka Tokata Lighthouse…
Catlins coastline interp board

It’s hard to get just one lone tourist, but if patient…
Nugget Point Lighthouse

Some of the rocks that are the bane of seafarers..
Nugget Point, Catlins

No place to be in the water! A gull, one of three species all endangered in NZ, makes play of the strong southerly pushing up the sea…
Nugget Point rocks and surf with a gull

Dusk and mist settle on the Catlins River estuary…
Catlins Estuary

Podocarp forest wind ravaged…
Catlins Estuary trees flagging

Sunset with sea mist…
Catlins Estuary sunset

Tides out..
Catlins Estuary sand patterns

I’ve never seen tui feeding on what lives on the seashore. It’s also one of the thinnest tui I’ve ever seen. Not sure if there is a lesson in this…
Catlins Estuary tui feeding

Wherever you wander in this area it’s wise to keep your eyes open, and when two lovers are spotted give them a wide birth of 20 meters or more. One of them is probably in pup, and at some point she’ll leave this bohemian setting and head inland into the podocarp forest to hide from the males – yes they can move surprisingly rapidly, and while there I saw one make quick work of scaling a vertical meter high bank…
Catlins Estuary sea lions

Purakaunui Falls – likes millions before us, they have to be seen. Personally they were much smaller than I was expecting…
Catlins waterfall

One more article to come about this region – the images are prepared and I hope to write up 300 words + in the next week.

See Part 2 here >>

Rogue weather for a roadie from Central Otago to the Mckenzie Basin and back again via Dunedin – Wanaka Images and Photography

Up until a couple off months ago I’d not done much in the way of New Zealand native bird photography for awhile, so wanting to visit relatives on the east coast starting from Timaru then proceeding through Oamaru to Dunedin and as I’ve done before I hatched a plan to visit favourite inland places that are quiet and lonely, such as the central lakes Ohau, Pukaki and Tekapo, where I could slowly walk or sit with my camera and wait.

Last time I visited the head of Lake Pukaki I had a marvellous time observing a number of endangered species including the black-fronted tern which live only in New Zealand – they feed on insects, lizards and small fish, and in this photo a few of them demonstrated their skill as low level aviators above the unique glacial blue waters of the Tasman River, which originates just upstream a little in Mt Cook National Park…

Black fronted tern

However on this trip that began in mid Nov. 2018, the weather changed the game plan – it was about as extreme as you ever get in New Zealand. Relatively speaking there was not a lot of damage fortunately but it played havoc with roads, notably in Central Otago where lots of rain over a short period of time is not the norm., thus as the vegetation is sparse there is no “blotter effect” to hold the water back from draining into rivers instantly, instead run-off is immediate and there-in lies the ingredients for overflowing rivers, landslips and general unusual doings.

In fact since then I’ve never seen our southern inland areas so green – Maniototo farm land..

Maniototo farm land

I’ve posted pictures of the trip on a sister site:

Lake A A wild nor wester pipes down the valleys…

See more images at the source: Rogue weather for a roadie from Central Otago to the Mckenzie Basin and back again via Dunedin – Wanaka Images and Photography

Freddy the fearless NZ falcon, and an update on the status of native birds in the West Matukituki Valley

There are cautionary things to be learnt from being under a bird – things that can come back to haunt us from childhood:

I was about four years old when hand-in-hand with my mother, like my hand in hers while my other held a flavoured and much savoured ice cream. All was good I recall, until suddenly with a plop, a passing sea gull dropped a deposit on it. I was gutted, but perhaps it was good start to training for life!

Fast forward a few too many decades to when I was recently working 6-7 months a year up the West Matukituki Valley in Mt Aspiring National Park looking after huts, and also monitoring birds and doing some trapping; all in an ice cream free zone.

It was the beginning of a relationship of sorts with four NZ falcon / kāreareas. The two parents had accepted me so it became the norm for them and their fledglings to hang out nearby, notably in the early autumn when there would be some serious training going on that was all about catching mice in the long grass by Aspiring Hut. It became a fascinating privilege to have them around me albeit ignoring me in a sort of aloof way.

A juvenile learning to hunt for mice, using hearing more than sight, but make no mistake they’re very aware of the slightest movement in the grass even when airborne and 30-40 mts away…

NZ falcon / kārearea by a DOC sign


This juvenile failed to find a mouse for lunch so flew up into a nearby tree and made such a racket hoping the nearby parents would supply some food – none was forth coming however…
Juvenile NZ falcon / kārearea


Adult NZ falcon / kārearea with a fresh lunch at Aspiring Hut…
NZ falcon / kārearea with a mouse


Three years on and the family had shifted a little down valley, but I was remembered as I awkwardly squirmed under this alpine shrubbery, and then even more awkwardly got the camera activated and pointed upwards. The bird literally yawned and then got on with dealing with an itchy ear, while I’m less than two meters away!
NZ falcon / kārearea


So that was one thing going on in the West Matukituki Valley near Wanaka, where predator control is on-going after a significant upscaling of same back in 2014 by the Dept. of Conservation [DOC] and the Matukituki Charitable Trust.

In a nut-shell it’s working with an increase of all bird species, to the point that people staying in the valley at Aspiring Hut this summer past of 2017-18 reported that the dawn chorus woke them up too early!

Amongst an impressive line up of New Zealand song birds the melodious bellbird / korimako takes line honours in the “what a lovely day for singing my best tunes” stakes. They are also very clever at being able to mimic other sounds they encounter, even other birds, or noisy plumbing pipes in a lodge…
NZ bellbird / korimako


The flighty tomtit is one of the indicator species that signals that the bird habitat is getting back in balance to their advantage. The other being the rifleman and south island robin / toutouwai. All are increasingly evident in the area…
NZ tomtit


For two years now we’ve delighted in the valley to hear again the haunting calls of the morepork /ruru at night. We’ve seen them with fledglings too, and even hanging about Aspiring Hut catching moths drawn to the light, where they delight with their ability to arrive in a ghost like manner with absolutely no wind noise. Gentle souls! This one I got to know quite well after discovering him with a badly damaged wing. Sadly it’d been fly-blown, and the injury was not survivable despite vet intervention and antibiotics…
Morepork / ruru


And of special note, because they’re such an expensive species to help, is that kea numbers have increased – the valley is indeed still a nursery…
Kea


To get to this happy point required much planning and thousands of hours of work by volunteers and DOC staff.

What gave the birds a real “leg up” in the initial stages was an aerial application of 1080 poison, one that I was actually present for, as in living in the area and monitoring results. Then the installation of hundreds of new traps got fast forwarded by getting a large DOC Community Fund grant to buy them, and when done the bird populations got the most significant boost ever when the valley qualified again [based on gathered data] for another 1080 application in the spring of 2017.

And while we don’t know so much about numbers of predators that have died of poison, we do know that 3958 have been trapped by various trusts and DOC in the seasons 2016-17 and 2017-18 between Wanaka and the West Matukituki operation, as discussed here. The information is very detailed now as well, so hot-spots can be identified [relative to species of predator], and the choice of lure and trap types refined.

Here are some photos of some of the stages:

Finding out which species of predator needed to be knocked back in numbers meant installing tracking tunnels – an awkward task at best, but very necessary…
Tracking Tunnels, Mt Aspiring National Park


When the line is set up then at regular intervals during the year an inked card is placed in each tunnel overnight. What hungry critters are about are attracted to a lump of peanut butter in the centre and after a nibble they leave tracks on departing. By contrast an opossum will simply pull the card out and partially rip it up…Examining tracking tunnel cards for footprints


 

Carrying these slick funnels designed to catch beech tree seeds [so as to be able to predict how much food in advance will be available to predators] was another memorable job, especially in dense bush and up and down steep banks  – not one I’d like to repeat often! The stakes are used to support the funnels, which are fitted with some panty-hose at the bottom…
NZ beech forest seed funnels


DOC staff and volunteers counting beech seeds – a fun evening. Each handful, which were shot down in this instance with a shotgun/large calibre bullet, was host to about 100 seeds…
DOC staff and volunteers counting beech seeds

Traps now totalling almost 800 have been installed from way down the valley by Mt Aspiring Station to above Liverpool and French Ridge [pictured] huts, even in terrain that is snow covered in the winter. At this altitude the at risk species is the amazing rock wren, which hibernates under the snow for the winter…
French Ridge hut


 

Training up fit and competent teams to safely service the traps and tunnels in this typical southern alps terrain was another step along the way…
River Crossing, NZ


Installing a virtual barrier of traps to stop the migration of predators wishing to enter the valley was carried out at Hells Gates just a few Km upstream from Mt Aspiring Station’s homestead it is comprised of about 110 traps offset at 50 mt spacings, across this gap…
Hells Gates Matukituki Valley


Here are a few thoughts on some of the details and relationships that need to be considered and planned for in any “big picture” project like this one:

Of all predators the cat is the hardest one to entice into either a live catch cage, or the likes of a DOC 200 trap, and has to be lured in, often by laying food outside until trust is established over a number of days. Also cats apparently have a range of 20kms. It’s a fickle and time consuming exercise.

Education is critical for cat control, political or not. Education of children is very effective, then they go home and pester the parents, and simultaneously hopefully talk them into back yard trapping and home moggie management.

Meanwhile targeting the rabbits for miles around is known to be effective. Stoats for one will also travel vast distances for a tasty rabbit, and when they get scarce the stoat then targets birds. I imagine the same applies to ferrets and cats. Eliminate rabbits and the problem diminishes.


Dead stoat and eggs used for lures…
Dead stoat and eggs

Mice are another critical species to get under control, and that’s a challenge all over NZ!

Since a rat plague usually follows on from a mouse one, [which follows a prolific seeding of trees, which follows warmer seasons].


It’s been a definite advantage in the valley to have 4wd access, but every now and then after a severe rain event, the road has to be repaired…
DOC 4wd and digger

The opossum numbers have to be quantified also, and appropriate strategies worked out to get their numbers down, and then the quality of the forest habitat soars in favour of the birds.

Baby opossum near Wilson’s Bluff. A little usual to see one like this in broad daylight, but it was sick I think, as it had a damaged eye and was very sluggish…
Baby opossum


Lastly hedgehogs seem to hold a special place in the heart of NZ gardeners, but are known to be as efficient as a stoat at eating eggs and killing fledglings. More education required here too, and despite their tiny legs they’re now found and trapped at relatively high altitudes in our remote high country and even in damp environments such as braided river deltas.

Tools of the trade, a DOC 200 trap and lures used such as rabbit paste. I think the local robin / toutouwai knows the benefits of good gear – actually while trapping it is quite normal to become friends with the locals, and to cement the relationship scuffing up some moss and dirt to reveal grubs is good form….
DOC 200 and baits


South Island robin / toutouwai
South Island robin / toutouwai


Frost in the valley. I’ve included this to illustrate that on the clearing on the right, called Butlers, the south island robin / toutouwai is now regularly seen. About a doz. were translocated to Aspiring Hut [2 hours walk up the valley] about a decade ago. We’ve known for sometime that they’ve been doing well especially of late, but I’m now very pleased that they’ve migrated this far away from the area they were released, which by-the-way is also by the mouth of the Rob Roy Glacier valley/walk, and quite close to the carpark/trailhead. 
Frost


Kaka – apparently 5 of were spotted several months ago at the Aspinall Family’s old Mt Aspiring Station Homestead at the mouth of the east branch of the Matukituki river, [donated to Dunstan High School and converted into a comfortable Lodge]. The observer was my friend Eric who has taught school courses there for many many years, and he said it’s the first time he’s seen more than one there. This good news will be due to what is known as the halo effect, DOC’s efforts, and to trapping by my late friend Sam Mcleod who sadly passed away just a few weeks ago. We’re looking forward to knowing more about what is in this valley quite soon – some trips are planned!
Kaka portrait

Lastly a heads-up about a new project I’m involved with for the Makarora catchment – the Aspiring Biodiversity Trust. I took on the building of the web site >>


Godwits in trouble on migration from New Zealand to breeding grounds in Alaska

Ecologist Rachel Hufton reports

Many shorebird populations are in serious decline along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. The rapid loss of coastal wetlands (attributed to land reclamation) in the Yellow Sea, which provide critical stop-over/ re-fuelling sites for shorebirds during migration is believed to be the cause of this alarming trend. The Yalu Jiang coastal wetland, a protected area in the north Yellow Sea, supports the largest known migratory staging population of bar-tailed godwits and great knot. Now, these shorebirds are further at risk as essential food resources such as bivalves and crustaceans are further under pressure due to a record cold weather period – the coldest in 69 years.

NZ Godwit
Godwits travel 17,000 km from the southern hemisphere to the north and back each each year

Bar-tailed godwits and red knots are currently looking their finest (in alternate plumage and full body weight) in preparation to leave New Zealand and begin migration north to their Alaskan breeding grounds. Most of New Zealands godwits have begun migration or have already arrived at the stop-over site in China at Yalu Jiang National Nature Reserve. Here a variety of shorebirds depend on the availability of abundant reserves of bivalves, crustaceans and polychaete worms to promote good body condition and breeding success. This year there are likely to be a lot of hungry shorebirds such as flocks of bar-tailed godwit (a IUCN Red List species) which might not complete their journey to Alaska to breed.


NZ Godwit
Bar-tailed godwits in alternate plumage with extra body fat to aid migration flight, Golden Bay wintering site, New Zealand

What Can Be Done

An ambitious plan to create a giant bird feeder kilometres long and wide, with farmed shellfish dropped over the mudflats to feed the birds and help them on their way to their breeding sites in good condition.

As well as helping the birds continue their life cycle this year, this work will also provide information about future mitigation/ compensation strategies for shorebirds. The mudflats of the Yellow Sea are being destroyed through reclamation and, increasingly more common extreme weather events.


Bar-tailed godwits getting ready to leave Miranda and fly to Alaska stopping off at Yalu Jiang Reserve

Immediate action is required to help contribute to funds already raised to feed the shorebirds at Yalu Jiang coastal wetland. The Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalist Trust (PMNT) is collecting donations in New Zealand to be transferred to the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society, a Birdlife International Partner.

Nelson Ecologist and Ornithologist David Melville is currently working in China and confirms that so far half the total funds required have been raised, but any further contributions would be much appreciated.

“We need to act fast as the seeding of clams has to take place on the spring tide series in Mid-April, or not at all.” He said (Radio NZ).


NZ red knot
Red knot in alternate plumage, feeding up before departing Golden Bay, NZ March 2017

This article highlights the importance of maintaining the quality of protected shorebird staging sites and other habitat, as important in shorebird conservation as is safeguarding of staging sites from land reclamation.

In New Zealand, pressure of pollution and coastal development are common and the outlook for shorebirds is a concern particularly for endemic species such as dotterel and wrybill as well as wintering Arctic migrants. However, the pressure here is on a reduced scale in comparison to the rate of habitat loss in the Yellow Sea – a global threat to shorebirds difficult to compensate.

Hope on the horizon

In January this year China announced it would dramatically curb reclamation of wetland for commercial development. A decision that can only have a positive impact on shorebird populations. Ongoing joined up international conservation efforts are essential for the future of endangered shorebirds.


NZ red knot
Red knot, Miranda wintering site 2016

Reference

Shou-Dong Zhang, Zhijun Ma, Chi-Yeung Choi, He-Bo Peng (2018). Persistent use of a shorebird staging site in the Yellow Sea despite severe declines in food resources implies a lack of alternatives. Bird Conservation International.

Rachel Hufton is a former shorebird guide of Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre (sister site of Yalu Jiang National Nature Reserve) and a founding member of the Aspiring Biodiversity Trust

Birds call out 1080 silent forest claim – courtesy of Radio NZ

Forget the emotional 1080 debate I reckon – it’s a dead duck – the below opens up tremendous opportunities to save our native birds by allowing us to know more as to numbers and distribution.

And something I learnt recently: our beech forests in the South Island and the kauri in North Island both rely entirely on our native birds to pollinate in the name of reproduction!

Loose the birds it seems, and we’ll lose our forests. Then that’d lead to excessively fast run-off in extreme rain events, which in turn are predicted to increase in frequency due to climate change.


[Ruru / morepork ~ photo source Radio NZ]

The use of 1080 for pest control is supported by a range of conservation and farming organisations, but opponents claim forests fall silent when the poison is dropped, saying this is evidence of harm to native bird communities…

Read more and listen at the source: Birds call out 1080 silent forest claim

 

NZ falcon becoming airborne
Kārearea / NZ falcon becoming airborne in Mt Aspiring National Park. [photo southern light’s Donald Lousley]