Invasion of the Kaka

Two juvenile kaka from Zealandia playing.                                                                               Photo David Brooks

The kaka (North Island parrot) of Zealandia are now becoming more visible throughout the city of Wellington. Fifteen years ago they were extinct in the Wellington area. From a population of  fourteen birds raised in Auckland Zoo and released into Zealandia there now must be 500 or more living in the urban environment of Wellington.
I had the pleasure of being a nest monitor this year and kept a watch on ten chicks as they grew from fluff balls to fledglings. It gives me a warm feeling to think they are out on their own now and enjoying a life in a city that welcomes (well mostly) their presence.

The young birds spend a couple of years in gangs, hooning about before they settle down to finding a partner and raising their own chicks. They are beginning to nest outside the Sanctuary and Trellessick Park is a great place for them to move into. For the past thirty years people have been replanting and caring for the Ngaio Gorge area, keeping the stream clean and building walkways through it. Trellessick Park is included in the area.
People who live along its boundaries are lucky to have native bush all around yet live within minutes of the city. As yet they have not landed in our garden but I see and hear them flying overhead quite regularly. We have plenty of native trees to attract them in so I am sure one dayI shall look out my window and see them looking back at me. It is great to see a video like the one below which shows how kaka and Wellingtonians are appreciating each others company.

Invasion of the kaka

Its a Jungle out There!

This adventurous tuatara found life on the outside not much fun

Zealandia is an eco-sanctuary in the middle of Wellington City. There is a 9.6 kilometre predator proof fence around it acting as a barrier keeping out all mammals except mice. However, birds can leave the protection the valley provides and fly out if they so choose. As their populations increase this will happen more often as events this past month have proven. Birds, and even an extremely adventurous tuatara have decided to see what its like on the outside and have got themselves in trouble. Alfie Kaka's blog has kept us up to date with their exploits.

An adventuous tuatara was found outside Zealandia with a badly damaged tail. Evidently it had climbed over the fence and then fallen to the ground. On impact its tail partially severed. Normally if a tuatara is being attacked by a predator it will drop its tail thus sacrificing a part of itself as tasty morsel while saving its life. Injured, it gave a passing dog walker a fright as she had never seen a creature like it before. She contacted the right people though and the tuatara was taken to the zoo animal hospital where they operated to remove its tail. It is now recooperating and doing well.

The fall from the top of the fence severely damaged this tuatara's tail.

Being prepared for the operation to remove the tail.

Coming round after the tail had been carefully removed along one of the natural breaking points

A cautionary tale

The kakariki or red fronted parakeet is a smallish bird - soft green in colour with a red flash on it forehead. In early days there were so many of them their feathers were used to stuff mattresses. Nowadays they are found in three protected areas - Kapiti Island, Matiu/Somes Island and Zealandia. They fly in noisy flocks and often all you see is a flash of green. Recently one was rescued from a cat's mouth. There is talk now in Wellington about restricting cats' roaming and hunting by keeping them indoors or not replacing the pet cat once it has died, which has been our choice.

A kakariki rescued from the jaws of a cat.

I look forward to the day when these gorgeous little birds are as common as they were before the arrival of settlers.

It was rehabilitated at Wellington zoo then released into Zealandia.

The young kaka was given extra bands -an orange and a blue one, so is now known as BOY.

Kaka or North Island parrot fledglings have been very entertaining as they learn about the world. They are clumsy teenagers, falling off perches that don't quite hold their weight. They struggle to get the hang of feeders and their flying skills need a lot of practice before they are competent. One juvenile was found, stunned, in Te Aro Valley which is not too far from the Zealandia eco-sanctuary. The residents rallied round to care for him and he was taken to Wellington Zoo where he was rehabilitated then released into Zealandia. All young kaka this year are banded with a blue band only so are affectionately known as 'bunbies' short for blue unbanded. He was not keen to leave the safety of his box for the jungle but  with some tough love he made it.
To see his reluctant release go to  https://www.facebook.com/AlfieKaka.Zealandia and scroll down to the video clip.

BOY was released in Zealandia. He was rather nervous about the whole thing considering he had had a bad experience earlier on in the week.

Kiwi Counting



The Little Spotted Kiwi

One of the most wonderful activities I have volunteered to do in Zealandia Eco Sanctuary is kiwi counting. Each year between January and April two pair of volunteers are sent in to the valley an hour after dusk to specific spots. One is high up on the eastern side of the valley which involves a steep walk and the other is on the western side on top of a viewing tower and is easier to reach.

Kiwi counting is rather like blind dating with other types who give their time freely to support the Sanctuary - we are paired up by the organiser of the roster and we meet up on the night. In earlier times when there were less people involved we could take a family member or a friend and it was a great way to introduce people to the wonder of what was happening in our own back yard.

Kiwi have poor sight. They have whiskers to help them sense their environment and a long sensitive beak with nostrils on the end. they often use their beak as a third leg for balance as they potter along in search of grubs and worms.

We have to be ensconced on site an hour after dusk. Then the magic starts. As the light fades the sounds of the day birds slowly diminish. There is a short period of quiet then the haunting calls of the ruru (owl) and the little spotted kiwi are heard echoing through the valley. Nowadays with the increase of kaka (North Island parrot), this quiet period may not be quite so quiet. They are noisy and active during the day and are reluctant to go to bed at night. Their calls, chatters and arguments may continue on till 10pm or sometimes midnight.

When we hear a kiwi call we note the direction of the call using a compass. Smart phones come in handy here, though I usually check with a real compass to make sure all is working properly. We make a note of the time of the call, whether it is male or female and estimate how far away the call sounds.

In the early days - eight to ten years ago - hearing seven or eight calls was a very good night. Now we feel disappointed if we get less than twenty. Now extinct on the mainland for over one hundred years the little spotted kiwi are only found in sanctuaries and off shore islands. In fact we are very lucky to have them still around as they have found through DNA testing that all the birds now alive have come from five ancestors - and only two of them female. These five birds were placed on Kapiti Island near Wellington in 1910 where they were protected from mammals. Slowly their numbers grew and now we have around two thousand of these charming flightless little birds.


Young kiwi are born fully feathered


The information garnered is collated by Zealandia staff and is used to figure out kiwi territories and to estimate numbers.

We listen for an hour, then pack up and walk out through the valley. Very often our paths will cross with that of a kiwi and we will pause and watch as it goes about the business of probing the ground with its long beak for worms. They are usually very intent on what they are doing and are not disturbed by us. Recently we saw a newly hatched chick foraging away. After living off egg yoke remnants, they become independent after a week or so and have little input from their parents. They are born fully feathered and ready to go out in the world.



Young little spotted kiwi are left to their own devices early on, making them very vulnerable to predators. In fact they can only survive in a protected environment

I think one of the delights of living in Wellington is the fact I can be in the bush and surrounded by nature ten minutes from the central city. I almost get to see a kiwi a week. Most people never see them in the wild. I am very very lucky.



Kiwi are more furry than feathery



Check this link to hear the sounds of the little spotted kiwi
The little spotted kiwi

Wellington's Cable Car.

The cable car with Wellington City in the background

The city of Wellington is in the shape of half a bowl if you get what I mean. It curls around the harbour and rises steeply away from it. The university is situated at Kelburn, a steep rise from the city. The easiest way to get up to this suburb is to use the cable car. It has been running for 112 years and is of the funicular type. As one cable car goes up another comes down. They act is a counter balance to each other.    For more information check this link:    Cable car information

Early days for the cable car

An early cable car is now in the nearby museum

 I remember it in the good old days when you could ride on the outside. It was a lovely start and end to the working day to be perched on the specially designed seats and looking out over Wellington as you trundled along, disappearing into tunnels at regular intervals.

If the weather was right, travelling on the outside was a pleasure in the seventies

 Nowadays everyone is stowed carefully and safely on the inside, protected from the weather. At the top the views over the city are incredible. The Botanic Gardens are to one side and Victoria University on the other. The Cable Car Museum is situated at the top as well as a restaurant which makes the most of the brilliant views.

At the top

Ready to climb on board. Note the funicular cable system

View from the cable car

At the moment Wellington's Arts Festival is running and the cable car has got into the action. My visitor and I went for a ride as it was a beautiful day and we wanted to experience the cable car and its Arts Festival addition. It was pretty cool.We got on quickly and sat up the front to get the best view. There are several tunnels and one was done up as a light display which was great fun for everybody. As we went through the tunnel lights flashed different colours in a psychedelic pattern. Only one tunnel was lit up though - we wanted all the tunnels to flash and dazzle.
Once down we did not get off and rode up again for the fun of it. Very, very cool!

The tunnel lit up for a light show

Lights changing colour and flashing

                            

Wellington's Weta Workshop

Gollum from Lord of the Rings at the Weta Cave

Over christmas and summer we have had a wealth of visitors and one of the bonuses is getting to see Wellington City through their eyes and visiting attractions we have not visited for a while.
Yesterday I took guests to the Weta Cave and toured the Weta Workshop, a place where props are made for such films as The Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, the Narnia series, Avatar and the children's series the Wot Wots.

One of my favourite characters was on display - Lonely Dog. He was created by a New Zealander in a series of paintings and Weta Workshop created a sculpture of him.

Lonely Dog

Much is kept hidden from visitors and the shop is too small for what needs to be displayed but it is a great place to go and the guided tour is well worth its modest cost. The guide is usually a Weta props worker who has some spare time. They give their own unique view on what you see which makes the tour always refreshing.

The name weta is taken from New Zealand's large insect

s, the scary looking but harmless creature that inhabits our forests and our gumboots if we are foolish enough to leave them outside overnight.

A Wellington tree weta after which the Weta Cave shop in Wellington is named

We got to peek through windows to see where custom made swords were being created for huge sums of money. We got to feel armour that looked heavy but was created by plastic and foam. Everywhere you looked were weird and wonderful creatures staring back, often distorted and menacing. We were allowed to touch and they had an uncanny real feeling to them. We were not allowed to use photography during the tour, but could snap anything in the shop area.

An incredible collection of film memorabilia is being gathered and the need to find a better place to exhibit it is growing. Weta is also working on creating large sculptures for a sculpture park. Again they are not sure where the sculpture park will be, but it will be a boon to the city when it is finalised.

Wellington is now linked to the movie director Peter Jackson, Weta Digital and Weta Workshop for time immemorial and hopefully the city can embrace our movie fame by finding space for their incredible collection and a spot for their huge sculptures to be displayed.

Gandalf's Hat

Close up of Gandalf

Gandalf the Grey

A sculpture of an elf from the Lord of the Rings

Hobbit feet

Lurtz the Orc

A troll outside the Weta Cave

A larger than life troll

Troll number three

Lurtz on a warg

This character leers above the shop assistant

There are is a display of miniatures for sales

A close up of one of the miniatures

An array of helmets for sale

A collection from the District Nine movie

An intricate shield for sale

King Kong

A Young Kaka Leaves the Nest.

Lynn Freeman, one of the volunteers at Zealandia Eco-Sanctuary, staked out a kaka nest recently hoping to photo the young fledglings leaving their nest. Her hours of patience was rewarded with some wonderful footage which I will link this blog to. She also took a marvellous series of photos (posted also on Alfie Kaka's Facebook page) showing a young kaka take its first steps into the big wide world.  I have reproduced them here as well as her dialogue musing about what a young kaka may be thinking.

One small step for kaka, one giant leap for bird-kind

Just as well I practised a few yoga moves while in the nestbox! 

What a struggle! I call this yoga pose "downward bird". 

Trying to turn around is very challenging 

Hmmm.... maybe it's safer back inside 

Now Dad has turned up to give us some wise instructions on how to fledge 

OK, I'm out. Now what? 

I'd like to climb up here... but I can't quite reach and grab

Aaaaarrgghhh! The inevitable pratfall as gravity asserts itself. Uncle Alfie Kaka warned me about this!— at Zealandia Ecosanctuary.

Well it looks like I've fledged!

Hmmm... so this is the big wide world!

Thank goodness Dad is here to keep an eye on me.

Fledging Phase One

Kaka fledging phase two