Surrounded by Saddlebacks

A tieke posing on a display nest box                         Photo: Carol Smith

I set off to do my first solo tunnel tracking audit. The weather was dicey, but not raining so it was decided to go ahead.  My route was to head to along the Fault line Track, then up the eastern side of the fence. To complete the loop I was to go down the Eastern Firebreak to met up with the main track again. I was pleased as it is a long time since I had walked to the end of the valley and I had never been down the EasternFirebreak.

 It was surprising to see how quickly the bush is recovering from the drought. The ferns are looking fresh and the trees are greening up. The birds were enjoying it too, talking noisily and feasting on the autumn seeds and berries on the trees. Beyond the top dam I came across a couple of saddlebacks, or tieke, feeding on pate berries, or insects that were also feeding on the fruit.



I was reminded of the time a friend and I were visiting Zealandia and a tieke decided to to sit on a display nest box and show off its brilliant colouring at close range.

                                                                                                                                 Tieke photos by Carol Smith.

They are from the family of wattlebirds which also include the huia (extinct), the kokako and the stitch bird.
The tieke has bright orange wattles on each side of its bill and a lovely russet coloured band across its back. They were busily running about on the branches on their long legs. They are not great flyers and prefer to run and bound about in the trees rather than fly. They are very personable birds who can amuse with their antics and their very distinctive calls.
The pate they were frolicking around in were looking a rich dark  green and not affected by the dry weather and had plenty of fruit. The leaves are spread out like a hand with seven fingers. It is not a big tree and is very common in the Sanctuary.
                           

                              

                             

Pate fruit

I worked my way around the perimeter checking tracking tunnels as I went. Lots of mouse prints, some invertebrates, a tuatara tummy smear and a few claw prints from a nosey robin or two was all that turned up.
I was pleased to be finished before rain started in earnest.