Banding the Babies.

My first nest of kaka chicks to be checked, chipped and banded

Our first nest of kaka babies have been banded. I was privileged to be able to attend and help out. As our kaka North Island parrot population has done so well since the first birds were were brought from Auckland Zoo they are no longer going to be individually banded (not enough colour combinations). The 500th chick has just been banded. From now on they are going to wear a band depicting the year of their birth only. 2013 is going to be light blue.

Bronwyn with the 500th kaka chick to be banded at Zealandia.                               Photo by Alfred Kaka

I was volunteering when the first cohort of about fourteen birds were brought to Zealandia in 2002. They were held in an aviary as they adjusted to their new surroundings and I was a part of the team to care for them. I took food in, counted them and checked they were OK. I heard their 'wolf whistle' alarm call for the first time. A zoo keeper had taught it to one kaka who taught to his mates. They have taught their mates and their kids and now it is known as the 'Wellington dialect' and  rings out daily throughout the city.

There were five in the nest ready to be checked, chipped and banded. My job was to be ready with a bag to pop over the chick's head as the handler brought it out. Once the chick was in the bag the handler took over. He carried it up to the person whose job it was to hold the chick while the handler got statistics and feather samples. My job now was to be recorder.
Linton called out measurements and I repeated them as I wrote them down. He measured the beak's width and length, the length of the wing and tail and the length of a tarsus or toe. Then feather samples were collected for DNA and disease analysis. A blue band was placed on the handiest leg and a check for mites was done. Then last but not least a microchip was inserted under the skin in the neck. I had imagined a tiny square biscuit shaped thing but of course that would be uncomfortable indeed. In fact it is a tiny glass vial which is placed in a syringe gun and injected. Monitoring will occur at feeding stations. When the kaka comes in for sugar water it will poke its head through a plastic circle which will record who is who. The chip was checked and I wrote the number down.

The preferred band of fashion this year is of a sky blue colour

The chicks, other than wriggling a bit, coped well with the intrusion. They got their own back by pooing on tJudi whose job it was to hold them still. Their Mum, BY-W was an interested bystander. She perched on a branch quite close to us and watched. She did not worry about her chicks being handled and remained happy and calm. This is not always the case. Some mothers vocally let the handlers know their disapproval which can set the whole valley off screeching and wolf whistling.

When all the information needed had been gathered the chick was popped back into the nest box and the next one was lifted out. It took awhile to do our five chick checks but I thoroughly enjoyed being part of it.

I also learned that 2013 has been an extra successful breeding season with nests of four, five or six chicks being reared. As a result of this, for the first time, chicks are being transferred elsewhere before they fledge. Young kaka are being transferred to Mt Bruce in the Wairarapa to enhance that population.

A Zealandia kaka chick having a medical check at Pukaha Mt Bruce which will be its new home.
Photo from Alfie Kaka's Facebook page

It is wonderful to think that Zealandia's kaka population has grown so much that we can now start translocating them out. Many of our founding birds from Wellington Zoo are still going strong, the most well known one being Alfie. Now their progeny are helping to reverse the endangered status of  kaka throughout the North Island.

The chicks will now be left in their nest boxes to fledge with no more human intervention.

Ship tours and owlets.

A putangitangi duckling

It is the tourist boat season so I am once more taking guided tours in Zealandia. I love showing off New Zealand's natural beauty and that of Zealandia in particular.
This weeks tour started with a rush as I had misread my email and had not realised I was down to be lead guide. I managed to get there with ten minutes to spare thank goodness.
Our first stop is usually at the lower dam and today we were rewarded with the sight of a pair of putangitangi or paradise shelducks and their flock of gorgeous black and white ducklings. They are New Zealand's only shelduck and are endemic. This family had been born outside the sanctuary but Mum and Dad brought their young brood to the gates and hung about until they were let in. Evidently they did this last year as well which I think is very clever of them. It would be smarter still if they made their nest on the inside to start with. They were quite happy to have their family photographed  and oohed and aahed over.

Dad and kids

Mum and ducklings

We headed into the valley and had a very happy two hours as I pointed out the various birds about as well as giving snippets of information on the trees and our hopes for the future. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. Maybe summer is finally on its way.

A pair of fantails or piwakawaka flitted about our heads as we made our way out. The group had a few minutes to shop and see the exhibition before I farewelled them and made sure we had not lost anyone. As all were present and accounted for I waved them off and the bus departed.

I had decided to make a day of it in the Sanctuary so had a quick lunch at the Rata Cafe before setting off to check my kaka nest boxes. First though, I had another  nest site to check. Next week is kaka week and for the first time we are taking guided tours to see almost fledged kaka nestlings. I am to be involved this weekend and thought it would make sense to track down my nest box before I had a group trailing along behind. My ability to read maps and know where things  in space are including myself tend to be a challenge so being prepared is a necessity. The new site was on the way to my normal nest boxes so I found it quite easily which was a relief.

My first nest box had chicks looking quite mature now. They are a bit scruffy as they lose down and gain flight feathers. Very soon they will be banded and we will no longer check on them as they could tumble out of the nest box when it is opened, due to overcrowding as they jostle for space.

Our oldest chicks are ready for banding

The next box has been taking over by interlopers - an owl or ruru. I approached carefully but Mrs Owl heard me and popped her head out to observe me. I slowly moved closer and she opted to fly to a nearby branch and sat there 'churring' to reassure her little chick born less than  week ago. I opened the box to see a little white fuzz ball with tiny eyes just starting to open. I took a photo but as I closed the door I heard a commotion. A tui and two kaka had spied the mother and were on to her in a second, screeching and chasing her away. Other birds seem to know that ruru are silent killers of the night and do not like them much. Given the chance they will get their own back and attack them. I backed off and watched. The little ruru made her way back cautiously, flying low to the ground. Getting closer to the nest box she started to 'chur,' making a quiet buzzing sound. Immediately a kaka screeched a reply. It perched above where the sound had come from but was unable to spot her. I decided to back off at this point hoping she would make it safely back to her chick.

Our tiny ruru chick

My next nest box had three growing kaka chicks in it. One was a lot smaller than the other two but it seemed healthy and strong.

Three chicks at different stages of growth

The runt of the litter is looking pretty healthy

The last nest box had eggs recently laid so I settled down to wait for the mother to appear. After ten minutes she flew in to the top of the box. I quickly checked the nest before she entered and found three newly hatched chicks and three eggs. All was well so I departed to allow Mum to get back to her babies.

The newest chicks on the block

On the way back I stopped to photo a tree fern displaying a lovely set of new fronds unfolding. Representative of the unfurling of new life, I am always taken aback by their artistic beauty.

Beautiful new koru unfurling

This weekend is going to be exciting as I mentioned before that we will be taking visitors up to see young kaka chicks which are at the not quite fledged stage. People will get to see them as part of Kaka Week. The North Island parrot was extinct in Wellington until they were brought back into the environment at Zealandia. The exercise has been hugely successful and now they are spreading into the suburbs. People curious to learn more about them will get their chance over the next week as various activities are run.

Kākā Week

A volunteer checks in with kākā at Zealandia

Photo By Janice McKenna

A volunteer checks in with kākā at Zealandia

Photo By Janice McKenna

A volunteer checks in with kākā at Zealandia

Photo By Janice McKenna

Join us for special activities as we celebrate these boisterous and charming natural ambassadors of the sanctuary. Meet our volunteer kākā monitors, find out how we support kākā in the valley,  and learn what you can do at home to help too.

Activities for all ages, 11am – 3 pm, Sundays, 17 & 24 November.

• barbecue
• bird monitoring with binoculars
• tracking with telemetry antennae
• make your own pest tracking tunnel
• a peek at kākā chicks in a nest box
• … plus lots more.

Themed talks and clue trails all week, 17 – 24 November.

 Meet Allison the kākā volunteer & Telling a kākā’s age from its bands

Saturday Half Iron-man Practice

The not so Scorching Bay

My half iron man challenge is getting closer. My training squad met at Scorching Bay at six thirty in the morning ready to go. I had got all my gear together the night before as I knew that at that time in the morning it would be easy to leave a helmet or wetsuit behind in my hurry to make the deadline.
It was a beautiful morning which bode well. The sea was dead calm but I was not fooled. The name Scorching Bay is a misnomer. Twenty-four degrees Celsius is a hot day in Wellington in mid summer and we were nowhere near that. The sea washes in from Cook Strait and is never warm. It goes from toe and temple freezing in winter to just bearable if you move around a lot in summer.
 I placed my bike in the rack and sorted out footwear and food in my tri-box so I would be organised and ready after the swim.

Putting on my wetsuit was a mission despite use of plastic bags and rubber gardening gloves to haul the thing on. If you don't get it on correctly you will get chafing which is not pleasant. At the last practice I had finally got the suit on when I felt something sticking into my leg. I asked my fellow squad members to go delving down my suit and try and fish it out. One tried with no success then decided this was all getting too intimate so I had to take the suit almost off to retrieve a piece of stick that had inexplicably got wedged on my thigh. This time I was careful no foreign items got entangled where they shouldn't. I felt the water temperature had improved a tad from last time and decided to dispense with my booties which are good toe-freeze preventers. No way was I going to part with my bonnet though. Getting into Wellington water is like biting into an icecream with nerves exposed in your teeth, only every nerve in your head is exposed which causes a screaming pain until your head and brain goes mercifully numb. After my first experience of this I visited a swim shop which sold me a bright yellow and black neoprene bonnet which had a strap going under my chin and locked onto my head with velcroe. I looked decidedly odd but if it helped with the pain I was for it. And if I needed rescuing having sunk I would still be glowing at twenty metres down.

We were sent down into the sea to acclimatise before we started the swim. I swam about with my bonneted head submerged. The screaming pains diminished quicker. The sea was a degree or two warmer and my bonnet definitely helped. We came out and lined up on the beach. We had to swim for an hour around three buoys set up in a triangle. Completing a circuit was about three hundred and thirty metres. We went over the trick of setting up points in the distance to help you keep on course when the buoys were less visible due to waves. This discovery had been a boon to me as I had never figured out how to swim straight before. I always had to stop and peer about every so often to figure out where I was - and usually I was heading off to Antarctica or in a direct line to collide with a ferry. It was reassuring to know there were three pairs of eyes on us - one in a kayak and two on the beach. At last practice I had swum up and down parallel to the shore where I felt secure but today I was going to do the deep water course.

Then we were off. I swam off at a relaxed pace and concentrated on breathing and checking where I was going. The last buoy of the triangular course was close to shore so after every lap I could take stock as I stood then waded around it before setting off again. Towards the end of the hour I seemed to lose control of my hands. I couldn't keep my fingers together to push the water behind me and my wrists had no strength left. My hands flapped about like dying fish, slapping the top of the water instead of carving into it. The guy on the kayak who was patrolling said my hour was nearly up so to make this my last lap. I was glad to hear that as without hand control I wasn't making much progress any more. Upon standing up I found the rest of my body was not much better. I walked out like a drunk weaving my way out of the pub. My dead fish hands would not work and I could not grasp the string to pull down the zip of my wet suit. The person next to me had the same problem so we helped each other and somehow got the zips down and peeled off our neoprene casings like insects shedding their old skin.

One of the other competitors mentioned that he had got confused while swimming as the buoy he was aiming at kept shifting. Upon getting closer he realised he was aiming for me and my bonnet. A couple of others said they had had the same problem as I was the brightest glowing object out there.

Is it a bonnet or a human buoy?

We were given a small break to prepare for the next phase which involved cycling a circuit then running a circuit for the next three and a half hours. I was feeling decidedly waterlogged having drunk a fair quantity of salt water during the sea swim. A toilet stop helped plus a face rinse to freshen up. I sorted out my tri-box, again,




putting running shoes and sun hat next to my bike. As I was still chilly I added leg warmers and  arm warmers to my tri suit before gearing up in cycle shoes, gloves and helmet. I downed a banana, a ghastly gooey gel and electrolyte fluids. I was ready for the next effort.

Keeping up the fluids

We started with a run to the bikes - well a sort of a run - cycle shoes with great lumpy bike clips on them make any agility in the running department impossible. It was more like a hobble which was exacerbated for me by the fact my feet were still numb and not receiving messages from my brain in any sort of coherent way. Once on the bike things improved. The slight warm breeze dried me and my clothes as I whizzed along to the turning point and back.
Alas my bladder began to whine again. I must have drunk half the ocean. At transition I had to find the toilet once more. I have to say the relief was exquisite.

The run section felt odd as my feet had not quite thawed. Once again my bladder went from whining to nagging to aggressively haranguing. I surrendered and shot into a handy patch of flax bushes. Returning to the road afterwards in a far more relaxed frame of mind I slowly picked up pace and developed a rhythm. The day was superb for running as it was warm but not hot. The side of the road was uneven and the road itself narrow. I had to keep a good vigil as cars, cyclists and runners kept passing and there was no separate footpath. Sunny calm days can be rare in Wellington so there were plenty of people out to enjoy the day.

Cycling was pleasant as it was warm and calm

I got into a good pattern at last - cycle, eat and drink, run, eat and drink, then repeat the routine over and over until the time was up. I gradually shed clothing as I warmed up until I needed only my tri-suit.

Almost finished - bbq coming up

It was great to collapse on the grass in the sunshine and finally relax. We shared our experiences as we tucked into a barbecue of salads and venison. In a months time we would be doing this for real. Finally I felt that this challenge might be within my capabilities and even fun - maybe!

Babies,babies, babies.

The kaka nest boxes  my buddy and I monitor are all full. Five young in one nest, three in another and six eggs recently laid in our last vacant box. Next week our ruru or morepork eggs should hatch as well. The kaka couple in our last box have proved tricky to identify but at last we have them sorted. They are a most loving couple. The male is very attentive, softly calling to his partner who is sitting on the nest. When she comes out he feeds her, and grooms her, giving her 'head noogies'. They are a pleasure to watch.

New-borns

bigger

One small, one medium, one large kaka baby. Photo: A.McPherson

True feathers are beginning to appear through the down on the bigger chicks.  Photo: A. McPherson

The first born kaka babies are getting ready to fledge so have been microchipped and banded, Alfie Kaka  ( https://www.facebook.com/AlfieKaka.Zealandia) tells me we have have just banded our 469th chick to be born at Zealandia which is amazing.

Almost ready to fledge.                              Photo: Lynn Freeman

Of course other residents are nesting as well. Kakariki nestlings are becoming ready to fledge and have been banded. It is a good chance to see them close up and marvel at their lovely colouring. They were introduced into the Valley about three years ago and have settled well. They are also on nearby offshore islands so will be able to intermix with these different populations. When settlers arrived in Wellington these beautiful little parakeets were so numerous they used their feathers to stuff their mattresses. Nowadays their numbers are so reduced they are rarely seen outside sanctuaries and offshore islands.

One kakariki..

two kakariki...

three kakariki...

four - no, five kakariki chicks!                     Photos sourced from Alfie Kaka's blog

Beautiful green and blue feathers are developing. Photos sourced from Alfie Kaka's blog.

baby kakariki


The kahruhiruhi  or pied shag babies have grown tremendously over the last month. There is now only one per nest and they are covered with a soft grey down. They are almost as big as their parents.

Mother and baby karuhiruhi

A couple of weeks later the baby is almost as big as Mum.

Common mallard parents and ducklings are everywhere, and though not native are fun to watch. They have less reserve in Zealandia and are almost under your feet at times.

Baby ducklings are everywhere

T2 and Puffin seem to be having a surge of spring energy as well. As I was coming back from kaka nest monitoring which had not gone well due to high winds and teeming rain I saw a staff member do a sideways screech to a halt as the takahe pair decided to amble in front of him. They had left their normal gazing patch near the feeders and had headed up across the main track and up into the bush. They chose to return by playing chicken with a bike. I continued on my way to the takahe gate and as I went through casually glanced behind to discover Mr T2 right on my heels. I had to ooze through the gate to keep him on his side, then kept watch as another staff member went through the vehicle gate on the four wheeled farm bike to ensure he did not sneak through then. He was definitely in a skittish mood and out to explore. I live in hope that they will produce a viable egg this season even though they have been unsuccessful for at least the last eight.

Feed me!

Contented babies with feathers starting to emerge.                                  Photo: A.McPherson

Losing down and growing feathers, our kaka chicks are doing well. Photo: A. McPherson