Last-minute preparations are well under way for the arrival of Little Spotted Kiwi. Those coming from Tiri have all been located, measured and fitted with radio trackers so they can be easily found on the day of transfer. The same thing is happening on Kapiti, while at Shakespear there is a bit of frantic work finishing fences and kiwi boxes for the transfer and putting up signs. Below is the latest clip from iseevideo, this time showing the catching under way at Tiri:
A comprehensive digital encyclopedia of NZ birds is now available online. To quote Graeme Taylor, DOC Principal Science Advisor: This new website has an excellent function that can be used to identify birds where the people concerned know very little about birds in general. It uses a system of habitat groups or broad plumage patterns…
We now have 20 Little Spotted Kiwi back at Shakespear, 10 from Tiritiri Matangi and 10 from Kapiti. Here is a video about the powhiri for them, and their subsequent release. They are still being monitored daily and appear to be settling as expected.
There are some gregarious new residents at Shakespear Regional Park! While other birds have repopulated the area naturally since pests were removed, recent events saw the first release of native birds behind the predator-proof fence. In July 2015, after many months of behind-the scenes work, a group of bird translocation experts and experienced volunteers caught…
Forty tīeke from TiriTiri Matangi were released into bush on the NZ Defence Force land on Saturday 26th of May, and a further 10 were moved from Tāwharanui on 14th and 15th of June. Strong winds on the day meant that the 3km transfer was made by helicopter rather than ferry. The catching team used…
In April last year 40 North Island robins (toutouwai) were re-introduced to Shakespear. Thirteen pairs established and have now completed their first breeding season with 34 chicks being raised. Kowhai Glen was the most productive area, producing 11 young. For some unknown reason the pairs in the apparently good habitat on the Defence Force land…
Our fundraising for this project went better than expected – many those to those who contributed. We purchased three solar-powered speaker systems and installed them at the end of April this year along the eastern cliff tops of Shakespear Open Sanctuary to attract seabirds. Each system has two directional speakers which broadcast the target species calls out…
