Even close to Hamilton we see something unique

There is not too much exciting to report for the week of Monday, February 13 to Friday, February 17. Karen went on a field trip for three days to the Tukituki River with some of her colleagues from NIWA. Marshall attended his second week of school and I worked on a few small projects, including updating our blog. The week started out a little rough for Marshall at school but by Friday things were going well and he said the week went by really fast,

One thing that surprised Marshall this week was that nothing was done for Valentine's Day at his school. It seemed to be pretty much a non-event throughout New Zealand.

One of our biggest challenges with our trip to NZ is finding things to do in the evening, especially if it is raining. If the weather is good we often go out for a walk. Some nights we practice soccer skills or Marshall and I do an exercise trail on the campus grounds. We also feed the ducks in the university ponds, which can be quite entertaining. We have taught Marshall how to play crib and play a game on average once every three nights. He has won a few games and is getting a really good handle on counting his points. I attended a lecture on gully restoration one evening and Karen went to a wine tasting another night. So, we are finding things to do but I miss being able to work on things at home.

On Saturday morning we went to the Tamahere Market, which is just south of Hamilton. It is a farmers' market that is open every third Saturday of the month. Given all the food we bought, they were happy to see us. After the market we went to Chris and Sharon's for lunch with Will and Diana. Afterwards they took us on a boat tour of the Waikato River through Hamilton. We had great weather and got a different view of the city. For a city with only 140,000 people, it is spread a long way along the river. Later that evening Karen went with Will and Diana to the Hamilton Gardens to take in some small concerts. There was an arts festival at the Gardens for two weeks. We attended a few things but there were a lot of evenings with rain, so we didn't take in all that we wanted.


Sunday, February 19 - Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust and the rare bird - takahe

The Maungatautari Ecological Island, 45 minutes south of Hamilton, is a nature park/preserve of native NZ forest surrounded by a 47 kilometre long pest-proof fence. Outside the Island are pastures and farmland. The forest within the preserve remained because the slopes of Mt. Maungatautari (900 metres) were too steep for farming. However, pest mammals (darn possum) killed off much of the bird life and damaged the forest. Recognition of the ecological and cultural significance of Maungatautari led to the creation of the Trust in 2001. The 47 km fence was completed in 2006. It is one serious fence. There are also two smaller, fenced-in enclosures, North and South, inside the larger fenced in area. These smaller enclosures were completed before the larger one. After 2006, a large amount of poison baits were dispersed throughout the large enclosure, killing most of the pests.

Since the completion of the larger and two smaller enclosures a number of endangered and rare birds have been reintroduced to Maungatautari. These include the takahe (only around 260 left), the hihi (stitch-bird) (once extinct throughout mainland NZ), kaka (a big parrot), and brown kiwi. Kokepo (NZ native trout - endangered) have also been reintroduced to the Island. All of the reintroduced species have successfully raised chicks, so the Trust and its work to date are a success.


"Wild" takahe
(the one on the right has a radio antennae on its back)

We spent around 3 hours walking the trails in the Southern Enclosure. During our walk we had the great fortune to see a mated pair of takahe, which like the kiwi, is another long-lived, big, flightless NZ bird. Actually, our sighting was a little artificial as they provide the takahe with drinking water (bowls) in an open area and I think the takahe hang out around their a fair bit. (From reading a bit more about takahe, I don't think they are a true forest bird. They eat the roots and tender shoots of grasses, so I think they like open areas vs. forests more.) Artificial or not, it felt strange but fun to be able to see this very endangered species so close. We also saw and heard lots of other birds including hihi. Visiting Maungatautari gave us an idea of what NZ's forests might have sounded like before the introduction of possums, rats, and other predators.

kaka in Maungatautari

Marshall really enjoyed our walk in Maungatautari because we got to spend a lot of time watching a flock of eight kaka, which have been called the "clowns of the forest". Like all parrots, they are pretty raucous. One flew so close to us that Marshall and I both ducked and it fluffed Karen's hair. Walking the trails themselves through Maungatautari is also rewarding, but Karen and I still preferred our walks through Whirinaki.

In the end, our "quiet" time in Hamilton was pretty exciting as we were able to spend some fun time with good friends and rare birds.

Next posting - we visit Tiritiri Island. (Yes, more stuff about nature.)