We have now seen 2.5% of the world's takahe

In late February we visited Tiritiri Matangi Island ("a place tossed by the winds") with Chris and Sharon and Will and Diana. Tiritiri is a 220 ha predator-free island located a little way off the coast east of Auckland that is a home for many of NZ's rare and/or endangered birds. It is a place I wanted to visit since we first arrived in New Zealand.


Tiritiri Matangi Island shoreline, near Auckland, NZ

Tiritiri has an interesting ecological history. Prior to the 1400's, it was covered with a dense, NZ coastal forest. It was then settled and partially cleared by different Maori tribes. After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (1840) between the Maori and British Crown, the island was leased to sheep and cattle farmers and a lighthouse was built on it in 1865. Over the years, land clearing, grazing and trampling by sheep and cattle, and the munching of any new growth by kiore rats, denuded the island of almost all its original forest. In 1971 the farming lease for the island ended (was withdrawn), and Tiritiri became a Recreation Reserve in the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park.

I am not sure what the original plan for the recreation reserve was, but in the mid-1970's, several biologists determined that Tiritiri was not going to naturally regenerate, or that it would take a very long time to do so. So, after a program of pest eradication, between 1984 and 1994 volunteers planted approx. 280,000 native trees and other plants on Tiritiri. (I thought I read somewhere else it was 360,000, but whatever the number, it was a lot of trees). Some native birds had managed to survive on the island, but since its restoration, 12 bird species have been re-established there, such as little spotted kiwi, takahe, and stitchbird. There are also tuatara on the island. (For more info on Tiritiri Island, see: http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/history.)

Tui at feeding station, Tiritiri Matangi Island

The restoration of the island's forest has been very successful. Although it will still be quite some time before it matures, Will and Diana said it has really changed since they last visited it 14 years ago. The regrowth of the forest has in turn helped to restore some bird populations. For example, at one point there were only around 170 adult stitchbirds left, with all of them living on Little Barrier Island, which is fairly close to Tiritiri. There are now more than 200 stitchbirds on Tiritiri alone and some are relocated from Tiritiri to other reserves, such as Maungatautari Ecological Island (located south of Hamilton--I talked about it in a previous posting). Not all is perfect. Because the forest has not matured yet, there are feeding stations set up around the island, particularly for the nectar-feeding birds, such as tui, bellbirds, and stitchbirds. Without these stations some of the birds would starve.

Another interesting thing about Tiritiri is that right from the beginning of its restoration, it was designed to be open to and accessible by the public. There is a daily shuttle to the island and private boats can land there as well. Tours of the island are available. There are a series of nice paths around the island, and because of the feeding stations, even non-hardcore birders like us are able to see a lot of birds. While we saw a lot of birds, what I really liked about the island was the chance to hear a lot of native birdsong. Places like Tiritiri seem so vibrant when you compare them to other NZ forests. I would definitely go back to Tiritiri if we found ourselves in New Zealand again.

While we were at Tiritiri we saw three takahe. As I wrote before, there are only around 200 left. So, between these three and the two we saw at Maungatautari, we have seen 2.5% of the world's takahe. I told the group that given how rare they are, I found it strange that we have seen so many of them. Because there are so few, you could get to know them as individuals--I named these three Jack and Diane and Junior. (Jack and Diane is a reference to the John Mellancamp song, not Karen's mom, who looks nothing like a takahe.) Again like Maungatautari, I cannot say we saw these takahe in the wild. They were tearing up the grass around the picnic area near the old lighthouse.


Marshall and Diana beachcombing at Tiritiri 

As always, we had a fun day with Chris and Sharon and Will and Diana. We drove up to Auckland in the morning, where Chris and Sharon launched their boat at the marina in Half-Moon Bay. From there we motored out to Tiritiri, which took about 45 minutes. Along the way we came across a pod of commpn dolphins who started riding the bow wave--always cool to watch. After touring the island for a few hours we had a great picnic lunch on the beach. Marshall and Diana did some beachcombing, having a competition to see who could find the most beachglass. We left Tiritiri around 2:00 because the wind and tide were getting up, making the boat ride home pretty lumpy. Marshall and I sat at the front of the boat and had a lot of fun getting tossed about. (It reminded me of fishing with my Uncle Rick on Big Sand Lake near Minaki. I could write a lengthy blog about my fishing adventures with my Uncle--perhaps some other day.) We had it good; those riding in the back had a smoother ride but they got very wet from the spray.

Once we got closer to Auckland we anchored at Waiheke Island for awhile, which is now a kind-of suburb of Auckland. It has every type of home on it, from old baches to million dollar mansions. Will, Marshall and I did a bit of snorkeling, although we did not see much. When we got back to Half Moon Bay, our trip ended with Marshall getting an ice cream treat, which seems to happen regularly when he spends a day with Diana.