Hi all. A very busy May!

AGM
Thanks to all those that came and contributed to the Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum  AGM. It was great to hear about all the work that the various groups are doing and congratulations to our hard working Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary on their re-election.

Welcome to Another Proud Backyard Kiwi Supporter

Morris & Morris Funerals have recent become part of our group of proud supporters. Welcome and thank you! Check out our other proud supporters at
The support of these local businesses and individuals is important to the work of Backyard Kiwi please support them in return.

Upcoming presentation
BHCT are bringing NZ bird expert Kevin Parker to talk about his experiences restoring wildlife. Be at McLeod Bay hall Weds June 10 at 7.30 pm to hear about the possibilities of reintroducing species such as Robins back to the Heads.

Kiwi Coast Kiwi Release (Funded by Kiwis for Kiwi and Kiwi Coast)
As part of our combined BNZONE programme Taheke Landcare (on the North Pataua Road) hosted this year’s Kiwi Coast kiwi event. Bernie and I transferred “Blossom” and “Daisy” from Limestone Island. 85 people welcomed the kiwi ashore at Onerahi and another 85 were part of the Kiwi Coast experience. Blossom was named by proud supporters Lynne and Kevin Banton and Daisy by Steve Atken and family.  After their visit to Taheke inspiring more community kiwi recovery efforts these two young girls were quietly  released at Kauri Mt (pictures attached).

Website Upgrade
If you haven’t already checked it out have a look at the Backyard Kiwi website upgrade – it looks great! Heather worked extra hard to get it up and running for the hui.
Get to know some individual kiwi   through our Local Kiwi Profiles: Read the full history of some of these monitored birds  

National Kiwi Hui (Funded by Kiwis for Kiwi)

The field trip that we hosted as part of the hui was well attended and very well received – there was plenty of positive feedback about the trip and the community efforts at the Heads from kiwi folks from all over the country.  The field trip included a stop at Dallas’s nesting site in the pampas beside the main road which was an eye opener to other kiwi groups who often do their work in remote areas. The trip emphasised the great community driven team effort by Backyard Kiwi, FOMLI, BHCT, the Kiwi Coast, DoC, Kiwis for Kiwi and the NRC.  Thanks to Kiwi Coast for funding the catering etc.

The hui itself was once again a fantastic opportunity to hear about what is going on in kiwi recovery and catch up with other kiwi folk.  Heather and Martin did an important presentation on the community engagement through Backyard Kiwi that lead to Manaia Landcare. Ngaire gave an update on the success of the Kiwi Coast and I spoke about the importance of having opportunities for people to see their kiwi at releases.

Ngati Hine Kiwi Hui
Ngati Hine hosted a hui to share information and ideas, raise awareness, network and form a stakeholder group looking at management of Ngati Hine kiwi habitat. I gave a presentation on Backyard Kiwi and in particular how Ngati Hine kiwi are the source of the chicks used in our BNZONE programme. I expressed our gratitude for the Ngati Hine support of this work.

Submissions on the NRC Long Term Plan
The presentations to the NRC at the feedback session in support of the targeted rate for pest control appeared to go well – thanks to all those that submitted. We will hear later this month about the outcome.

Kiwi Calls
Due to the poor weather and busy month many of the kiwi listeners are using the second listening window(June 6-24) to complete their 4 nights of the official kiwi call counting.

As I said last month now is the best time to hear your kiwi calling so have a listen out your backdoor on the still evenings and enjoy the racket.
  Check out for a reminder of the different calls.

Kiwi Predator Control Programme (Funded by NRC):
Catches for April:  Stoats 2, Weasels 5, Cats 3, Rats 46, Hedgehogs 13 and 6 possums. It is coming to the end of the stoat season with things usually being a bit quieter over the winter.

Meetings
Martin and I met with Doc to progress the applications and management plans for Manaia that Martin has been working on.

Martin, Danny, Ngaire and I met with the Ngati Wai Trust Board’s Clive Stone and Dane Karapu to discuss the pest control of Manaia and Mt Aubry (Reotahi).  The ongoing support of the pest control by the NTB is great to have.

Kiwi Coast think tank met last Friday

Road killed kiwi
 We haven’t had a known road killed kiwi since last November but now another has been killed on the usual stretch of road – between McLeod Bay and the Nook turn off.  This guy was a wild hatched male that had survived to breeding age (thanks to our predator trapping) and was 2200g in weight and had a bill of 106.3mm – he ran out in front of a car at 6am. I took the opportunity to show the kids at Manaia Kindy one of their kiwi up close – they were fascinated.Here is an account of their kiwi encounter

Radio Tracked Kiwi at Whangarei Heads (Funded by NRC)
Breeding season should be in full swing with kiwi couples cuddling up, mums about to lay 1, or usually 2 eggs and the dads feeding up large before starting incubation shortly.

What your radio tracked Backyard Kiwi have been up to:

Waka –Usual area at Mckenzie Bay/Taurikura point.  His activity is 11 hours per night.
Darwin –At Lamb Road quarry. 12 hours activity.

Lambert – Usual area Taurikura Ridge. 11 hours activity.

Whitu– At Reotahi above the freezing works – 10 hours activity per night.

Charlie – Usual area at Craig Road. 11 hours per night season.

Dallas – Usual area by the school – His activity has been up and down a bit and averaging only 7 hours so he may be starting to nest.

Breck – Kerr road area. This guy dropped his transmitter deep in the tight scrub between Kerr Road and Kauri Mt. It is a good safe place for him to be.

EB – still hanging about on the edge of the scrub between Kerr Road and Kauri Mt Road. 12.5 hours of activity each night.

BNZONE program (funded by Kiwis for Kiwi):
The ONE dad’s out at Riponui and Rarewarewa are also feeding up for the next breeding season. Hugh Robertson and Rogan Colbourne of Doc were up for the kiwi hui with their kiwi tracking dogs Carla and Jade and I was lucky enough to spend some time with them in the Doc study blocks at Rarewrewa.  To make sure that we get good variation in the genetics for our BNZONE programme it is important to rotate the dads that we use.  Hugh and Rogan (and their dogs!) are very experienced and made short work of locating six new dads.  Thanks!  It is great for me spending time these two to learn more about kiwi monitoring.

Riponui
Rippy – usual area, Riponui Reserve 12 hours activity.

The Knight – Usual area, Riponui Reserve – transmitter change done with Rolf and he will now monitor this bird for Doc. The Knight was a good 2700g and cuddled up with his mate.

Rewarewa
Hanga – Usual area, Lovell’s farm with 12 hours activity. He was cuddled up with his mate and I removed his transmitter to replace him with a new ONE dad

Ray – Usual area, Lovell’s Farm,12 hours activity.

The Acrobat – usual area, Lovell’s Farm, 12 hours activity.

Hoihoi – This guy was supposed to be one of the new dads. He was a bit skinny when we found him (only 1870g compare to 2200-2700g of the other males) and he may have been sick because he was found dead  18 days later. Rolf is getting his body x-rayed to look for any broken bones but there were no obvious injury signs.
Cheers
Todd Hamilton
Backyard Kiwi Project Manager
Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum