Thanks to the Northland Regional Council, Kiwi Coast and our Proud Supporters

Another great year for Backyard Kiwi

It has been another great year for our kiwi in the Whangarei Heads/Parua Bay area.  The wet conditions have meant plenty of kiwi tucker and a bumper breeding season.  The big crop of chicks will be doing well with good feeding conditions and more importantly good stoat control. Controlled pulses of kiwisaver/1080 in bait stations on Manaia, Taurikura Ridge and other private blocks will have cleaned out many of the trapshy stoats and we keep working hard with our quality trapping network which is picking up the juvenile stoats that are reinvading from the north and the south.

Take the Lead!!! Please get visitors to control their dogs

Adult kiwi have no problem fighting off a stoat but dogs are a different story.  Dogs are the number one threat to adult kiwi. Locals have worked hard to protect their kiwi by having good control of their dogs – tied up or inside at night, walked on a lead and not allowed to wander.  Over summer if you have visitors please get them to do the same – they won’t be very popular if their dog wanders!   If you see an uncontrolled dog please call Dog Control on 09 430 4200 and emphasis that you are in a kiwi area.

Whangarei Heads combined Conservation Christmas Do

Thank you to Weed Action for being such great hosts for last Friday’s xmas do for the Landcare and other conservation groups who are so active in our community. Great to see so many happy folks and hear about all the good work going on – what a fantastic community!

Very Lucky “Tanker”

You may remember the lucky kiwi called “Fish” from last November, he survived a blow to the bum from a car (kiwi have tough rear ends and very fragile chest, neck and bill). Fish recovered well and has gone on to walk the furthest north of any of the monitored kiwi from our area and is now monitored by Pataua North Landcare.

Well we have a similar story from this November. A local heading home from work at 2 am found a dazed kiwi on the road near the Nook Road turn off. The milk tanker had just passed so presumably the kiwi got bowled by that.  She took the kiwi to Robert Webb at WNBRC. With no serious injuries (maybe the kiwi was just bowled by the truck’s “pressure wave”?) a week later the kiwi was fit for release.  At 1600g and 104.8mm she looks like a young female.  Named “Tanker”, ID chipped and radio transmitted. We released her in a safe spot away from roads and dogs and kept a close eye on her.  Her activity increased to normal levels quickly, she was also filmed by a trail cam cruising over an old logging skid site.  She seems to be fully recovered and settling in well  –  lucky Tanker!

Trapping

Even with the toxin pulses we maintain our predator traps, particular in the areas away from the pulses.

November catches: Stoats 7, Weasels 1, Cats 2, Rats 155!, Hedgehogs 0, Possums 10. 6 of the 7 stoats were juveniles caught away from the kiwisaver pulsed areas and 1 was an adult in a gap between them.

What your radio monitored kiwi have been up to:

Monitored Kiwi moving through “Kiwi Link”

3 monitored kiwi (Fetu Mama, Te Motu Manu Hine and Fish) are still well north of Parua Bay  – Fish in Pataua North and the other two in the Whareora area.

 Whangarei Heads/Parua Bay  Radio monitored kiwi:  

• Chookie –  78 days into his second nest on 30/11/23, with some very low activity nights so he looks to have hatched the first chick, we will wait for his increased activity before checking on him. The nest is in the bush area below the road on Martins’ southern boundary on Owhiwa Road. (see pic of last year’s chicks)
• Teina – In his usual area of pampas and pines at the north end of Martins’ pine block.  9 hours of activity.
• Beach Girl – She has been hanging on the Martins’ and Halses’ blocks boundary between Owhiwa and Ross Roads. Her activity is 9 hours nightly.
• Hope –  She has remained in the pampas and young pines at the Northern end of Martins’ block, 9 hours activity.
• Fish – PNLC monitoring
• Murdoch  – He has remained at the end of Owhiwa road. His data stream was showing 11 days of nesting on 14/11/23, but his activity was high for nesting at 9 hours nightly so it looks like a failed second nesting attempt..
• Om – She is still hanging close to Murdoch’s nest area at the end of Owhiwa road. 9.5 hours of nightly activity.
• Maia – She continues to cruise around the Martins’ pine block.   10 hours of nightly activity.
• Humphries –  This young fella is still hanging in the pines and pampas at the Martins’ pine block at the start of Owhiwa Road, 9.5 hours nightly activity.
•  Fetu Mama – She has been back to the peak of  Maungatika Scienic Reserve and then south again towards Onerahi. But seems to be staying in roughly the same area after her long walk north. Nightly activity of 9 hours.
• Te Motu Manu Hine – Ngaire and I caught up with her for her band change in the pampas in the cut over NRC pines just south of Mt Tiger Road. 9 hours of activity. She was 2050g and 127.7mm compared with 1950g and 121mm on her release back in June. She could have chosen the beautiful native bush but as usual is showing a strong preference for pampas. NRC are increasing their stoat trapping in the pine block. (see pics)
• Wally – Chicks from his recent nest named “Jess” and “Kaia” by locals. His activity is 10.5 hours, feeding up in the wetland by the estuary.
• Waewae – He is feeding up in the paddocks between the Horse paddock and the Manaia Club after nesting. 9.5 hours activity.

Rarewarewa/Purua ONE Dads: Still only 1 chick for the season transferred to Limestone.

• Moondust  – Behind the Lovells’ woolshed, 10 hours activity.
• Buddha – In the creek bank, in the paddock north of McGraths’ quarry.  9.5 hours activity.
• Macio  – He has headed back into the supplejack filled, deep guts, in the middle of the old crater of Purua. Very weak 30 signal.
• Otiria –  In the South side of Purua reserve,  10 hours of nightly activity.
• Mitch – South Purua reserve, 12.5 hours activity.
•  64 – Feeding up after nesting, south side of reserve. 10.5 hours activity.
• Tahi – Up near the peak of Purua.  9.5 hours of activity.
•  Rua – Not looking good for his 3rd nesting attempt; activity up to 6 hours after 60 days.  He is in a shallow nesting burrow under an old fence line at the back of Alisons’ farm.
• Macky – South Purua reserve, feeding up after nesting, 9 hours activity.

 

I hope everyone has a great December – Thank you from your kiwi for all your support!

Cheers Todd

Todd Hamilton

Backyard Kiwi Project Manager

Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum

M 021 1145 385

E  todd.hamilton64@gmail.com