Whio School - visiting the whio creche in Tongariro

I've admired whio (also called blue duck) ever since I encountered them at Blue Lake. High in the mountains, this lake is only accessible to trampers after several days journey. Consequently I think of them as rare and hard to find - and it's true, there are only around 3000 left in New Zealand. These unique ducks are adapted to life on fast flowing rivers.

Whio, the Māori name resembles the male's call
Blue duck, the English name refers to the slate blue-grey colour,

So when the opportunity to visit the whio creche at Tongariro National Trout Centre came up, I was delighted. My enthusiasm led to us being too early! The car park gate was shut and the centre not yet open. With time on our hands, we drove on to Red Hut Bridge to take a quick look at the Tongariro River. From this lovely old bridge, we looked down and saw to our amazement two whio feeding in the river right under the bridge. It took us awhile to realise what we were looking at, they are so well camouflaged. (If the video below doesn't play, try a different browser.)

Nature Kids - Making Zines to Spread the Word

Crazy about kākāpō? Curious about kauri? Amazed by animal poo? Wild about weka? If you are a nature fan, you can make a zine to share your passion. 

Zine is short for 'fanzine' - these self-published creations started out as homemade books by fans about their favourite bands. But they can be on any topic that you are crazy about. I got inspired to try making zines when I met Murtle Chickpea and her Zine Museum at the Wairarapa Book Bash. Here is one of the zines...

Weeds or Wild Flowers - What do we See?

One person's weed is another person's garden flower. I've seen the delight in the eye of visitors from Europe when they saw what they took to be garden flowers such as white Arum lilies (Zantedeschia) or blue Agapanthus flowering by our roadsides.

Arum Lilies spreading alongside a pathway

It's not just visitors who see them as delightful wild flowers or as garden plants, lots of locals do too. But how we see them doesn't alter the fact that these and many other imported plants grow, and spread, like wild fire in New Zealand's climate. They encroach on dunes, on bush remnants, on stream banks pushing out native plants and reducing our,  and therefore the world's, biodiversity.

Sardine Smoothies Again! Feeding seabirds on Mana Island

Last year I blogged about my volunteer week on Mana Island helping with the Fairy Prion translocation. You'd think the long days, hot sun, and the smell of sardines might have put me off - but when the call came out for volunteers for the second year of this project I couldn't resist the opportunity to put my name forward. I convinced myself that it was a chance to use the skills I'd learned the year before, that the work really hadn't been that hard, the smell of sardines not too bad, and that the sun couldn't surely be as hot again - not in a Wellington January.

Holding one of the new arrivals

Geckos in the Spotlight: volunteering on Mana Island

A trip to Mana Island, which is free from mammal predators and pests, is enough to show how incredible the lizard life of ancient New Zealand would have been. Mana is not only free from rats, cats, hedgehogs and stoats; there are also no mice here.

Visiting New Zealand's Forest Giants in Waipoua Forest

White skeletons stand out starkly among the green of the Waipoua Forest - they are dead kauri trees. As if the tree-felling, milling, gum collecting and land clearing weren't enough to put this giant tree in danger, sadly they are now succumbing to a silent fungus-like disease called kauri die-back.

White branches indicate kauri die-back

A long overdue visit to the far North, meant that it was close to 20 years since I last visited the forest giants Tane Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere as well as the Four Sisters. Because kauri only grow in the north of the North Island they seemed exotic to us, rare beings, even then there were only a few giant specimens standing. Still the forest appeared lush and the kauri mighty.

Today the giant Tane Mahuta (52 metres high) and Te Matua Ngahere are still impressive.

World Oceans Day

How will you mark World Oceans Day?

A week or so ago we walked along the coast and as we walked we picked up plastic rubbish and cans, until our bags were full. Sadly we had to leave a lot of rubbish because we couldn't carry it all.

Rubbish picked up along the coast

Rubbish gets into the sea from the beach, from boats and also from being blown into the sea from the land.

Ulva Island - New Zealand island sanctuary

Well worth a visit, Ulva Island/Te Wharawhara deserves to be better known.

Ulva Island

Being close to main centres: Tiritiri Matangi and Kapiti Island get more publicity. But Ulva Island has some wonderful points of difference. Situated close to Oban on Stewart Island, here you might see the Stewart Island Robin (Toutouwai), South Island Saddleback (Tieke), Brown Creeper (Pipipi), and Yellowhead (Mohua), none of which can be seen on the North Island sanctuaries. If you are lucky you might even see a Stewart Island kiwi (Tokoeka).

World Heritage Day - protecting our natural heritage

What better way to spend World Heritage Day, than getting out and protecting our natural heritage. It just so happened that the stormy weather cleared and Friends of Mana Island volunteers were able to get out and clear the pest traps along the nearby mainland coast. Volunteers clear these DOC traps regularly, each time they are cleared the trap is set again and ready to catch another pest.

Turtle conservation at Kelly Tarlton's

Turtles that find themselves in New Zealand waters, are a long way from home! Turtles are animals of the tropics where the water is warmer. According to the Kelly Tarlton's website, turtles that are in the colder water around New Zealand are often those that are weak or sick.

Here is a green turtle that is in Turtle Rehab at Kelly Tarlton's Sealife Aquarium.