Wed, 24 Jun 2009 1:43 pm – Posted by Guest | 4 Comments
Guest blogger: Central North Island Field Officer Al Fleming
Hochstetters frog, Photo: G Shirley
New Zealand is home to four varieties of frog, most of whom are earless, voiceless, and exist in damp habitats, however there is one such species that enjoys watery climes: the miniscule Hochstetter’s frog, which is listed as vulnerable on the ICUN’s red list.
So when I heard that a large slip had occurred at Te Puke Stone Enterprises my heart sank. The question that kept reappearing in my mind was did the slip enter the Rarapahoe stream, the last known haven of the genetically distinct Oropi Forest Hochsetters frog?
Read more »
Published in: General
Tags: frogs, habitat destruction, Hochsetters
Leave a Comment (4)
Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:33 am – Posted by Guest | 2 Comments
Not just a pretty face, Photo: Margaret Wong
During my first trip to Mt Cook I met a man named Jussey from Austria who was studying Kea’s intelligence. He had done many studies on a captive population in Vienna and was now in New Zealand to repeat the same experiments with a wild population. After some in depth conversations about Kea I showed him some of the photos I had taken of the lovable parrot and he suggested we keep in touch. A few weeks after I returned home I got an email from him offering me a permanent job based down in Mt Cook taking over the Kea intelligence studies. My second trip to Mt Cook was my induction to the new job.
Read more »
Published in: General
Tags: intelligence, kea, research
Leave a Comment (2)
Fri, 05 Jun 2009 3:45 pm – Posted by Guest | 1 Comment
Arctic tern, Canterbury, photo: Tom Marshall
A few weeks ago I blogged on New Zealand’s famous bar-tailed godwits and their annual migration from our estuaries to their breeding grounds further north, however a recent unexpected encounter reminded me of a record-breaking bird that makes the godwit’s journey look like a stroll to the local dairy.
Now we’ve all had that sinking feeling when you’re late for a first date; the car won’t start, the bus doesn’t arrive, or you get three blocks down the street and think ‘did I leave the stove on?’, but whatever the reason, the Arctic Tern I saw at the Ashley River recently will be disappointing his date big time.
Read more »
Published in: Canterbury, General
Leave a Comment (1)
Wed, 03 Jun 2009 9:28 am – Posted by Guest | 2 Comments
Guest blogger: Builder-cum-kea enthusiast Corey Mosen
Kea, Tom Marshall
Due to being such a terrific ‘pack horse’ on the first trip I was lucky enough to be offered another chance to help Clio again, this time at Mt Cook and this time with my expenses paid. Here we had the same objective; to catch, band, blood test and observe as many kea as possible.
Read more »
Published in: Canterbury, General, Native land animals
Leave a Comment (2)
