Seaweeds are so much more than sushi or compost. Emma Richardson explains why we need New Zealand’s 900 species of algae more than they need us. I’m submerged in the sea when white water rises and flows around my face. All I see is foam. It’s August and I’m snorkelling around the rocks at Leisure Island (Motoriki), off the coast […]
Prior to heading out the next day, I checked the weather report and the forecast said ‘clear blue skies for the next few days’. After reading this I committed the ultimate sin in any trampers opinion, I left my raincoat behind in a further attempt to lighten my pack. By now I was down to […]
Armed with a net gun and a fishing rod fashioned into a kea-catching device, I headed into the hills around lake Rotoiti earlier this year to count & band kea as part of a 3 year population survey. Here’s the second installment of my diary ….. After sitting on the rock for an hour or so the drizzle […]
Just after New Year this year there was a kea population survey conducted throughout the South Island. Conducted by DOC and the Kea Conservation Trust, the aim of the three year survey is to get a snapshot of the total kea population across the country. As a kea–enthusiast & devoted kea conservationist, I made sure […]
Guest blogger: Central North Island Field Officer Al Fleming 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Guest blogger: Builder-cum-kea enthusiast Corey Mosen 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 […]
Guest blogger: Builder-cum-kea enthusiast Corey Mosen This is the story of how I went from carting wheel barrow loads of sand down steep hills, attempting to build houses, to spending my time in the Mountains of Mt Aspiring National Park looking for, observing, and catching Kea. First things first, I had to convince my boss that […]