No Images? Click here Welcome to Behind the Scenes - DOC Fiordland's conservation newsletterIn this issue:
What's on? Fiordland events My Piece of Nature art workshop Art workshops by renowned New Zealand artist and conservationist, Janet de Wagt. Janet will first take participants through the Tamatea - Art and Conservation in Dusky Sound exhibition before guiding them through the process of creating artworks that express what they value about NZ’s natural environment. When: Saturday 18 February, 1.00pm – 4.00pm Where: Southland Museum & Art Gallery, Invercargill For more information see the Southland Museum and Art Gallery website, or to book phone (03) 219 9069 Takahē Chick Picnic Celebrate the naming of the 'miracle' takahē chick. Activities include:
When: Saturday 25 February, 9.30am - 1.00pm Milford Track Memories Local Ray Willett will delight and enthuse with his tales of adventure and discovery on the Milford Track, which he first guided in the 1950s. Gold coin donation. When: Thursday 16 Feb & 2 March, 7.30pm - 8.30pm Where: Te
Rua-o-te-moko / Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre Bookings essential Phone: 03 249 7924, Email: fiordlandvc@doc.govt.nz Children's Day - Play date with nature Join us for the celebration of Children's Day. Heaps of fun activities for the whole family. Save the date! When: Sunday 5 March, 11.00am - 3.00pm Where: Ivon Wilson Park 'Breakfast with the birds' and 'Tea with the takahē' For the month of February Te Anau Bird Sanctuary staff are hosting late afternoon talks, as well as the popular morning tour. Hear about takahē conservation work and spend time with these iconic birds, including the new chick. Other resident birds include, kākā, kākāriki, ducks, and ruru. Come along for this unique opportunity to meet some of New Zealand's rarest birds. When: Everyday (including weekends) 9.30am - 10.30am & in Feb also 4.30pm - 5.30pm Where: Meet by the takahē enclosure at Punanga Manu o Te Anau (Te Anau Bird Sanctuary) The latest in Fiordland conservation Kepler bats and birds numbers bolstered Numbers of endangered bats and birds are on the increase in the Kepler area after aerial predator control this spring. Monitoring of long-tailed bats in the Iris Burn Valley in December has shown an increase of female bats to 57, up from 32 in 2013. Positive news also for the whio/blue duck in the area with a survey showing 30 ducklings, an increase of almost 100% since 2014. Fiordland Operations Manager, Greg Lind, said it was rewarding to see wildlife responding after the knock-down of rats, stoats and possums. Fiordland species monitoring and translocations 2016 Monitoring and translocation projects are conducted each year for endangered species in Fiordland. Monitoring projects include; bat populations in the Eglinton and Iris Burn Valleys, Te Kakahu skink on Chalky Island and kiwi in the Clinton Valley. Translocations undertaken include; little spotted kiwi to Anchor Island, robin and mōhua to Coal Island and mōhua to the Eglinton Valley. Reports are provided on our website that provide details on the objectives, methods and outcomes for each project. Get involved Name the Takahē Competition We need your help to name the takahē chick at Punanga Manu o Te Anau/Te Anau Bird Sanctuary! This chick is rather special and has even been called a miracle! Its parents, Paku and Quammen from Orokonui Ecosanctuary, have never produced a fertile egg before and were given some foster eggs to hatch. But when the Takahē Ranger checked Paku’s original eggs he found an embryo growing inside one. The egg was brought to the sanctuary and our local takahē pair, Tumbles and Kawa, have done a great job of hatching and rearing the chick who is now nearly three months old and in need of a name. To learn more, listen to RNZ interview with Orokonui Conservation Manager Elton Smith Pick up an entry form from Te Rua-o-te-moko / Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre or email your chick name and reason for your name choice to takaherecovery@doc.govt.nz Entries close 5.00pm Monday 20 February and the winning name will be announced at the Takahē Chick Picnic Educational resources We have a range of educational resources you can use to support conservation teaching and learning in your local environment. The latest resource focuses on invertebrates. 'Experiencing invertebrates in your green space' leads you though how to gather and interpret data about native and introduced invertebrates living in a local green space including how to begin to group/classify them. Keep an eye out for new resources, constantly being added to the Conservation education page of our website. Newsletter feedback We'd like to know what you think of the Behind the Scenes newsletter and how we can make it even better. |