Get involved with Whio Awareness Month | Watch a video about our whio creche No Images? Click here Whio Awareness Month 2017March is Whio Awareness Month – celebrating and promoting our endangered blue duck. There are some great events and competitions running. Find out how you can get involved. Video: Whio crecheYoung whio/blue duck go to the whio creche, or hardening facility, to grow strong and get used to fast flowing water. In this video DOC ranger Malcolm visits the facility with Conservation Dog Fern. Win a whio wilderness experienceEnter the Pucker-up to win photo competition to win a chance to be a whio ranger for a day. Upload your best duck face selfie and tell us why you want to help save the whio. Update from LouDirector-General Lou Sanson talks about his recent visits to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park and Christchurch. Lou has also shared his experience working with kākāpō on the Tin Range, Stewart Island in 1980. Read his blog post on the Kākāpō Recovery website. Upcoming events Enjoy the last of our summer programmes and remaining Seaweek events, or take part in Whio Awareness Month. Our nature#RoyalCam updateThe post guard stage has arrived! The web cam chick is now spending more time alone at the nest while both parents are out at sea in search of food. Remarkable recovery of kākā populationSouth Island kākā have made an extraordinary comeback in Waitutu Forest in Fiordland since pest control started just over a decade ago. Identifying lizardsSeveral features are used to identify lizards including scale numbers, pattern, colour and scale arrangement. Find out how you can take quality photos to help with identification. Our workVideo: Wairakei kiwi sanctuaryWe work every day to ensure the survival of our special birds. Here’s a story about our work with Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary and predator control in Tongariro National Park. Meet the Fairy Tern TeamThe Fairy Tern Team come together for a short period of time each year, for a specific purpose – the breeding season of the New Zealand fairy tern/tara-iti. We'd like to say thanks for their hard work and dedication over the past few months. Waging war on waspsNew Zealand has some of the highest densities of German and common wasps in the world. Introduced wasps harm our native birds and insects and are a threat to visitors. They can now be controlled using Vespex, a targeted wasp bait. Common wasp. Image: Sid Mosdell | CC BY-SA. Successful applications to the DOC Community FundView a list of projects that were successful in the DOC Community Fund 2016/17 funding round. RecreationPaparoa Great Walk approvedA new Great Walk through Paparoa National Park has been approved, with construction planned to start next summer. The walk will be a memorial to the 29 men who died as a result of the Pike River Mine disaster. Dart Track reopensThe full Rees-Dart circuit opened on 1 March after a three-year closure caused by a major landslide. Know before you goThe recent heavy rainfall has caused damage on some of our tracks, campgrounds and huts (particularly in the Kauaeranga Valley). Check for alerts in your region. For more information about alerts, weather and other tips to help you plan a safe and enjoyable visit to conservation areas, see know before you go. Have your sayAcoustic monitoring surveyWe are looking at how we can better support acoustic monitoring programmes across the country. You can help by completing our survey before Friday 31 March. Photo of the monthA New Zealand dotterel/tūturiwhatu and 3 chicks burrowing in for warmth and shelter. Shorebirds often live in quite harsh, exposed environments. They're left to battle the elements of cold winds, high seas or hot sun. |