Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum – Backyard Kiwi
WHLF project manager report February 2013 (Funded by the NRC).

Kiwi Predator Control Programme:
WHLF run a network of traps from Kauri Mt through to Urquarts Bay to protect kiwi chicks in the area.
After a busy summer the stoat run has started to slow, this year has seen plenty of stoat sightings by locals and we have had a very high catch rate in the predator traps.

Trap catches for February– 4 stoats, 1 weasel, 1 feral cat, 24 rats, 11 possums and 7 hedge hogs.

Tally for the season to date: 24 stoats, 6 weasels, 9 feral cats, 181 rats, 58 possums and 29 hedge hogs.

This compares with 13 stoats at the same time in 2012 and 16 stoats in 2011.

We have hopefully just about made it through the “summer dog visiting season” with no known kiwi kills by visitors’ dogs– long may it last! Thank you to everyone who has helped make visitors aware about the kiwi at the Heads and the need for sensible dog control.

Kiwi monitoring:
As part of our Backyard kiwi programme WHLF have radio transmitters on 11 kiwi spread throughout the Heads area. The transmitters send a data stream showing the kiwi’s activity so that we can tell if they are nesting or not. After a good nesting season the dry weather has certainly put the skids on any more kiwi nesting. Dallas did have a go but his nest failed after 12 days – which could have been a good thing because it was in a sprayed out pampas bush right beside the road in Taurikura – a very vulnerable spot for him to sit for 3 months. Darwin is in the process of finishing his second nest – 1 chick so far.

What some of your kiwi are up to:

Darwin – Nesting in pampas at Lamb Road – 1st chick has hatched – now waiting on his activity to increase before doing transmitter change on Dad.

Whitu– Usual area Reotahi – his activity is high after finishing his nest last month.

Dallas– Had a failed nesting attempt by the road at Taurikura.

Lambert– Usual area Taurikura Ridge – his activity is high.

Waka – Had his transmitter changed because of a suspected intermittent fault in his old transmitter. He was in the pampas by the road at Mckenzie Bay.

Charlotte– She is hiding in the pampas on the point between Taurikura Bay and McKenzie Bay.

JR– Usual area –South Taurikura Ridge above Urquarts Bay – high activity.

Charlie- Still showing high activity at Craig Road – doesn’t look like he will nest this year.

Kiwiana – At the southern end of Mt Manaia. He had his 3 monthly transmitter band check (we check the young birds every 3 months as they are still growing). The landowners were on hand for a quick look at him in their backyard. This the kiwi named by The Whangarei Heads School. Not only are the kids at Whangarei Heads School following Kiwiana’s progress but the Dyke School in Scotland have him on their web page. Pretty cool that kids on the other side of the world are interested in our Backyard kiwi!

Webb – This is the young female we released recently in January – she is now at the Northern end of Mt Manaia and seems to be working her way north.

Clover – This is the young male we recently released – he is now about half way along the eastern side of Mt Manaia and cruising around.

Monthly Update for January
 
The highlight of January was the very successful public release of 3 kiwi at the Hunt’s farm on Robinson Road.
Feedback from the 200 people attending has been great. (Some photos attached – thanks to Kennedy Warne for these pics).

 
It was great to have Chris Espiru of Clover Technologies there to release a young male named “Clover”.  Clover Technologies have kindly supported us with funding for our kiwi work.  The other two kiwi released were young females – “Webb” who got her name by hatching the week that the All Blacks won the RWC (her sibling is named “Ellis”) and K’Uber  (named by Urbernet –sponsors of Limestone Island FOMLI).
 
Clover and Webb have temporary transmitters attached to see how they settle in and all seems well.
 
The new arrivals and resident kiwi would have enjoying the damp conditions of the week following the release. But now with the prolonged dry spell another round of nesting by our breeding kiwi is unlikely this season.  Darwin, Whitu and Waka have finished nesting leaving only Darwin nesting at the moment.
 
What the monitored kiwi are up to:
 
Darwin – Is in gorse at Lamb road, and as suspected he started his second nest in mid December and it is due
to hatch in late Feb.

Whitu – 1st chick hatched news year’s eve – 2nd egg was a dud.

Dallas –  his activity has dropped a couple of times lately so he may be starting another nest despite the dry conditions.

Lambert – 1st chick hatched news year’s day -2nd egg was a dud. Did a transmitter change on him and he was in pretty good condition considering he had just finished his second nest for the season.

Waka – Came back on the radar!!! –  After no transmitter signal since 18/10/12 when he was nesting in Mckenzie Bay. The transmitter data stream indicates that he hatched a chick – the transmitter must have stopped sending a signal for the past 2 months!

Charlotte – Is back on the roadside in Mckenzie Bay

JR – Helen helped me nab this character in the gorse and rank Kikuyu on Taurikura Ridge. He was a healthy 1990g and now has a new transmitter.

Charlie – Still showing high activity at Craig Road.

Kiwiana – At the southern end of  Mt Manaia.

Webb – This is the young female we released recently at the Hunts’ – she is now about half way done the eastern side of Mt Manaia.

Clover – This is the young male we recently released – he is at the southern end of Mt Manaia and cruising around.

We released two more kiwi at the Heads this month.  These kiwi came from Limestone as part of our ONE programme. “JJ” (a female named after Heather and Greg Stump of FOMLI) and “Kiwiana” (a young male named by Whangarei Heads School) were released at Dudins’ farm at McLeod Bay after visiting Whangarei Heads School first. JJ has moved high up onto Manaia Ridge and Kiwiana has made his way over the ridge and then back to above the school.
 
Meanwhile the local kiwi dads continue their second round of nesting for the season. Otherwise November was not a good month for WHLF monitored kiwi with a drowning, a transmitter failure and several kiwi being uncooperative for their transmitter changes.
 
• Darwin – Is showing high activity – hopefully feeding up for a second nest at Lamb road
• Whitu- Is sitting tight on his second nest – due to hatch late
• Dallas-  Still feeding up between nests near the main road below the Heads
• Lambert- Holding tight on his second nest – due to hatch late December.
• Waka- Unfortunately Waka’s transmitter has failed – hopefully he is doing ok at Mckenzie Bay.
• Charlotte- (Waka’s mate) Is spending time in the pampas on the point between Mckenzie Bay and Taurikura Bay.
• JR- Is due his 6 monthly check but is hiding in dense Kiekie at the southern end of Taurikura ridge.
• Charlie- This young fella –he is 3 years old this month- is still enjoying the single life.
• Drummond – We released Drummond at Kauri Mt back in July and she has stuck close to the release site – unfortunately this young kiwi did not show good water sense and has drowned in a dam – not an uncommon death for young wild kiwi before the mature.
 

Not only have our 6 monitored kiwi dads hatched 10 chicks between them already this season 3 of them have started on their second nests!

· Darwin – At Lamb Road, Dawin has successfully hatched 2 chicks – named “Scarlet” and “Eddie-T” by locals – the second after Edward Thomas Lamb a local who fell in WW I. The second chick was in the nest 51 days after the 1st one hatched which is an unusually long gap.

· Whitu- At Reotahi, is nesting again after his first nest of 2 chicks.

· Dallas- By Whangarei Heads school – having a rest after hatching 2 chicks.

· Lambert- At Taurikura ridge – on his second nest deep in the pampas.

· Waka- This guy is nesting in McKenzie Bay in backyard of a batch there.

· Charlotte- (Waka’s mate) Has been wandering around the Mckenzie Bay area.

· JR- At southern end of Taurikura ridge – has successfully hatched 2 chicks- deep in a hollow Puriri so couldn’t DNA sample them or put in ID chip.

· Charlie- Between Nook and Mcleods – still high activity.

· Drummond – This is the young kiwi we released at Kauri Mt back in July. She is still near the release site.

 

 

2012 003

September was a very busy month for our 6 nesting dads – they have stuck to their nests well and have hatched 9 chicks between them!

· Darwin – At Lamb Road , had his first chick hatch on 25 August. Unusually the chick was still in his nest 36 days later with Dad still patiently sitting on his second egg – that’s 100 days of incubation so far.

· Whitu- At Reotahi, hatched 2 chicks – 1st hatch 16/8/12, 2nd hatch approx 7/9/12. 2nd chick was named “Jamie” by Kane of the NRC who was helping with nest checks. Whitu was 1940g and in reasonable condition after nesting – he now has a new transmitter. In the photo of him you can see Reotahi carpark in the background.

· Dallas- Has been nesting by the sewage pumping station below the school- he has hatched 2 chicks (14/9/12 and approx 30/9/12) These chicks have been named by the Hill’s (the landowners) grand kids “Tauri” and “ Kura ” –see photo.

· Lambert- Has also hatched 2 chicks -1st hatch 23/8/12, 2nd hatch approx 3/9/12. The old chick has been named “ Sandy ” by Audrey Rhodes who kindly does our accounts. Lambert has continued to be difficult to catch in pampas- even snuck out the back of his nest. If I catch up with him I will remove transmitter to save hassling him in the pampas.

· Waka- Unfortunately his nest failed after approximate 45 days for an unknown reason -couldn’t find nest in pampas to investigate eggs. Did however catch up with Waka for his annual transmitter change. He was a very healthy 2420g.

· Charlotte- (Waka’s mate) Has been wandering around the Mckenzie Bay area.

· JR- His transmitter data stream has shown that he has hatched 2 chicks – (1st hatch 16/9/12) – but his nest is deep in a patch of kiekie and can’t check it out without disturbing him so have left it be..

· Charlie- Landowner James McNamnara helped me with Charlie’s transmitter change– he is now 2150g and pretty much fully grown. Photo attached.

· Drummond – This is the young kiwi we released at Zac Smith’s place back in July. I caught up with her near the release site, she was 1300g in weight and looking well settled in to her new home.

Things are going along nicely for the kiwi at Whangarei Heads this winter – despite all the rain!

Kiwi normally do very well in wet conditions because it is easy for them to probe for food in the soft ground but too much water can be a problem for nesting dads.

It is the adult males that get the 70 day plus job of sitting on the eggs with only a few hours break each night for a quick feed. With the nesting burrows being underground, or more often in pampas bushes for our kiwi, the very wet conditions can make incubation tricky and will probably lead to more eggs than usual getting bacterial infections. On the up side we have never had so many monitored kiwi nesting at the same time at Whangarei Heads – all 6 adult males are nesting!!!

·Darwin – nesting at Lamb road and due to hatch late August.

·JR– nesting southern end of Taurikura Ridge and due to hatch mid September.

·Waka– nesting at Mckenzie Bay and due to hatch mid September.

·Lambert– nesting Taurikura Ridge and due late August.

·Whitu– nesting at Reotahi and due mid-late August

·Dallas– nesting at Hills’ by the School and due mid September

The other monitored kiwi are:

· Charlotte – an adult female at Mckenzie Bay (Waka’s mate). She had her 6 monthly check on 16/8/12 and is a healthy 2450g after laying eggs and is now sporting a new transmitter.

· Charlie – a young male at Craig Road – North of McLeod Bay – is very active at the moment – getting up at 5pm and being active for 12-13 hours a night.

The 100 or so people who were at Kauri Mt a few weeks back for Drummond’s release there will be pleased that this young female (1200g) has settled in well and is hanging around the release area.

Another kiwi was killed by a dog at the Nook.  Jackie’s Boy, a wild adult male kiwi that we have been monitoring for the past 2 years at the Nook has been killed by a pet dog on a lifestyle block. He is the fourth adult kiwi killed by dogs in this area in the past 2 years.

The photo of Jackie’s Boys body is pretty gruesome because it was scavenged 2-3 days after being killed. Often dog-killed kiwi have only minor marks on their body where they have been mouthed by the dog, it is unusual to find one eaten like this.

On a more positive note, the other monitored kiwi males are starting their nesting season. The data streams from their transmitters are showing mainly a reduction in activity as nesting begins.

·Jackie’s Boy – killed by dog at the Nook.

·Darwin – had his six monthly check done and is a fat 2480g ready for nesting. He is in the pampas at the Lamb’s quarry.

·JR- up at 6.30pm and active 11 hours-high up on southern end of Taurikura Ridge.

·Waka- up at 5pm and active 12 hours.

·Charlotte- OK –at Mckenzie Bay with Waka.

·Lambert- 6 days nesting on 21/6/12. Up at 8pm for 5 hours activity.

·Whitu- 9 days nesting on 21/6/12. Up at 1am for 4.5 hours activity.

·Charlie- up at 5.30pm and active 13 hours. He has settled in Craig road area North of McLeod Bay.

·Dallas- up at 6pm and active 10 hours. He is having a wander in the pines north of the Heads School at the moment.

Kiwi Happenings Update and Monitored Kiwi Map April/May 2012

A wild adult female kiwi was killed by a lifestyle block owner’s dog at Northern McLeods. Of concern is that this dog had undergone kiwi aversion training. There are ongoing questions about the effectiveness of aversion training on lifestyle block pet dogs that are in kiwi areas 24/7. Unfortunately pet dog owners often do tend to loosen up on their dog control after aversion training and the training is far from full-proof. Any dog can kill a kiwi.

Locals are noticing plenty of kiwi calls at the moment as the breeding season starts up. We are having our annual “I heard a kiwi night” on May 12 at the Whangarei Heads School – see the news section for more details.

The monitored kiwi are all doing well and the data streams from their transmitters are showing mainly high activity as the kiwi fatten up for the upcoming breeding season. The odd bird is starting to show reduced activity as they possibly start to nest.

· Jackie’s Boy – getting up at 6pm and active for 11.5 hours on average.

· Darwin – up at 6 pm and active 11 hours.

· JR- up at 6.30pm and active 10 hours.

· Waka- up at 5pm and active 12 hours.

· Charlotte- ok – travelling about a bit at Mckenzie Bay – watch out for her crossing the road.

· Lambert- up at 5pm and active 10 hours – he is due his 6 monthly check but is hiding deep in the pampas at Taurikura Ridge.

· Whitu- up at 6pm and active 8 hours

· Charlie- up at 5.30pm and active 12 hours

· Dallas- up at 5.30pm and active 11.5 hours.

· Ngakau – after being released at Hunt’s he has travelled Taurikura ridge and walked into Bream Head – he has settled way over at “Cabbage Tree Flat” by the Old Woman – his transmitter has now dropped off as planned (he only had a temporary transmitter attachment to let us know where he settled in).

Kiwi Happenings Update March/April 2012

Unfortunately we have had 3 kiwi deaths in March. A young kiwi drowned in a wed covered goldfish pond at the Nook, and an adult bird also drowned in a water filled gut at Taurikura – if you have a pond on your place check that it has exit point or way out for any birds that may end up in it.

The young kiwi that was being treated at the Native Bird Recovery centre after losing a toe to a ground set possum leg hold trap died of a fungal infection (please make sure anyone using these traps on your property sets them 70cm or higher off the ground!!!!). The kiwi had been named “Good Night” by the residents of Timperley Road , his toe had healed and he was about to be returned when he became sick and died.

The silver lining to these 3 deaths is that they were all “wild” kiwi which is a good indication that our stoat trapping to protect chicks is working.

The monitored kiwi are all doing well and the data streams from their transmitters are showing high activity as the kiwi fatten up for the upcoming breeding season. See report on their activity, below, or click to see a map of the most recent recorded locations of the monitored kiwi.

· Jackie’s Boy – getting up at 6pm and active for 10.5 hours on average.

· Darwin – up at 7pm and active 10 hours

· JR- up at 8pm and active 10 hours.

· Waka- up at 7pm and active 11 hours.

· Charlotte- ok – travelling about a bit at Mckenzie Bay-watch out for her crossing the road.

· Lambert- up at 8pm and active 9.5 hours – he is due his 6 monthly check but is hiding deep in the pampas at Taurikura Ridge.

· Whitu- up at 6pm and active 9.5 hours

· Charlie- up at 6pm and active 12 hours

· Dallas- was nesting next to the School but his activity steadily increased after 30 days of nesting from 3 hours per night up to 7 hours and he left the nest after 40 days – probably an infertile egg. He is now active 11 hours per night.

· Ngakau- after being released at Hunt’s he has travelled Taurikura ridge and walked into Bream Head – he is currently way over at “Cabbage Tree Flat” by the Old Woman headland making it very hard for Pete and Cathy to get a signal from his transmitter.

 

 

Map of Monitored Kiwi – March 2012