Dawn Chorus - Tiritiri Matangi Island › dawn chorus › DC107.pdf · 4 Dawn Chorus 107 November 2016 5 Some progress is being made on SoTM’s three key building projects – the

Bulletin 107ISSN 1171-8595November 2016

Dawn Chorus

Lovely weather for ducksFerries cancelled, tracks sodden, dams full

How will Treaty settlements affect SoTM?

Planting resumes on the Island

www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz 32 Dawn Chorus 107 November 2016

From the chair

Rain and repairsleave dams full

Bad weather causes chaosTiritiri snippets

COVER: Photo of paradise shelduck family on the Bunkhouse Dam by Kathryn Jones. Unfortunately the ducklings may not have survived.

SODDEN: After weeks of rain the Island was so wet that folk staying in the bunkhouse had to walk the plank to get there. Photo / Jim Eagles

Months of high winds and constant rain have taken their toll on the Island this winter with frequent ferry cancellations, slippery tracks and muddy roads.

At the time Dawn Chorus went to press, guiding and shop manager Mary-Ann Rowland had recorded 26 ferry cancellations since 1 June. ‘With the usual pattern of sailings Wednesday to Sunday we normally get 21-23 ferries a month,’ she said. ‘That means in four months we’ve lost a whole month’s worth of visitors to the Island. It’s the worst winter for wind and ferry cancellations in over eight years.’

The impact of that shows up in visitor numbers, which are down by 1000 for the year to date despite a great start to the year, and in guided walks, with 500 fewer being taken up. That in turn has impacted on shop sales, which have gone from being ahead of last year’s figures to slightly lower. ‘Everything is down,’ said Mary-Ann,

‘because we haven’t got the people here.’As well as high winds there has also

been incessant rain with 197.8mm recorded from 9 September to 12 October and this has given the roads and tracks a battering. Making matters worse is the fact that the last pre-winter delivery of metal, a barge with six fully loaded trucks and a bobcat, was unable to land. The Committee is still waiting anxiously for the weather to improve so two barge-loads of metal can be delivered on successive days.

By the start of October many tracks and roads became slushy and slippery and some even had to be closed to the public to prevent further damage and avoid the risk of accidents. Off-track work on steep areas had become so tricky that activities like monitoring of kokako at the start of the breeding season had to be restricted.

On the positive side, the dams – previously plagued by dry weather and

Wow! What a wet, windy winter. I am writing this from the Island and am certainly looking forward to the arrival of summer (as are the non-human Island residents). We have had a record number of ferry cancellations this year, the tracks are muddy and slippery and the big wet certainly seems to have had a delaying effect on breeding activity.

On the positive side, the dams are full, the bush is lush and we have over 30 known riflemen pairs, some nesting in hihi boxes (to the frustration of our hihi team). Positively, our dotterel parents have returned. Negatively, extremely high tides have washed the first nest away.

It has finally happened. Our long-standing ranger, Dave Jenkins, has really left and by the time you read this our new ranger will be with us. I’m sure that you will all welcome Kataraina to the Island. Our other ranger, Matt Mold, will also, unfortunately, be leaving us in the new year and a potential replacement has already been approached. We also welcome Barry Fraser to the SoTM Committee.

We have been working hard behind the scenes with DOC and our Iwi partners to progress the three key building projects (signal mast, museum and accommodation) plus the realignment of the Kawerau Track at Hobbs Beach (to facilitate the repopulation of the stream by fish). I am hopeful that the breakthrough on all of these is just around the corner (Yes. I know that this been said before).

I would like to say thank you to all the volunteers who helped at Auckland Zoo during Conservation Week to disseminate information about invasive species and control methods while also highlighting the role that open sanctuaries such as ours play in conservation. Finally, thank you to all the guides and volunteers who braved the winter’s stormy conditions to help maintain the Island’s biodiversity and keep it functioning as Auckland’s premiere tourist destination.

Have a very merry (and sunny) Christmas and a great new year.

Brian Chandler


leaks – have all been brimming with water and streams that are often dry in summer and only produce a trickle in winter were flowing freely. Indeed, the usually dry stream from Bush 3 produced an impressive torrent which cut a canyon across Hobbs Beach.

Good for ducksThe wet weather has also been good for duck breeding. A pair of paradise shelducks produced a flotilla of eight ducklings on the Bunkhouse Dam – a rare event – though they may not have survived.

When she first spotted the ducklings Mary-Ann thought ‘that’s pukeko country so they may not last long’ and, sadly, her fears seem to have been realised. ‘Last time I saw the parents there weren't any ducklings with them.’

A number of pateke chicks have also been seen, on the Wharf, Bunkhouse and Fishermen's Bay Dams, plus a visitor reported seeing a very small duckling on the Lower Wetlands Dam but, again, it’s unclear how many will survive.

Mary-Ann was marvelling at a newly-hatched pateke chick on the Wharf Dam ‘when to my horror a large pukeko attacked it. The chick dived under the water for a few seconds then popped up like a cork and raced off to its parents . . . almost walking on water!’ Happily, the chick has continued to survive and, along with its parents, regularly entertains visitors at the dam.

New life memberThe annual general meeting has elected the SoTM bookkeeper, Da-vid Meldrum (at left), a life member after more than a decade of keeping the accounts under strict control.

He joins a distinguished list of life mem-bers: Jim Battersby (appointed in 2003), Ray and Barbara Walter (2003), Mel Galbraith (2005), Carl Hayson (2007), Nan Rothwell (2012), Isabel Still (2012), Sally Hally (2012) and Simon Fordham (2013).

However, David himself was not present; he was walking the Cinque Terre route in the Italian Riviera, and when he learned the news it came as ‘a complete surprise’.

David said he really became involved with Tiritiri because his late wife Gary had worked with Barbara Walter (before she married Ray) at Auckland Hospital. Although they joined SoTM in the early days, his work took them overseas and they couldn’t get deeply in-volved.

‘But during one visit home, he recalled, ‘Barbara – to whom it is difficult to say “no” – said to Gary, “When you come home you

MEMENTO OF TIRITIRI: Ranger Dave Jenkins received acknowledgement for his many years of service on the Island when Biodiversity Sub-committee chair Kay Milton presented him with a cuddly replica of Jenkins, the takahe who was named after him. ‘You can tell it is Jenkins,’ she said, ‘because it’s got the right bands . . . and we all know the bands never lie.’ Dave also received a more usable gift presented by Brian on behalf of SoTM. Photo / Jim Eagles

will be a guide, won't you?” And so it was. We returned to New Zealand after 13 years away and Gary trained as a guide, making the trip over every week. Not long after I spotted an advert in Dawn Chorus for a bookkeeper. Be-ing retired and having a numerical bent I said to myself that this might suit me and keep me out of mischief.’

It was, he said, ‘a pleasure to work with such a great bunch of people.’

Committee electionsBarry Fraser (at right) is the only newcomer on the SoTM Committee fol-lowing an election at the annual general meeting.

Chair Brian Chan-dler, secretary Gloria Nash and treasurer Kevin Vaughan were re-elected unopposed. There were 11 candidates for the nine positions on the Committee and a secret ballot saw sitting members Helen Bucksey, Hester Cooper, Si-mon Fordham, Chris Hannent, Carl Hayson, Peter Lee, Kay Milton and Ray Walter elected along with Barry.

Until he retired and became a guide on the

Island, Barry ran a successful orchid exporting business in northern Coromandel Peninsula, where he had close associations with local iwi.

Brian paid tribute to the work of long-standing Committee member Roger Bray who stood down, though he will continue on the Infrastructure Subcommittee.

Bigger ferryAs part of its plans to enhance the Tiritiri ferry service, 360 Discovery Cruises will be putting a bigger vessel on the run during the peak summer holiday season.

Manager Jimbo Bailey said the company planned to use the D6 (below) – previously owned by the Explore Group – ‘for a couple of weeks over the Christmas period.’ D6 was also used on the Tiritiri run while Takahe was having maintenance a few months ago.


Some progress is being made on SoTM’s three key building projects – the giant flagstaff, the maritime museum and the accommodation and field centre – chair Brian Chandler was able to tell the annual general meeting.

Talks had been held with three iwi groups, Te Kawerau a Maki, Marutuahu Collective and Ngati Manuhiri, at which there seemed to be a reasonable level of agreement, he said.

All other iwi with an interest in the Island have now been invited to a meeting for fur-ther discussions.

In the meantime, geotech testing has been carried out on the sites with favourable re-sults, preparatory work for construction of the flagstaff has been completed and the mu-seum design has been revised to provide more space for displays.

An initial design has also been done for the accommodation and field centre but, Brian said, ‘we won’t be spending any more money on that until we have finalised an agreement with DOC.’

Brian noted that there had been a great many significant developments during the year but those he singled out for special men-tion were:

•As part of the Treaty of Waitangi settle-ment process for the Auckland region several islands, including Tiritiri, were transferred to Maori ownership at the end of August 2015 and gifted to the Crown a month later.

•After a 16-year battle, led by DOC en-tomologist Chris Green, Argentine ants were

finally eradicated from the Island.•An excellent breeding season was high-

lighted by the arrival of one takahe chick, 20 kokako fledglings, 130 hihi (probably taking the population back to a level where trans-locations could resume) and the first New Zealand dotterel in living memory, which was successfully fledged on Hobbs Beach, thanks to a terrific effort by a group of volunteers who successfully protected the nest from high tides and storms.

•DOC, SoTM and iwi worked together

to negotiate the renewal of the Tiritiri Wharf Licence, with 360 Discovery again winning the right to run the ferry service and commit-ting to a larger boat for the peak season.

•The Auckland Unitary Plan was finally adopted and included a provision greatly ex-tending the historic precinct on the Island (it now includes the implement shed and the proposed site of the new accommodation and museum). Brian said the significance of the change was not yet clear ‘but it will certainly be a complication’.

Chairman's annual report

Big projects still moving slowly forward

PLANNING: (left) Preparatory work has been completed for the planned reconstruction of the giant signal mast; (right) an initial design has been done for the proposed accommodation/field centre block but no further work will be carried out until an agreement is reached with DOC.

NEW PLAN: The historic precinct around the lighthouse has unexpectedly been greatly increased in size by Auckland Council.


STAYING FRESH: Guides' Days Out with expert tutors, like Chris Green (centre), help to keep the visitor experience on Tiritiri special. Photo / John Sibley

BiodiversityOn the biodiversity front there were several successful translocations during the year: 100 wetapunga arrived from Auckland Zoo, and the success of the zoo’s programme to raise wetapunga meant more were likely to fol-low; 60 moko skinks were transferred to Ro-toroa Island; 100 whiteheads went to Ark in the Park and 80 to Project Island Song in the Bay of Islands; 20 robins were translocated to Shakespear Regional Park and a further 20 north to Bream Head; eight saddlebacks were taken to Auckland Zoo and four of them were now in the big aviary.

Six surveys were conducted on the Island, covering Raukawa gecko and freshwater in-vertebrates (both through summer student-ships), ruru calls, breeding coastal seabirds, black-backed gull pellets and a transect bird survey. The transect survey – though having a high margin of error – indicated that the Is-land now holds 2011 whitehead, 1155 saddle-back, 1717 bellbird, 1388 tui, 335 kakariki, 189 kereru, 34 grey warbler and 141 robin.

Brian said next year’s biodiversity projects would include an attempt to attract Cook’s petrels to breed on the Island, the transloca-tion of 10 kiwi in and 10 out to improve ge-netic stock, the infill planting programme and the arrival (with the help of Roger Wallace of the Herpetological Society) of some elegant (or Auckland green) geckos.

InfractructureOver the year much work was done on Island

infrastructure, including a start to repairs on Ridge Rd, further improvements to Wattle Track, the successful sealing of the two re-maining leaky dams (done free of charge by Hick Brothers), plus improvements to tracks, culverts, etc, during working weekends.

In addition the Island acquired a new six-seat quad nick-named Erik the Viking and a new compressor was found for the diaphonic foghorn to replace the one which self-de-structed dramatically earlier in the year.

The main problem on the infrastructure front, Brian said, was the failure of an attempt to land more metal on the Island, which had resulted in some muddy tracks. However, planning was underway to make two metal deliveries on successive days as soon as condi-tions were right.

Visitor experienceSeveral interesting developments were report-ed in the area of visitor experience, including development of a new third guiding route, making use of existing tracks and finishing on the East Coast Track. Brian said he had walked the proposed new route and ‘it offers a very different experience, especially on the East Coast Track, but there were still plenty of birds’.

Planning has also commenced to alter the start of the Kawerau Track on Hobbs Beach, including building a bridge, in order to improve access for aquatic species into the stream. New interpretative signs are be-ing prepared, starting with one on little blue

penguins.There has been a strong emphasis on

guide training, particularly on guiding school groups, with new ideas for the guides’ days out and walks with experts.

Both the mainstream education pro-gramme and Growing Minds continue to thrive, he reported, with school visitor num-bers rising by 26 per cent to 7062, and excel-lent feedback from schools. During the year Liz Maire was appointed as assistant educator, allowing Barbara Hughes to reduce her hours, and she had settled in very well. In addition, an education advisory group had been formed to provide feedback and advice.

Visitor numbers were up – by 4 per cent to 31,369 – despite multiple ferry cancella-tions, guided walk numbers had remained the same despite the doubling of the fee – ‘which suggests we must have been giving it away pre-viously’ – and shop profits have increased.

The Island remains the No.1 Auckland visitor attraction on TripAdvisor and now is also No.1 on another website, Experience Oz and NZ.

In conclusion, Brian said, all this prog-ress was made possible by the generosity of SoTM’s sponsors, the continued efforts of our employees and contractors and the hard work of a huge number of volunteers. During June alone, 4171 hours of volunteer work were recorded which, even at the minimum wage level, equated to $63,607.75 for the month or $763,293 a year. ‘That’s an amazing effort for which I give my thanks.’


The impact of Treaty of Waitangi settlements on Tiritiri Matangi, and the rest of the con-servation estate in the Auckland area, is really only just starting to evolve, Nick Turoa, the acting operations manager of DOC’s Wark-worth office, told the annual meeting.

Nick, who has been with the department for 10 years, holding various positions in-cluding iwi liaison officer, gave the meeting a brief history of the Treaty’s signing in 1840, the many years it was largely ignored and the settlement process which got underway fol-lowing the creation of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975 and, in particular, the widening of the tribunal’s remit to cover historical grievances in 1985.

In Tamaki Makaurau – Tamaki of the hundred lovers – because of the many iwi with interests in the region the initial settle-ment process involved the Crown reaching a collective agreement rather than negotiating with each individual iwi.

Fortunately, said Nick, most iwi fell into three natural groupings: the Waiohua Ropu comprising Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, Ngati Tamao-ho, Ngati Te Ata, Te Akitai Waiohua and Te Kawerau a Maki; the Ngati Whatua Ropu comprising Ngati Whatua o Kaipara, Ngati Whatua Orakei and Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua; and the Marutuahu Ropu compris-ing Ngati Maru, Ngati Paoa, Ngati Tamatera, Ngati Whanaunga and Te Patukirikiri.

During the negotiations those three groupings joined together to negotiate a col-lective settlement agreement as the Tamaki Collective. An outcome of the settlment was the formation of a post-settlement gover-nance entity called Nga Tupuna Taonga o Ta-maki Makaurau that acts as a holding trust for all assets returned collectively to the 13 iwi.

The settlement process was by no means complete, but of 19 iwi with claims affecting Tamaki Makaurau, seven had settled, one had signed an agreement which was yet to be con-firmed by Parliament, nine were in negotia-tion and, for various reasons, four had still to start the negotiation process.

An important outcome of the settlement process is a series of steps to ensure that fu-ture decisions on the conservation estate are

fully informed by the views of iwi.To that end iwi had been guaranteed three

of the 12 seats on the Auckland Conserva-

DOC manager says impact of Treaty settlements on Tiritiri is only just starting to take shape

WAIT AND SEE: Nick Turoa tells the SoTM annual general meeting that the process by which iwi will have more say in managing conservation sites will take time to develop. Photo / Jim Eagles

Treaty of Waitangi settlements have created steps designed to let iwi have more input into the management of sites of significance to them but an expert on iwi liaison says it's still far too soon to say how this will work in practice.

Paul Majurey is the inaugural chair of Nga Tupuna Maunga o Tamaki Makaurau Authority.

tion Board; 13 maunga ( m o u n t a i n s ) had been vested in the Tupuna Taonga Trust and adminis-tered by Nga Tupuna Maun-ga o Tamaki Makaurau Au-thority (made up of six iwi representatives, six from Auck-land Council and one Crown representative); and future conservation management plans for the in-ner gulf islands (excluding Tiritiri Matangi) would go to the conservation board and the Tamaki trust for approval.

In fact, Nick said, the first conservation plan to follow that process, for Hauturu or Little Barrier, had recently been publicly noti-fied.

Last year, in an important symbolic ges-ture, several of the inner islands of the Haura-ki Gulf, including Tiritiri Matangi, had been vested in the Tamaki trust for a month and were then vested back to the Crown to be

administered on behalf of the people of New Zealand.

On Tiritiri itself, Kawerau Pa had been vested in Te Kawerau a Maki and there was provision for a similar arrangement to hap-pen with Papakura Pa and Ngati Paoa in the future, though both sites would still be man-aged by the Crown.

DOC was also improving its consultation processes generally – ‘something we needed to do anyway’ – and was working to ensure that iwi views were taken into account.

Another indication of the way things were developing, Nick said, was the involvement of iwi in the recent consideration of the tender to run ferry services to Tiritiri.

There was going to be more work put into providing appropriate interpretative signage giving an iwi perspective on places like Rangi-toto.The department was looking for ways to help iwi develop their conservation manage-ment skills so they could make a bigger con-tribution to the running of the conservation estate.

Overall, the process was just at its begin-ning, Nick said, and it was important to retain the flexibility to allow other iwi to be involved where appropriate, and to consider additional ways in which iwi could reconnect with the is-lands and other places of importance to them. Above all, he concluded, it was vital to ensure the promises made in the Treaty of Waitangi were not breached again.


An article about the Island’s Biodiversity Plan in the Dawn Chorus of May 2015 talked about the elegant gecko (formerly known as the Auckland green gecko) as a potential species for translocation to Tiritiri.

The article pointed out that we have anecdotal evidence of elegant geckos once being present on the Island. But, of course, Tiritiri’s natural environments were extensively modified by clearing, burning, farming and pests, and the geckos and their habitat would have declined severely. Successive searches since the mid-1990s have failed to find any trace of them and they are presumed to be locally extinct.

Potential source sites for elegant geckos are difficult to find in the Auckland region. One of the few sites is the Hunua Quarry in Papakura.

GBC Winstone has resource consent to clear 37ha of native vegetation as part of a new aggregate pit development at its Hunua Quarry site in South Auckland. So far approximately 18ha of native vegetation has been cleared under a Lizard Management Plan (approved by Auckland Council) which requires active search, salvage and relocation

of geckos prior to vegetation clearance. The 90 geckos salvaged and relocated

within Hunua Quarry to date have not obviously re-established in the new habitat.

Dr Graham Ussher, who is contracted for the mitigation work at Hunua Quarry, felt that a translocation of some elegant geckos to a secure, pest-free place would provide better assurance that geckos might survive and establish a new breeding population. Tiritiri offers such a place.

Keith Barber, who manages the Hunua Quarry site for Winstone, has been supportive of the project and an application is currently with the Department of Conservation to consider undertaking such a release.

Elegant geckos are cryptic little animals, and are very arboreal, so finding them is difficult. An enthusiastic team of Supporters led by Graham successfully caught a number of animals during late February and March of this year. Further catching in recent weeks produced a few more geckos.

On average, it takes about 20 hours of searching time to find one animal! With such low numbers, a standard release of animals on Tiritiri is not appropriate and they are being

kept for us on the mainland, to be transferred at a later date to the Island.

Several gravid females were found during this catching period and we have eagerly awaited the birth of these gecko babies which have all safely arrived now.

This project is only possible because of collaboration with the New Zealand Herpetological Society (NZHS). We don’t have the expertise in the care and raising of geckos but members of NZHS do.

Roger Wallace, a very experienced breeder of geckos and lizards, has kindly agreed to work with us to bring elegant geckos back to Tiritiri. Co-managing the programme with Roger is Manuela Barry from Massey University who has been in charge of the Duvaucel’s gecko breeding programme and also looks after the monitoring of the Duvaucel’s geckos on the Island.

Much like the Duvaucel’s gecko, which is only becoming more apparent to visitors 10 years after the original introduction, it will take a long time before we can point them out to our visitors. However, it is a good feeling to bring them home again and to increase the diversity of our reptiles.

RETURNING HOME: These beautiful elegant geckos have been successfully bred so they can be returned to Tiritiri for the first time for many years. Photos / Connor Wallace

Bringing a touch of green reptilian elegance back to the IslandThe Biodiversity Plan's vision of being able to translocate the delightful elegant gecko to the Island is close to becoming a reality, writes Hester Cooper,


Fauna notes

Rain and mud hamper researchers and even slow start of new breeding season

HARD TIMES: (from left) Te Koha Waiata, who for many years entertained visitors on the Wattle Track, has not been seen for some time; this stroppy pateke chick at the Wharf Dam told photographers to buzz off but may not have been so successful with pukekos. Photos / John Sibley, Mary-Ann Rowland

The breeding season got under way in the wet-test conditions anyone could remember. With so much rain in late winter and early spring, the ponds were overflowing. The Bunkhouse Dam held a family of paradise shelduck and pateke could be seen most days on the other ponds. The wet, slippery conditions have made it difficult to move around and hampered the efforts of the monitoring teams, but the birds have carried on regardless.

Takahe Turutu has changed partners several times dur-ing the winter and early spring, being seen first with Nohoa, then with Edge, then with Nohoa again.

At the end of October, Turutu and Edge were together at the north end of the Island and Nohoa was on her own in the Graham’s Road area, but who knows how long this situ-ation will last?

In the lighthouse area, Anatori sat on a nest for over a fortnight but on 29 October the two eggs were found scattered and broken and Anatori was back feeding with her partner Tussie and daughter Jenkins.

It’s early in the season so we are hoping she will nest again.

KokakoThe monitoring team spent a frustrating

few days in early October trying to follow birds in difficult conditions. A few of the ha-bitual early-nesting females were getting under way, some looked like they might start soon,

while others showed no interest at all. All of last season’s pairs appear to be still

together and in their usual territories, and at least one new pair may have formed over the winter. At least 16 of the fledglings from 2015-16 have also been seen.

By the end of October, at least five females (Hinerau, Lucky, Terewai, Freedom and Mere) were incubating and at least two others were in the final stages of nest-building.

Cloudsley Shovell, who has lived in Wattle Valley since 1997, will be 20 years old around the beginning of December. Sadly, her partner of 17 years, Te Koha Waiata, has not been seen since the autumn.

Hihi/stitchbird Mhairi McCready (at right), the hihi researcher from 2015-16, has re-turned for another season.

In the pre-breed-ing survey she found 141 individuals, of which 93 were males and 48 females. Fifty-four of these birds were last year’s fledglings, show-ing a healthy recruitment rate.

Breeding got under way in September and by 25 October there were 11 nests, five with chicks (total 17 chicks). We would really like another bumper year for fledglings to bring the numbers up to a level at which we can start ex-porting birds to other sites again.

During the early weeks of the season sugar-water consumption was at an all-time high and tui ferociously defended the cages, even though they couldn’t get in, but by late Octo-ber the flax was beginning to flower profusely, so look out for those orange-crowned hihi!

Mhairi is being helped by Alex Knight, a PhD student from Auckland University who is studying coccidian, a hihi parasite which can cause disease. He is identifying genes that promote resistance to the parasite and trying to determine whether the presence of artificial feeders increases the prevalence of coccidian in the population.

Rifleman/titipounamu In recent years, the known rifleman numbers have increased slowly but steadily each sea-son. This year we are cautiously optimistic of a sharper rise, with over 30 known pairs for the first time.

As of 10 October there were 33 pairs con-firmed, with other sightings still to be verified. This was around 50% more than were known at the same time in 2015. Sixteen pairs had complete nests in boxes, two of those in hihi boxes.

Because many of the birds have colour bands on their legs, we can follow the move-ments of some individuals. We know, for in-stance, that some juveniles banded last summer have remained where they were, while others have moved to different valleys.

There have been sightings of riflemen around the bunkhouse in previous years, but


this season we have our first pair taking up resi-dence in this area. They have chosen to nest in a hihi box despite three rifleman boxes having been placed in the vicinity.

Bellbirds/korimakoThe bellbirds are having a good start to the breeding season. Plenty of nests have been built and several had chicks already by early October. Michelle Roper, who has studied the Island’s bellbirds for several years, was pleased to see some of the pairs from last year back on the same territories.

Sugar-water consumption went up with the end of karo flowering, but decreased again as more of the flax came into flower. This season we have a new PhD student, Meh-rnaz Tavasoli, who is studying bellbird person-ality and song. She has three interns helping her and working on subsidiary projects to con-tribute to their own studies.

Ruru/moreporkRoosting ruru are a familiar sight to visitors who walk the Wattle Track. We have long wanted to know more about our ruru popu-lation and this spring and summer we have a student working on a preliminary study. Even-tually we hope to determine the impact of ruru as predators of other fauna on the Island, par-ticularly on hihi.

We will begin by trying to estimate how many ruru we have and what they are eating. We have already located several nests and hope to use night-time cameras to record chick-feeding events.

In the meantime you can help by report-ing sightings of ruru (except for those on the shortcut and at the nikau grove, which are al-ready well known) to John Stewart (by email

to [email protected] or leave a note in the office at the Visitor Centre).

Other birdsComplete tieke/saddleback nests started ap-pearing in nest boxes by the end of September, and by late October there were several nests and already a few failed attempts, possibly due to the cold wet conditions.

Pateke/brown teal have been seen on the Wharf Dam, Fisherman’s Bay Dam and at the Silvester Wetlands, sometimes with ducklings.

Those of you who walk the Totara Track will notice a new solar panel located about half way along. This is powering a loudspeaker sys-tem which, at night, is broadcasting a record-ing of the Cook’s petrel colony on Hauturu. We hope the recording will attract the atten-tion of birds flying over and that they will drop in and stay to breed on our Island.

The dotterel (tuturiwhatu) pair has been back on Hobbs Beach and a nest with two eggs was found on 7 October, dangerously close to high water mark. A third egg was laid, but by the end of October the nest had been inundat-ed by high tides. We hope they will try again in a safer position higher up the beach.

WetapungaAdult wetapunga are still being seen along the Wattle Track. They are continuing to mate, which means egg laying will be ongoing through spring. These adults will be some of the 385 released into the valley from Auckland Zoo during the autumn and winter of 2014.

Compiled by Kay Milton with contributions from Morag Fordham, Simon Fordham, Mhairi McCready, Michelle Roper, Chris Green and John Stewart.

PETREL STATION: John Stewart with the new solar panel power source on the Totara Track and the loudspeaker system it will power. The speakers will broadcast Cook's petrel calls in the hope of attracting birds flying overhead to land and hopefully make use of artificial burrows which are being installed nearby. Photos / Kay Milton

WATCHFUL: (top) a ruru resting in the nikau grove on Wattle Track; (bottom) a rifleman poised for action. Photos / John Sibley, Simon Fordham


The shoreline on Tiritiri is colonized by many plants that are either salt-loving or salt-toler-ant, are able to withstand harsh drying winds and drenchings from salt water spray. Some plants have chosen rocks or clay cliffs to grow on. In this hostile environment many plants have stems and leaves that are fleshy and suc-culent, allowing them to store water. Their leaf surfaces are often smooth and waxy, slow-ing evaporation and letting salt spray run off.

The following five native seashore plants have been gathered to be used as salad veg-etables or cooked for eating:

Native celery (Apium prostratum) grows in clumps along the shoreline of several of Tiritiri’s beaches.

It proved to be an important food plant for Captain James Cook, being mentioned several times in the journals of his first voy-age to New Zealand, especially Saturday 28 October 1769, Tolaga Bay, ‘and as I intended to sail in the morning some hands were em-ployed picking of sellery (sic) to take to sea with us. This is found here in great plenty, and I have caused it to be boiled with por-table soup and oatmeal every morning for the people’s breakfast…..and I look upon it to be very wholesome and a great Antiscorbutick.’ (Portable soup consisted of blocks of dried extract of meat and was used as a staple food on long sea voyages.)

Sadly, native celery is now rarely found growing on mainland beaches. It belongs in the parsley family, Apiaceae.

Glasswort (Sarcocornia quinqueflora) is a perennial succulent salt-loving coastal plant that often grows in mats to form salt marsh-es. Concentrations of salt within the plants protect them from water loss when they are splashed by salt spray or fully submerged by the tide. Their fleshy stems are edible, tasting salty and rather astringent.

The name glasswort comes from its Eu-ropean cousin Salicornia, which was burnt to form soda ash to be used in glassmaking. On the continent it was called herbe de Saint Pierre (St Peter is the patron saint of fisher-men). In England this was first corrupted to sampiere and then to samphire.

Samphire is the fashionable salty vegeta-ble of the sea, used fresh in salads or lightly cooked to be used as an alternative to aspara-gus. Glasswort belongs in the amaranth fam-ily. Amaranth (meaning unfading) is a plant food first harvested by the Aztecs.

Horokaka (Disphyma australe) is our New Zealand ice plant and it can be seen growing on the large rock at the far end of Little Hobbs Beach. When flowering, its white blossoms make an attractive display. It has green succulent three-angled leaves.

Maori used juice from the leaves to treat

Flora notes

Tasty tips about edible seashore plantsboils and other sores. The mildly salty leaves were pickled by early settlers to be eaten with cold meats. Horokaka is an endemic plant which is seldom found on busy mainland beaches where it is often displaced by a larg-er-leaved introduced South African ice plant. Horokaka belongs in the ice plant family, Ai-zoaceae (which means everlasting).

Beach spinach (Tetragonia implexicoma) can be found on the clay bank below the large overhanging pohutukawa tree at the far end of Hobbs Beach. It has a trailing growth habit and produces tiny yellow flowers in spring. Dark red succulent fruits appear in autumn. Its fleshy green leaves are round to heart-shaped.

Young leaves taken from the growing tips were used as a vegetable by Maori and early settlers. The fruits are not edible but their red juice was used as a dye by Maori. Beach spin-ach also belongs in the ice plant family.

Shore bindweed (Calystegia soldanella) is a scrambling creeper which belongs in the convolvulus family. Its pretty funnel-shaped pink flowers have five white mid-petal bands.

Its Maori name is panahi and they har-vested its thick white fleshy roots which were pounded into a pulp and used as a relish to flavour some meats. This native plant is widely dispersed along the coastline of New Zealand.

Warren Brewer reports on five plants which could come in handy should you become stranded on Tiritiri without any food.

SALTY SALADS: (clockwise from top left) beach spinach with tiny yellow flowers; glasswort thrives on a shoreline rock; horokaka with its white flowers; shore bindweed dotted with purplish blooms; native celery.Photos / Warren Brewer


Most Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi will know the story of the original planting of the Island. A nursery was established in the early 1980s and the planting programme over the period from 1984 until 1994 saw over 280,000 trees planted. Then, we just let them grow.

We planted trees only because the ecological language at the time talked about ‘re-afforestation’ rather than the term ‘restoration’ which we have become so familiar with. As a result, Tiritiri is missing a lot of diversity in its flora, including some trees, but also climbers, herbaceous plants and grasses. Our current Biodiversity Plan (which is available on the website) has a long chapter on the flora of the Island and recom-mendations for improving the habitat for birds, reptiles and inverte-brates.

In 2010, Helen Lindsay led a group of representatives from the Motuora Restoration Society, Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi, Motuihe Restoration Trust and Motutapu Restoration Trust to develop a com-bined permit for the collection of seeds which were appropriate for each island. This allowed for the collection of seed on behalf of other groups.

SoTM had decided that re-establishment of a nursery on the Island was not a viable option as it requires constant care and the increasingly busy schedule of the rangers leaves them little enough time to man-age the existing work. Instead we had an informal agreement with the nursery on Motuora to do some growing for us, which resulted in us planting more tawapou and increasing the plantings of Carex secta. But last year we decided to take a bit more control of the programme and adopt a very different approach. With the assistance of David Havell from DOC we have protocols in place which allow us to germinate and raise seedlings on the mainland and then bring them on to the Island.

There is a dedicated team of seed detectives who walk in their neighbourhood reserves and parks looking for flowering and fruiting trees and plants that are on our shopping list. Our list is very long so we set some priorities at the beginning of the summer.

This year we piloted the programme and did a small amount of planting in Wattle Valley and in Bush 22. The plants were quarantined in growing tents for six weeks to check for signs of disease. On the day of planting, they were washed clean of all the soil around the roots and then brought over to the Island layered between damp paper towels. Once there they were parcelled up with a small amount of very wet potting mix (already heat treated with boiling water) and carried down to the planting sites. The species and where they were planted was re-corded and they were given a little loving care by way of some silica gel underneath (extra water supply) and some slow release fertiliser.

Some failed and some are growing (much as we expected) but we are now learning what works and what does not. We don’t have to establish thousands of trees, just some small communities, and then let the birds do the rest for us. DOC is interested to see how well this programme works because it offers other restoration projects a differ-ent way to increase biodiversity.

We are always looking for more help with the programme. If you live in the Auckland region and would like to become a seed detective or to be a plant carer, please contact [email protected]. There are a lot of little seedlings coming along which need care and the more seed detectives we have the better. As Ray Walter said to me, ‘It’s finding the seed which is the difficult part, not the growing.’

NEW PLANTING: (clockwise from top left) Gerhard Wette; Diana Dombroski waited for years to plant a lancewood; bush lawyer; putaputaweta; wineberry; tree fuschia; tanekaha; lancewood. Photos / Hester Cooper, Wikipedia

We're planting again on Tiritiri MatangiHester Cooper reports on an exciting new planting programme aimed at making the vegetation on Tiritiri more diverse.


Weeding on Tiritiri Matangi has provided Helen Lindsay with a lot of interesting experiences. Like hanging halfway down a cliff while orcas and dolphins cruise below. Or spending hours crawling through gorse. Or climbing nervously to the top of a lofty spire of stacked rocks looking for weeds (there weren’t any).

After 10 years in charge of the Island’s weed control programme, she says, ‘I think I have been to places that even Ray hasn’t been to – I don’t think he ever went down the cliffs on a rope – so I’m one of very few people to visit every square inch of the Island.’

Along the way she has also presided over an exercise which, while it will never succeed in eradicating all weeds, has definitely got on top of the problem and, as the forest matures making conditions less favourable for weeds, there is less of a threat.

Now Helen is hoping for someone she can train to take the programme over. And she wouldn’t mind a few more volunteers joining the weed team because, ‘of course, the more people we have the less work it is for the rest.’

Things have certainly moved a long way from the early days when the focus had to be on battling huge infestations which dominat-ed parts of the Island.

The present programme dates from the early 2000s when ranger Ian Price decided to introduce a weed control approach he had seen while working as a volunteer on Raoul Island and asked Helen to be the team leader.

‘Ian decided that he wanted to find out the extent of the infestations and the way to do that was to search the whole Island in a grid pattern. So starting from October 2002 that’s what we did. We spent the whole three months of summer for the following three years searching the entire Island each year.

‘In that time we killed a lot of plants and we mapped where everything was so we knew where all the major infestations were; for in-stance, we knew where the big infestations of moth plant were, so we knew there were go-ing to be large numbers of seedlings coming up in those spots, and we recorded it all.’

Helen pays tribute to Ian’s energy and drive, plus the huge amount of volunteer time he contributed to the work, as being crucial to getting the weed programme going.

‘He was a tough boss but handled every-thing with good humour and taught us that there was nowhere short of a vertical cliff face that we could not get to if we tried hard enough. But he never asked us to do any-thing he hadn’t done himself.’

It was, Helen recalls with feeling, pretty hard going in those early days. ‘There were four of us in the team alongside Ian, but I was the only one who was there every year – I think only one person ever came back a second time – because it was really tough work. We spent eight hours a day, every day for three months, covering the whole Island. We used to do 10 days straight and then we’d have four days off . . . and by the end of the 10 days we were pretty exhausted.’

Part of the problem was that ‘the vegeta-tion was a lot lower than it is now so we did a lot of crawling. I remember the first week we started in the northwest and that was literally crawling under gorse. I think Ian was really testing our mettle that week, thinking, “Well, if they can get through that block they’ll probably cope with the rest”.’

To create the grid the Island was divided into sections bordered by tracks and each had to be covered completely, going up and down, up and down, from track to track, bush bash-ing the whole time, until we’d done it.’

That involved climbing over dead wattles covered in muehlenbeckia in Wattle Valley or fighting through thick stands of manuka, coprosma and flax in Lighthouse Valley ‘and there were times when you’d stand there and think, I’ve got in here but I can’t see a way out.’ Plus, of course, it was hot because it was summer and the team had to be on constant alert for wasp nests. ‘We killed a lot of wasps.’

But, by the end of the three years of grid searching, a clear picture emerged. In areas with intact native forest, such as Bush 1 and Bush 2, there were hardly any weeds. The weeds, Helen says, were ‘mostly in the nasty bits of the Island.’

The two major infestations were of Japa-nese honeysuckle and moth plant. ‘The hon-eysuckle, which was probably a garden escape, had moved fairly slowly out from the light-house area and we rarely found it anywhere

On the frontline in the battle to beat the weedsThe weed control programme on Tiritiri doesn't attract a lot of attention but it's hard work and it's a crucial part of the effort to restore the Island to the way New Zealand used to be. Jim Eagles talks to Helen Lindsay, who has led the programme since its inception, about what it involves.

LOOKING IN EVERY CORNER: Helen Lindsay climbs a rock spire in search of weeds.Photo / Richard Sharp


beyond 500m from there. But the moth plant distribution was very random because it had obviously come in from the mainland, prob-ably blown in on the wind, so it could spring up anywhere.

‘Other weeds, like Mexican devil weed, were in random patches but not very wide-spread, probably because they were also blown over from the mainland.’

Armed with that information, the team (comprising Helen, abseiling contractors, an occasional other contractor who does spray-ing, and around 12 volunteers), has focussed on the areas which are most highly infested. ‘Basically all the areas where we know there are going to be seedbanks are GPS waypoint-ed and mapped. I check those myself every year and, in between, the members of the vol-unteer team also check them.’

In addition, each of the volunteers has their own patch to keep an eye on ‘and over time they come to know where things are likely to be, so they can concentrate on those areas. When weeds are found they mostly just pull them out. But if something more is required it’s passed to the rangers to deal with.’

That’s been the pattern for a few years, but Helen reckons the time is now right to do another grid search of some areas to see if anything has changed. ‘If you search too often you won’t find much because the seedlings are too small. I’ve been waiting for them to get bigger and now I’ve decided this is the year we need to have a detailed look. There may be things that have been there for a few years that are getting larger – they are unlikely to have flowered yet so they haven’t seeded and spread – but they are getting large enough so we can find them.’

Whatever that search uncovers she’s confi-dent that ‘we are on top of the weed problem and have been for some years now. But it’s a bit like mowing lawns: you can never stop. So even if we found every single plant that was on the Island, and every single seed that was in the soil germinated and we found it, there is still stuff coming in from the mainland, so we have to keep a level of surveillance in order to find things before they have a chance to become established.’

And the comforting news, Helen says, is that the larger the forest gets the safer it is. ‘There are some areas which used to be in-fested that are now fine. For instance, back in 2002 the shortcut from the wharf was highly infested with weeds. But now the trees have grown quite tall so that even if a mothplant seed blew in from the mainland – which it probably does – it may arrive but it won’t ger-minate in those shady areas.

‘The way I view weed control is that you’re just holding the weeds back until na-ture takes over.’

BATTLEGROUND:(above, from left) the biggest threats are moth plant and Japanese honeysuckle; (at left) the extent of weed infestation is shown by the detailed weed map of the Island; (below) weed warriors Chris Chadwick, Corinne Cassidy and John Cassidy taking a break.Photos / Weedbusters, Wikipedia, Rosemary Downard.


Almost certainly elegant geckos once lived on Tiritiri Matangi. Then humans cleared the forest cover and introduced predators like rats and the geckos disappeared. But in the past 30 years hardworking staff and volunteers have made Tiritiri into a sanctuary by replanting the forest and getting rid of the predators. Tiritiri is now a safe home for many species that are rare elsewhere in New Zealand and soon the elegant geckos will make the Island their home once again.

Elegant geckos are being rescued from places on the mainland where forest is still being cut down so they can be brought to their new, safe habitat on the Island. But to rescue a gecko you have to catch them first! This is really challenging because they live high up in the tree tops and are well camouflaged and elusive.

Can you help the scientists find the elegant gecko? Help them find their way through the maze.

It takes an average of 20 hours of searching to find one elegant gecko. They sure are sneaky!


Day trips: 360 Discovery runs a return ferry service every Wednesday through Sunday from Downtown Auckland and the Gulf Harbour Marina. Bookings are essential. Phone 0800 360 347 or visit www.360discovery.co.nz. Call 09 916 2241 after 7am on the day to confirm the vessel is running.

School and tertiary institution visits: The Tiritiri education programme covers from level 1 (5-year-olds), to level 13 (17-18-year-olds), to tertiary students. The focus in primary and secondary areas is on delivering the required Nature of Science and Living World objectives from the NZ Science Curriculum. At the senior biology level there are a number of NCEA Achievement Standards where support material and presentations are available. For senior students the Sustainability (EFS) Achievement Standards are available on the NZQA website. There is huge potential in that these standards relate directly to Tiritiri in various subject areas: science, economics, tourism, geography, religious education, marketing, health and physical education. The Island also provides a superb environment for creative writing, photography and art workshops. Tertiary students have

Supporters of Tiritiri MatangiDawn Chorus is the quarterly newsletter of the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi (SoTM). We are a volunteer incorporated society working closely with the Department of Conservation to make the most of the wonderful conservation restoration project that is Tiritiri Matangi. Every year volunteers put thousands of hours into the project and raise funds through membership, guiding and our Island-based gift shop.For further information see www.tiritirimatangi.org.nzor contact P O Box 90-814 Victoria St West, Auckland

SoTM CommitteeChairperson: Brian [email protected] 832 983 Secretary: Gloria [email protected]: Kevin VaughanCommittee: Helen Bucksey, Hester Cooper, Simon Fordham, Barry Fraser, Chris Hannent, Carl Hayson, Peter Lee, Kay Milton, Ray Walter

Guiding and shop manager: Mary-Ann [email protected] 476 0010

Membership: Annette and Malcolm de [email protected] 817 9964

Educator: Barbara [email protected] educator: Liz Maire

Fundraiser: Vincent [email protected]

Dawn Chorus editor: Jim [email protected] 445 2444

Island ranger: Matthew [email protected] 476 0920

the opportunity to learn about the history of Tiritiri and tools of conservation as well as to familiarise themselves with population genetics, evolution and speciation. Groups wishing to visit should go to www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/schoolvisits.htm or contact [email protected]. Bookings are essential.

Overnight visits: Camping is not permitted but there is limited bunkhouse accommodation. Bookings are essential. For information on booking overnight visits, go to: www.doc.govt.nz/tiritiribunkhouse. Bookings can also be made by phoning the Department of Conservation's Warkworth Area Office on 09 425 7812, though an additional booking fee will apply.

Supporters’ discount: Volunteers who are undertaking official SoTM work can obtain accommodation free but this must be booked through the Guiding and Shop Manager at [email protected] or 09 476 0010. SoTM members visiting privately can get a discounted rate by booking through DOC's Warkworth Area Office 09 425 7812.

Coming Events

5 December Evening talk. Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith will discuss the work of her laboratory which focuses primarily on identifying

the origins of Pacific peoples and their commensal plants and animals – such as the kiore – in order to better understand

the settlement, history and prehistory of the Pacific and New Zealand. At Building 115, Unitec Institute of Technology, Mt

Albert. Enter through Gate 4 on Carrington Road.

A special time to visitPre-Christmas is a great time to visit the Island with the birds very active as the breeding season gets under way, the bush

particularly lovely thanks to spring growth and the waves of flowers, and visitor numbers still quite modest. This year there will also be opportunities to see the recently restored Watchtower and check up on progress in developing the

proposed maritime museum. Plus, while you're there, you can do your Christmas shopping in the Tiritiri shop.

28-30 JanuaryAuckland Anniversary Day Working Weekend

13 MarchSupporters' Social, 7.30pm, at a new venue, Mt Eden Village

Centre, 449 Mt Eden Road, Cnr Mt Eden Road and Ngauruhoe Street. See the website for further details closer to the time.

18 SeptemberAGM, 7.30pm, Mt Eden Village Centre.

21-23 OctoberLabour Day Working Weekend

Supporters' Hosted Weekends (dates for 2017 are yet to be finalised) are led by guides who show off the Island's special places. Reduced price on the ferry and half price in the bunkhouse. Children welcome. Working Weekends are your chance to give the Island a hand. Travel is free, as is accommodation in the bunkhouse. Book through guiding@

tiritirimatangi.org.nz

Visiting Tiritiri Matangi for education or recreation

For more information see www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz ring 09 476 0010 or email

[email protected]

The stunning 2017 Tiritiri calendarThe Tiritiri Matangi calendar for 2017 is in

the shop and it's more spectacular than ever. Priced at only $18, it's the ideal Christmas

gift for family and friends, and a great choice for sending overseas. Best of all, the profits

come straight back to the Island.

And when you buy your calendars don't forget that our unique Island shop has an incredible

array of other gift ideas, including nature books, ceramics, bags, puzzles, jewellery, soft toys,

artwork, special t-shirts and much, much more.

Add some Tiritiri magic to your Christmas greetings

Slip one of our stunning fridge magnets into your letters or cards. Only $3 each or $10 for four. Choose from an island sunrise, ruru, kokako, kereru, tieke, takahe, tui or hihi.

TIRITIRI MATANGI OPEN SANCTUARY

2017 CALENDAR

By purchasing this calendar, you are supporting the conservation and education programmes on Tiritiri Matangi Island.

Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi IncPO Box 90814, Victoria Street West Auckland 1142, New Zealand

www.tiritirimatangi.org.nzPrinted in New Zealand by Safari Print

using vegetable-based ink on paper sourced from sustainable forest.

Tiritiri MatangiOpen Sanctuary

Documents

Dawn Chorus - Tiritiri Matangi Island › dawn chorus › DC107.pdf · 4 Dawn Chorus 107 November 2016 5 Some progress is being made on SoTM’s three key building projects – the