Banner Photo: Ari’s egg with its patch (l), and Mr JC’s egg
After the sad loss of kiwi Kanuka, we have some happier news. We had two teams out last Sunday (18 September) for the first nest raids of the season and brought out our first chick and two eggs.
Precious cargo: the haul from our first raids
Anna and Deb raided Mr JC; he was easily located but in very thick scrub. They retrieved a very feisty eight-day-old chick and a good egg. Deb reports: “We took the time to refit Mr JC’s transmitter before pushing our way back up to the track with our precious cargo. It was quite a mission; I’m sure we had half the forest debris down our clothes by the time we got to the track.”
Meanwhile Fi, Robyn and Greg were checking out Ari. The data from his transmitter indicated that something had gone wrong in the nest on Friday. They found him without too much trouble; unfortunately, the chick was gone but Ari was still sitting on an egg which was brought out after replacing Ari’s transmitter.
Fi and Co delivered the chick and eggs to Sue who fitted Mr JC ‘E’ with a transmitter. Amy did the dosing and delivered the eggs to Tamsin, who held them overnight before going to Westshore the next morning. Matt did the crèche run and released Mr JC E into the crèche.
Both eggs were about 70 days old. Ari’s egg had sustained some damage in the nest and was cracked. Bev at Westshore has patched it up and the egg is doing well. Bev later advised that Mr JC’s egg had internally pipped and was starting to hatch.
It’s a huge team effort; many thanks to all involved and for the support from Tamsin and Bev from Save the Kiwi.
Fi, Robyn and Greg planned to raid Hoover next, while Peter will update data from the Makahu Saddle nesters. The weather is proving to be a challenge.
Check out the Nester Status table on the ‘Facts and Figures’ page.
We take this opportunity to acknowledge the funding received from World Wildlife Fund-NZ and the Tindall Foundation to incubate eggs we retrieve from the wild.
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