Conservation officer and Sirocco roadie Matu Booth surveys “Siroccolandia”. Photo: Judi Lapsley Miller

I recently had the opportunity to talk to two of my favourite Zealandia conservation staff – Raewyn Empson and Matu Booth – about our impending visit from Sirocco the kākāpō.

Alfie: Rumour on the supplejack vine it that my cousin and good friend “The Big Green Budgie of Love” is coming back for another visit. I’m stoked! When is he arriving?

Raewyn: Sirocco ‘s first public night here is on July 22. He will be here for six weeks. He’s visiting much earlier in the season than last time, so that’s nice for our visitors because the tours will start earlier in the evening. There will be four tours a night, every night.

Alfie: What are you doing to ensure his majesty will have a comfortable stay at Zealandia? I hear he is very particular…

Matu: We’ve been busy preparing the rockstar’s winter palace “Siroccolandia”, and making a number of alterations. Our aim is facilitate the environment so that Sirocco has the opportunity to show people what he’s all about. So we’re improving the lighting and sound, and even roofing part of his arena. We’re also giving the perimeter trees a good trim so that he can’t use them to head over the fence and go wandering.

Sirocco earning his rockstar reputation – an entourage wherever he goes. Photo by Jo Moore.

Alfie: What changes will Sirocco notice the most?

Matu: Behind the scenes, he’ll notice that the bush in his enclosure has grown and become lush, so there will be lots of new opportunities for him to forage and explore. All the people interactions will occur down the bottom and the rest of the area will be just for him alone to chill out. We found that the top of the hill was an area he was quite defensive about – in the wild that would be his track-and-bowl area used for booming and attracting the ladies.

Raewyn: We learned a lot from his last visit, and from his visits elsewhere. He responds more if people are moving about rather than sitting, so we’re removing most of the seats and are also adding in an additional window.

Alfie: Great! A bigger mosh pit! And how are you going to deal with his more “temperamental” side? Do the pigeons and bats need to worry about losing their heads Ozzy Osbourne-style?

Matu: Well he does have his quirks that we need to manage, but he’s nowhere near as bad as some rockstars!

Raewyn: And we got lots of excellent advice from animal behaviourist Barbara Heidenreich about how to increase good behaviours and decrease bad ones when she spent some time here with Sirocco and DOC staff before he left last time. Fortunately he’s with us in winter when his hormones won’t be out of control.

Sirocco tucks in to some breakfast at Zealandia in 2011. Photo: Jo Moore.

Alfie: So what is Sirocco’s most demanding habit?

Matu: That would be begging for food. On his last visit we found that he was rewarded too much for begging, and the treats were a bit big. So he’d end up stuffed full before the end of the evening. (Alfie: Hmmm… reminds me of Elvis in his later years…) He’ll be on far stricter treat rations this time – and will have to earn them.

Alfie: So the rumours are right then? There will be “macadamias for all”?

Matu: There will be a good range of natural food for Sirocco – including kauri cones (if they’re ripe in time) from the good folk at Otari Wilton’s Bush. As for macadamia’s for all, I’m sure if you ask nicely, Sirocco might share…

Alfie: (Sotto voice) yeah right… So how close a relative is he really?

Matu: Well he’s a cousin of sorts, but your ancestor – the “proto-kaka” – lived 80-100 million years ago. So it’s understandable that Sirocco might not want to share his treats with you…

Alfie: Humphf!

Have you met a kākāpō yet? Book your date with Sirocco now.

Kākā juvenile GG-V demonstrating how to sap feed by gouging through the bark with the convenient can-opener attached to her face, also known as her beak! (Photo by Kerry Charles)

Skraaaark.  Alfie Kākā here, interviewing Kerry Charles, who has just completed her thesis “Urban human-wildlife conflict: North Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis) in Wellington City”.

Conflict!  Sounds like I’ll need my foreign correspondent’s flak jacket for this one.  But the set-up looks friendly enough. (Like many dispatches from the front line, this is to be conducted over drinks and nibbles in a neighbourhood watering-hole, though I can hear nearby skrarks and wibbles from a group of young larrikin green-banders just outside).  Although it’s full moon, I stick to just one sugar water and a few almonds.

Alfie: Kerry, I’m a bit worried by the idea of a conflict.  What’s going on?

Kerry: Well it started when staff at the Botanical Gardens noticed that some of their historic trees had been damaged by bark being stripped off.  They noticed damaged trees in other parks then, and also in people’s gardens.  Then one day, someone saw a kākā chomping at a tree.

Pretty soon small groups of other kākā were seen doing the same thing.  So the Wellington City Council approached Victoria University to see if they could help find out what was happening, and to see what could be done about it.  The Council generously provided some funding for a study to investigate.

Alfie: Tell me all about it Kerry.  Even though you can’t see them, I’m all ears.

Kerry: OK.  First of all we found out that the tree damage was being caused by sap-feeding.  Kākā are the only animals in New Zealand that are known to do it.  There have been studies done in native forest, but no-one has studied it in an urban environment before.  I mapped out a set of areas in public greenspaces to survey, and eventually, I saw kākā sap-feeding first hand.  They use two methods – stripping off strips of bark, and also using their beaks to gouge out a line of bark so they can lick the sap that flows just below.

I then focused on identifying which trees were most likely to be targeted.  I looked at a variety of factors including the species, size of tree, the nature of the sap, topography of the surrounding area, distance to houses, and distance to Zealandia.

Alfie: And what did you find?

Kerry: In summary, the trees most likely to be damaged are exotics, particularly large conifers high up on exposed ridges and hillsides.

Alfie: And our old familiar native trees were not affected?

Kerry: Not nearly so much.  A few natives like mahoe have been, but the main targets were macrocarpa, and lawsoniana.  Surprisingly though, good old Pinus radiata wasn’t chosen, despite its abundance in the areas we looked at.

Alfie: (under his beak)…Radiata doesn’t taste great.  (cheerily)…What else did you find?

Kerry: Some surprising things Alfie.  Earlier work had led to speculation that sap-feeding may be a female’s way of getting a high-energy diet before breeding, but I saw several birds believed to be males doing it too.  And I saw tui getting in on the act.  Their beaks aren’t strong enough to open up the bark, but once the kākā had done the job the tui were able to lick up some sap themselves – until the kākā chased them away.  I also found that kākā were sap-feeding even when there other food sources available close by.

Alfie: Good research skills Kerry!  So what’s your advice to the council?

Kerry: Since we now know more about the types of trees that are at risk, it’s easier to locate and keep an eye on potentially hazardous trees.  I recommended planting species with greater tolerance to bark damage on public and private land, and retaining trees favoured by kākā for sap-feeding in areas where they pose minimal hazard.

Alfie: So keep some macrocarpa for my pals to feed on?

Kerry: Exactly Alfie.  High up on exposed ridges would be ideal.  The idea is to provide a food source that may mean that birds will leave trees in other locations alone.

Alfie: Yippee!  And what about some sort of repellent to protect the most precious trees?

Kerry: There’s some research going on to find a practical surface repellent for kea, so something similar might work for kākā.  It’s a tough one though, as kākā are smart birds and not easily deterred.

Alfie: Indeed we are.  Thanks Kerry, this has been fun.  Let’s catch up again soon – I want to hear about the survey you did of 1000 residents to find out what they think about us kākā.

Kerry: Sure thing Alfie.

And so I took a last sip of sugar water, hop-climbed up a nearby tree and took off back to the valley.  The full moon was bright in the north-eastern sky.  A stand of macrocarpa on Johnston Hill stood silhouetted against the skyline.  Autumn.  Delicious Autumn.

With thanks to Bill Beale for helping with the Nestorian transcription.

About Kerry Charles:

Alfie & Kerry

Kerry has recently completed a Masters of Science in Conservation Biology at Victoria University of Wellington. In her masters research, she investigated some of the issues kākā have been causing in Wellington in recent years, from both ecological and social science perspectives. She has a background in social science and ecology and is particularly interested in the interface between social and biological aspects of conservation, including urban ecology, human-wildlife conflict and citizen science. While not out in city parks peering at kākā through binoculars, she worked part time at Wellington Zoo and ran a local chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology based at Victoria University. She enjoyed working with Wellingtonians (both the avian and human varieties) so much, she’s now considering doing further research in urban ecology. Kerry’s full thesis will be available online through the university website in two or three months.

Zealandia Trustee Charles Daugherty holds a Cook Strait giant wētā during regular monitoring work.

Zealandia’s new Trust Board welcomes the challenge of
bringing the sanctuary’s benefits to the people of Wellington.

By Charles Daugherty, Zealandia Trustee.

The Halo is a concept developed over a decade ago by Zealandia founder Jim Lynch and others. Most people think of the Halo Effect as an increase in numbers of tūī and other native bird species moving beyond the relative safety of the sanctuary’s mammal-exclusion fence, to occupy adjacent suburbs such as Karori and more widely across the entire city. To the new Trust Board, the Halo concept embraces a far larger set of benefits to Wellington than the dawn chorus. Key goals for us include not only ecological restoration of our valley and spill-over benefits to surrounding areas, but also environmental education programmes for the region’s youth, world-leading conservation research, constructive engagement with our local community, and an eco-tourism destination that supports the Wellington economy.

Most importantly, Zealandia is about the future of the Wellington region. The Trustees aim to bring the benefits of our treasured valley to all of the people of Wellington. We will achieve this lofty goal by working with key partners such as Victoria University, the Wellington Zoo, and the Wellington City and Regional Councils, whose possum control programmes have proven essential to growing the Halo in the past decade.

One important area of shared interest is urban wildlife. Gareth Morgan has raised awareness of the threats wandering cats pose to our native species, but a range of other introduced mammals are also of concern. With our partners, we will be undertaking research to understand the risks raised by stoats, rats, and possums as well as cats in the growing Halo region. Such information can support the City Council in planning pest control programmes. These programmes can only succeed if Wellington residents support them, so we will be engaging with our members and neighbours to learn what they think and how we can best work with them.

Another problem is emerging: as kākā numbers grow, an increasing number require veterinary attention resulting from some of the items they eat around our city, especially those made of lead. Additionally, kākā may cause damage to people’s homes and gardens. Our research will explore ways to prevent harm to kākā, gardens and buildings, so that we Wellingtonians can happily share our city with our most valued species.

So, while challenges such as urban wildlife are great, as Trustees we are confident that in concert with our partners these challenges can be met. The reward is an internationally recognised future for our city  that is strongly connected to the unique natural heritage of New Zealand.

Thank yous presented to Kevin Brady and other interim Board members. From left: Pam Fuller, Professor Charles Daugherty, Kevin Brady, Natasha Petkovic-Jeremic, Mayor Celia Wade Brown.

Dear members, volunteers and Zealandia supporters

Last month I wrote about our glorious summer.   Who would have thought that we’ve now reached the stage of celebrating rain – and Zealandia’s upper lake has become a vital source of supply to help some of Wellington’s parched sports fields.   It adds a new dimension to our support for wider Wellington.

It has been a busy summer at the sanctuary, well supported by overseas and local visitors, and of course by our volunteers and staff.   Our events programme has been packed with interesting activities.  Tuatara month in February was followed by “bugs and slugs” in March.  I attended a fascinating members evening with Professor Phil Lester from VUW, who told us about the “invasion of the wasps” – reminding us again how critical biosecurity is, for Zealandia and beyond.

Next month, it’s school holidays.   In my other life, I am a Scout Leader at Brooklyn.  On the Zealandia website you’ll see the invitation to young peoples’ night time tours illustrated by four of my eager beaver Brooklyn Scouts, who loved their experience last year.   These tours are a great example of living out our mission to connect people with nature, and seeking to cater for a wide range of interests and age groups.

The Board is busy too, with a focus on setting the course for next year and beyond.  Restoration is our long term goal.   Shorter term, it’s about recovery to a sustainable position for our finances, strong relationships, and building wider understanding of our contribution to Wellington.

Partnerships are critical to our future and take many forms.   The Board spent an interesting morning with the Victoria University team at the Marine Ecology Laboratory.   Zealandia is well placed to work with Victoria University in making Wellington a knowledge capital in every sense.   In our working partnership with the University, we’re thinking hard about how we can extend the unique place that Zealandia has as a living laboratory and a hub for knowledge creation, and for citizen science.

Funding partnerships are important too.  We were delighted to receive a grant from the Wellington Community Trust, towards the future eel viewing facility and our critical work on freshwater biodiversity.   We also thank Mitusbishi at the conclusion of their significant support over the last five years.

Collaborative work continues with our principal funder, Wellington City Council, and with partner Wellington organisations such as the Museums Trust, Positively Wellington Tourism, and Wellington Zoo.   All of us working together help to make Wellington a great place to live in and visit:  with outstanding natural capital.

And yes, we’re actively involved in the current discussions on pest free New Zealand, cats, and the sanctuary halo.     Watch this space to see how this challenging issue evolves.

Our members and volunteers are also partners for restoration.   As a Board we are determined to hear ideas from our members and volunteers, and respond where there is a better way.   We’ve had a clear message about the irritation factor of photos on the membership cards, so you’ll see that photos are no longer required.   A small step, and please keep your suggestions flowing in.

Warm regards

Denise Church

Chair, Karori Sanctuary Board

The upper reservoir (right) and lower (left) used to be Wellington’s water supply. Photo: Lloyd Homer.

Blog post by Facilities Manager Russ Drewry.

At Zealandia there are two reservoirs. The lower, with its iconic valve tower, and the upper, which you will have seen if you’ve walked to the upper dam to enjoy the impressive views.

In 1991 the upper dam was decommissioned, and the lower dam followed suit in early 1998. However, the upper reservoir is once again supplying water to the region, temporarily at least.

Most of us have been enjoying the wonderful summer weather but it’s been very tough on some of the region’s plants – especially the ones with shallow roots such as grass.

The few lawns at Zealandia are essentially cosmetic and can be reseeded, but Wellington City Council (WCC) found that keeping its sports fields from being destroyed by activity once the watering ban came in was a major problem. They needed a water source that wasn’t connected to the mains supply, to avoid drawing usable water away from the public, but also one that wouldn’t adversely effect the environment. They turned to a supply they previously relied on for well over a hundred years: the Karori catchment now within Zealandia’s fence.

Keen to help, our Facilities team consulted with Capacity to find a way to get the freshest water from the valley, make it easy for them to collect, and avoid compromising our biosecurity. Vehicle checking each tanker for pests would have been a resource-intensive and slow process so the best solution was to create a well point outside the fence. Sandbags would be laid at a concrete outfall culvert where excess water from the upper dam exits through a bypass tunnel.

Working with WCC, civil defence and rural fire and with the blessing of GWRC the sandbags, pumping equipment and a portable reservoir – which allowed an easy staging and filling point for the tanker – were delivered and set up on Tuesday of this week with the first shipment of water made to Wellington’s parched sports fields that same afternoon.

Since then, the tankers have been running back and forth morning ‘til night and will continue to do so right through Easter until some of that horizontal rain Wellington is so famous for makes a return.

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This is certainly the year to celebrate a glorious summer. It has been Wellington at its best – clear, calm, sunny days and great conditions to see tuatara sunbathing or to enjoy a coffee on the deck at Rata Café.

Spending time in the valley with overseas visitors last week, and seeing the sanctuary through their eyes, was a rewarding experience. The changes we observe day to day, or even month by month, may be modest. But after eight years away, my friends marvelled at the transformational changes that the joint efforts of staff and volunteers, and partners and donors, have brought about.

For the Board, February has been a month of conversations: with past Board members and Chairs, with the Guardians, with supporters and donors, and with partner organisations such as Victoria University and the Tenths Trust. Last year was a tough one, and the new Board is grateful for the work done by past Boards, the Guardians, and sanctuary staff, to set out in new directions. With the University and the Tenths Trust, we can already see positive opportunities to come, through practical working partnerships that benefit conservation, research and the visitor experience. With the Guardians, we discussed practical support for the upcoming election of members to the newly formed Guardians – members will by now have received detailed information about this important step that will complete the new governance arrangements.

And of course, there have been many, many conversations with members, volunteers and supporters. Walking in the valley gave me opportunities to chat informally with volunteers, and hear their views. All were proud of the conservation successes – and yet for many of you, it is the personal contact with visitors that stands out as the most rewarding aspect of the volunteer role. There is one common theme through nearly all the comments – that our success relies on strong relationships, and sustaining the long term goodwill of Wellingtonians. We need to be active in appreciating all the people and organisations who support our work.

Unsurprisingly, volunteers, members and supporters (past and present) have also given the Board direct feedback on issues of concern as well. Branding, and pricing, membership and visitor experiences are all on your radar and as a Board we are chewing over these issues now with sanctuary staff, and working out how best to tackle the challenges that we face. You can expect to see ideas and plans emerging over coming months, and I hope that you will keep the flow of ideas and comments coming in.

Meanwhile – it’s another beautiful sunny day in Wellington – if you are able, take a trip to the sanctuary soon to enjoy the remaining summer weather, and celebrate the fantastic conservation results that your support is helping to create.

Warm regards

Denise Church
Board Chair

It’s two years since the takahē pair at Zealandia were released. Photo: Brendon Doran.

It’s too late for any of us to ever see a moa. But we have the next best thing in Wellington: Puffin and T2, the retired takahē.  On the 1^st of February 2011 these two birds, once a breeding pair on Mana Island, took up residence at the Zealandia wildlife sanctuary, and now enjoy a life of leisure in the wetland beside the lake.  With their iridescent paua-coloured feathers, Flintstonian red beaks and dinosaur feet, the takahē resemble their cousins the pukeko – but only loosely.  Visitors are amazed how huge they are, and excited to find how close they can get to these rare and highly endearing birds, which were thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered in Fiordland in 1948.

Critically endangered, with only around 225 birds remaining, takahē are a brilliant ‘advocacy’ species for Zealandia to share with the public, giving visitors the opportunity to see a piece of our lost history up close and personal. As Puffin and T2 amble around your feet it’s like looking through a window into the past, when New Zealand was 80% forest and still belonged to the birds. Children tend to be particularly taken with the takahē, fascinated by their ‘dinosaur’ look – and equally fascinated by their ‘weird green poo’ – always the hot topic at question time. The takahē is by far the most popular soft toy at the Zealandia shop, but more importantly these birds provide an insight for children into the story of our human impact on the natural world: the damage done, and the choice we can make to help rescue a species from the brink of extinction, or to do nothing and lose it from the world forever.

At Zealandia you can see takahē without travelling to an offshore island sanctuary. They have an unusually large range for a bird in captivity, roaming freely within their area right up to the fence line (they are each fitted with a radio transmitter so staff can track their movements).  Most of their area is inaccessible to the public, providing a large private space where they can be separate from visitors, but throughout the day they come and go around the picnic area beside the wetland. The best time to see them is around midday when they start to anticipate the arrival of their daily volunteer, who sets out supplementary feed for them at 1.15pm each day. While the birds are nonchalant about people and seem largely unaware of the visitors walking through their area, they recognise the Zealandia volunteers’ t-shirts and have been known to give chase, feeding time or not!

Pest control is key to the takahēs’ survival in the wild, where like New Zealand’s other ground-nesting flightless birds they run a high risk of losing eggs and chicks to stoats. Puffin and T2 have nested twice since arriving at Zealandia, and the public has been enthralled each time, asking for constant updates. Unfortunately the pair is now relatively elderly and their eggs are no longer viable, but their nesting shows they are healthy and feel secure in their territory. And one day, who knows!

Relaxed, naïve and really quite goofy, takahē are the bird you can get the closest to in New Zealand. Many of us will never see our iconic kiwi in a natural setting, due to their nocturnal and secretive habits – though you can see them by night on a Zealandia tour. But whether you’re a local or a tourist, at Zealandia you can experience the past coming to life as a takahē walks right up to you as if the last thousand years had never happened.

Thank you to volunteer writer Liz Hibbs for this blog post.

I am delighted to be part of the sanctuary team as the new Chair of the Trust Board. The Board is committed to build on the thorough work done over the last six months by many people including the Interim Board, the external reviewer, Guardians and members, and the Wellington City Council. Thanks go to everyone who has played a part in mapping out a sustainable way forward for the Trust.

Just before Christmas, the Wellington City Council confirmed its support for a new partnership approach with the Trust, including a significant funding commitment of $2.1 m  over the next three years. This is great news for all those committed to the Trust’s conservation and education vision and our grateful thanks must go to the Mayor and Councillors.

The Council also confirmed the Trust Deed, which sets out the future arrangements for governance of the sanctuary, including the role of the Guardians and a clear way for members’ interests to be represented. Members will hear more about this shortly, with a call for nominations for election of members to the newly formed Guardians.

The Board’s work is now underway at full pace. Pam Fuller, Steven Thompson and Charles Daugherty join us from the Interim Board and bring important long term knowledge of the sanctuary. Phillip Meyer, another new Board member, is an experienced company director and finance expert. We are being supported by our Acting Chief Executive Natasha Petkovic-Jeremic and her team while we work through a big agenda of ideas and proposals, flowing out of the Interim Board’s review work. There are challenges for the sanctuary in this tough economic climate, but I am confident that working together with members and supporters we can tackle these.

At this time of the year, from my office window, I observe a constant stream of buses, large and small, and pedestrians following the footpath markers through Kelburn, all heading for the sanctuary. It is great to see one of Wellington’s most special places actively shared with our international and New Zealand visitors, and uplifting to read the messages they leave about the quality of their experiences. Even so, it is the active support and involvement of our members and volunteers that remains at the heart of the sanctuary. Keeping you informed and involved is important, and I look forward to meeting many more of you over coming months.

With kind regards

Denise Church
Board Chair

Facilities Officer Mark Bathurst takes to the fence

Our resident busy-body, Alfie Kākā, interviews Zealandia Facilities Officer Mark Bathurst and finds out about a generous local company supporting the sanctuary vision and just what Mark is doing up that ladder.

Alfie: Every time I fly around the valley, I see you on the fenceline tinkering with the fence – what are you doing?

Mark: I’m working on the top hat, or hood, that runs along the top of the fence and prevents any mammal that climbs up the mesh from getting over the top and into the sanctuary. In case you haven’t taken the time to examine it closely: imagine a long steel pipe (diameter 250 mm) cut lengthwise in half. That’s the top hat, and it’s fixed to the top of the fence in sections (the longest measuring 6m) to form a smooth, uniform curve – like upside-down spouting – that mammalian claws are unable to grip. Now, imagine what that means when the fence cannot run straight but must turn a corner. A straight length of top hat must have a wedge cut out of the middle so the two halves can be welded back together at the appropriate angle. But welding damages the zinc-and-aluminium galvanising on the surface of the top hat, meaning the join soon starts to rust unless treated in some way. The earlier treatments haven’t worked, with the result that every top hat angle on the fence (unless recently replaced) has at least some rust, and many have rusted so badly they either have holes in them or soon will do. I’m currently replacing all the angles that have rust holes.

Alfie: That sounds very important. What is so special about the technique you found to fix the rusty angles?

Mark: Previous treatments entailed painting the joins to keep them moisture free. The earlier paints proved not to be up to the job. The last paint we tried – a zinc-rich preparation pioneered by my esteemed predecessor, Dale Burrell – was much more promising, although the angles treated with it have not yet been up long enough for us to know for sure how efficacious it is. The other problem with paint is the need to prepare the surface beforehand, in particular to abrade it by blasting it with garnet so the paint adheres properly. This was extremely time-consuming and the results, despite the genius of Dale’s home-made blastarium, not guaranteed. The new treatment is a far-superior kettle of fish. It’s a whizz-bang industrial process called zinc arc spraying. Pure zinc wire is atomised by a high-voltage electrical current and air-blasted at just under supersonic speed onto the join. Again, the surface of the join is first blasted with an abrasive so that it anchors the zinc, effectively fusing it to the welded steel. But here’s the other great thing: the entire process is being carried out by professionals – a company in Porirua called Steam and Sand. And, what is more, they’re doing it at only nominal cost – because they love Zealandia and are keen to help! At a stroke, their expertise and generosity have rid us of one massive headache.

Checking the fit and admiring the zinc.

Alfie: That’s great news! How long will it take you and the crew to finish fixing the angles? Sounds like a Sisyphean task to me…

Mark: Yup, we and Sisyphus are going to have plenty of time to get to know each other – we could be replacing rusty angles ad infinitum. At least our work is more interesting than repeatedly rolling a boulder up hill. I hope to have replaced all the so-called category 1 angles – those that already have rust holes – come autumn. Then we’ll turn to the category 2 angles – those that looked as if they were soon to develop rust holes when we carried out the top hat audit in mid 2012. And after that, I anticipate yet others will have deteriorated to the point of needing to be replaced. And so on! It sounds like a lot of work but our fence is the moat that keeps our mainland island safe, so you could compare it to the processes in other sanctuaries where they maintain a grid of baited traps year-round, run a ferry back and forth every day and so on.

Alfie: Can you tell us more about why the fence is important? It doesn’t stop me flying in and out of the valley on a whim (of which I have many).

Mark: You’re right, it doesn’t. But I hope you realise the danger you place yourself in every time your whimsical nature prompts you to set foot outside the valley. Not to mention those of your ilk who try nesting beyond the fence. You see, my little feathered friend, that fence is what keeps the valley free of mammals such as rats, stoats, possums and cats, which play merry havoc with bird-folk such as your good self – especially those who nest in tree holes, where they and their eggs and nestlings are easily trapped by ravenous, hairy, four-legged beasts with razor-sharp claws and teeth. Were we to let the fence deteriorate, you’d be in big trouble. Be grateful someone’s looking out for you!

Alfie: Thanks Mark and the rest of the team – we couldn’t do it without you!

Zealandia would like to thank Steam & Sand for their ongoing support. By reducing the time and cost of fence maintenance we can do more with our resources, continuing to bring the bird song back to Wellington.

Alfie

You can follow Alfie on Facebook and Twitter to get his latest skraarks.