This year we’ve employed four extra kakapo ranger staff to help us through the breeding season.  Jason Malham, Ruth Cole, Phil Marsh and Jo Whitehead.  The workload out here is ramping up so everyone is busy busy busy.
Here's an update from Ruth about Lisa's nest and other matings....

Its 8.30 pm on a calm summer's evening on Whenua Hou – Codfish Island.
Steadily we walk up the track and into the lush forest over the boardwalk and up the hill to the sound of the daytime bird chorus winding down. We are on an exciting and important mission- a night of kakapo nest minding.

Lisa is quietly sitting on her clutch unaware of the efforts being made to ensure the future of her valuable offspring. On arriving at our campsite, Jo teaches me how to assemble the equipment we need to monitor Lisa's nocturnal activities. My first view of a kakapo being on a live monitor linked to an infrared camera set within Lisa's nest chamber – and there she is! We bed down for the night but with an ear open – a sensor across the entrance to Lisa's nest will alert us with a loud 'ding-dong!' when she leaves it to feed. Our job is to monitor how long she leaves her clutch; if she doesn't return for two hours then an egg-rescue is initiated.

All went well that night, she only left the nest for a quick 40-minute munch.
Reviewing the whole night's footage the following morning we saw her regularly tend her eggs – rolling them to ensure even embryo development, scratch and preen and use her beak to grub around the nest. I felt very privileged to see this most private of Kakapo habits – the previous evening showed Lisa laying her third egg which was amazing!!

I've joined the Kakapo team just as the excitement started.
As a seasonal ranger, my main job is to keep the birds well fed and at healthy weights – the optimum breeding weight for females is between 1.5 and 1.7kg as at this weight they tend to produce more female offspring.  A higher proportion of females in the population confers more long-term success and productivity.  Over the next couple of months I will be mostly running out food to the birds at numerous feeding stations over the island with the help of volunteers.  I’ll also be helping out with whatever is going on…and there’s plenty of things happening.

Over the weekend Lisa's nest was in jeopardy. A Cooks petrel entered the nest cavity. Lisa became very defensive of her eggs and fighting erupted. It soon became obvious that the eggs could be damaged.  Jo was able to sneak in through a side entrance and remove the eggs, replacing them with ‘dummy’ eggs. The real eggs were taken to be incubated at base.  One is alive and well, one was infertile and one appears to have died very early in natural incubation.

News flash! Errol just got back to the hut with the news that Nora has had a second mating with Lionel! Nest number two on the way…..!! Go Nora!!

There are lots of exciting movements happening all over the island, but one of the most interesting is that Richard Henry has left his usual site and taken a walk towards where many of the other males are busy booming… watch this space for news of his travels!