|
The long awaited return to the Anchorian empire in Dusky Sound is upon us! After almost a year and a half of kakapo attention being focussed on Codfish Island and chick rearing we have finally made it back to Anchor Island. It is super nice to be back in Fiordland. For all the great things about about Codfish it definitely doesn't have the knock you sideways, gob smacking amazing-ness that Fiordland does. We love it! The view from the helipad is incredible. Looking out to Resolution Island, the home of early kakapo recovery pioneer Richard Henry, you can feel the history. Not much has changed since Cook was here in 1770. Chris and I have spent the first couple of days back here checking on the male kakapo who have been hanging out here in our absence, tidying up the hut and doing some gardening. It's amazing how much it has grown since we left! The resident hut robin has moved back in and is making himself quite at home. Everyone seems to be doing fine and there are quite a few new track and bowls on the tops indicating that while we were gone the boys had a good old boom over summer. We are also getting ready to receive a couple of transfers over the next couple of weeks of birds from Codfish as well as some of the chicks from this season. It will be very exciting getting some adult females over here as well as some chicks who will grow up learning about Fiordland. They will be feeding on beech and yellow and pink pine, all of which don't grow on Codfish and could be species that trigger breeding.
Meanwhile the first lot of hand raised chicks from Invercargill are doing really well on the Codfish. They are having a go at being "grown ups", sleeping during the day and learning all about the bush at night. They are still in a large pen but will be released in a few weeks when it is the right time. They are also still being hand fed by our awesome KPO's for a while longer until they are weaned. The remaining chicks in Invercargill are also doing great and as they reach the right age are scheduled for a trip back to their island homes.
The real superstars of the season however, are the kakapo mums who raised their chicks in the wild the whole way through. So, raise your glasses to Cyndy, Jean, Heather, Margaret-Maree, Alice and Ellie! All of their chicks have left the nests but are still with or near mum most of the time. |
|
| PAGE TOOLS |
Search this site
