celebrating 21 years of kōkako and 30 years of supporters ... · dawn chor us bulletin 115 issn...

Dawn ChorusBulletin 115

ISSN 1171-8595November 2018 Flying high

Celebrating 21 years of kōkako and 30 years of Supporters

New faces on Committee and new Life Members

Elegant geckos return to Tiritiri after 30 years

www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz 32 Dawn Chorus 115 November 2018

From the chairFrustratingCouncildelays

Tiritiri titbits

Husband and wife team made life members of SOTMThe husband and wife team of Ian Higgins and Cathy Catto have joined the illustri-ous list of Life Members of Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi in recognition of nearly 30 years of stirling work.

Announcing the award at the AGM, chair Brian Chandler said the Committee had received a substantial petition asking for Ian and Cathy to be made Life Mem-bers ‘but we couldn’t say anything because we had already decided to make them Life Members’.

The two aren’t quite sure when they joined SoTM but they do recall their in-terest being sparked when they visited the Island in the summer of 1988 on the Te Aroha on an Islands of the Gulf boat trip. ‘Initially we planted trees on Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park trips. We took our son Jono, then aged three months, to the Island for the brown teal release in 1990. He is now 28 years old, so we can safely say we have been involved for 28-plus years.’

Cathy’s skills in business and education saw her elected Treasurer in 1994 and she served on the Committee for 16 years. She was closely involved with the initial guid-ing concession, setting up the Visitor Cen-tre with its island interpretation displays and establishing the role of an educator for visiting school groups. These days she is still active in the Education Advisory Group, guiding and the shop.

Ian’s building skills were also quickly in demand and he recalls that his first work-ing weekend involved construction of the generator shed working alongside Graham Jones, ‘who was both a hammer hand and head chef, as in those days working week-ends were catered . . . Three days of lasagne from memory.’

Over the years Ian has been involved in a huge number of building projects and working weekends. Perhaps his favourite was the restoration of the signal tower to its iconic shape. These days he is a member of the Infrastructure and Special Projects Subcommittees and is particularly enthusi-astic about the plan to build a field centre, lighthouse museum and signal mast.

The two say they’ve made many good friends through Tiritiri which, as Cathy says, ‘is a magical place where the world comes to you, you meet many people and friendships flourish’.

They’ve also had some amazing experi-ences, including the capture of riflemen on Little Barrier/Hauturu and the collection of the 8-ton Cuvier light from a DOC shed in Pureora Forest and, Ian says, ‘we look forward to reassembling this magnificent light in the not too distant future’.

They both agree ‘it has been a plea-sure to be involved with SoTM, to see the changes that a group of supporters have made to this Island, and we look forward

GOOD WORK: Chair Brian Chandler gives Cathy Catto and Ian Higgins a congratulatory hug after they were made Life Members. Photo / Jim Eagles

COVER: Martin Sanders' shot of Chatters in flight took second place in the photographic competition marking 21 years of kōkako on Tiritiri. See page 8.

Our 30th AGM has been and gone and we have two new members to bring fresh blood to the Committee. I have signed on for a final year and it will also be our long-standing treasurer’s final year. There have been some sad events, but all in all it’s been a good year. And, yes, TripAdvisor says we are the num-ber one thing to do in Auckland again.

The 30th anniversary dinner was a great success and Lou Sanson’s speech was both entertaining and informative. Our DOC Director-General is certainly passionate about the New Zealand wil-derness and its wildlife.

I was hoping to have good news about our resource consent applica-tion, especially as we submitted it seven weeks ago and Auckland Council have a 20 working day target! Not to be, I’m afraid, as following a site visit by five council employees last week I have been told that we will receive further requests from them in a couple of weeks!

God knows, I am a patient person (ask my wife and kids!), but dealing with bureaucracy is about to empty my cot of toys!! We have our leases from DOC (the body charged with looking after the natural environment) after a robust three year review. So why are Council involved at all!

Clearly, I am incredibly naïve to have thought that, after keeping them advised on our plans, taking their ad-vice on design of structures and send-ing them the review by DOC, resource consent would be easy. We even took the Mayor and key councillors to the Island to show them what we are doing!

Why on earth can’t DOC and Council have a joint approach to con-servation in the Auckland region? They now cohabit in the same Aotea Square building and I am told by the Mayor’s office that they are working to remove duplication. Wouldn’t that be great!

Oops, I see that I have used up my quota of exclamation marks, so I’d bet-ter finish with the news that we have photographic evidence of a weka on the Island. How does a flightless bird get onto an island 3km offshore? Most likely some kind person has given us a present, so thank you, whoever you are.

I’m going to have a glass of wine and calm down. Brian


to continuing involvement for a long time to come.’

Following the election of Ian and Cathy, the list of Life Members is: Jim Battersby (2003) deceased, Ray and Barbara Walter (2003), Mel Galbraith (2005), Carl Hayson (2007), Nan Rothwell (2012), Isabel Still (2012), Sally Hally (2012), Simon Fordham (2013), David Meldrum (2016), Ian Hig-gins and Cathy Catto (2018)

Conservation heroineTiritiri stalwart Glenys Mather’s work for con-servation has been hon-oured by Forest & Bird’s Old Blue Award. It was given for her 20 years’ service to the Waitakere branch of F&B, par-ticularly as coordinator

of the Kiwi Conservation Club. ‘Glenys,’ the award states, ‘inspired a generation of KCC members to love and care for nature through her innovative programme of ac-tivities and ability to relate to children.’

But, of course, Glenys’ service to con-servation goes beyond the KCC. During the early days of the Tiritiri project, in the late 80s and early 90s, she and husband David were among those who visited the Island to plant trees.

They dropped out for a while but, she recalls, ‘in November 2001 one of my F&B friends who was a guide on Tiritiri men-tioned that Barbara was looking for more people to guide and asked if I might be in-terested. So my guiding days started then and continued until November 2017 when we moved up to Mangawhai to retire.’

On Tiritiri, as in F&B, Glenys was par-ticularly known for her rapport with young

visitors and she was especially popular as a guide for school groups.

Even in retirement in Mangawhai her commitment to conservation hasn’t dimmed. ‘The first day up here, Friends of the Brynderwyns had their AGM and we attended and signed up for the trapping team at Marunui in the Brynderwyns. The Fairy Tern Trust is also looking for volun-teers so I have signed up to help this spring. There is plenty of conservation work to be done here and so I decided in November last year to concentrate my time locally.’

Glenys says her time on Tiritiri was ‘re-warding, fun and I have learned a great deal while making some wonderful friends.’

Sugar-daddiesThe Island’s sweet-toothed hihi, and the birds that freeload on their sugarfeeders, now have two sugar-daddies to thank. For many years the raw sugar for the feeders has been provided by Chelsea Sugar free of charge. But when the Hihi Research Group decided to try feeding the birds more regu-larly an additional supply was required and Hamish McIntosh, owner of Gilmours wholesale grocers in Mairangi Bay, kindly agreed to provide sugar at a discounted rate. Gaye Hayson, who organised the sug-ar supply until recently, said both Chelsea Sugar and Gilmours ‘have been extremely generous and we are very grateful to them’.

RARE HEADGEAR: Kakī beanies made by the Tiritiri knitting team are sported by (from left) Cody Thyne, Tammy Steeves, Tegan and Tate Steeves-Wright, Stephanie Galla; Tegan with a juvenile kakī and Tammy. Photos / Kakī Recovery Programme

Tiritiri beanies give the kakī a boostTiritiri’s famous handknitted beanies almost stole the show when a record 184 captive-raised kakī/black stilts were released in the McKenzie Basin earlier this year. Naturally during the release all eyes were on the encouraging sight of such a big boost to the wild population of the world’s rarest wader. But afterwards much of the talk was about the beanies worn by members of the Kakī Recovery Programme and their families.

The beanies came about because Stephanie Galla, a black stilt researcher at the University of Canterbury, learned about the beanie team’s prowess and contacted the Tiritiri website to see if a kakī version might be available.

Kay Milton, who designs the beanies, says, ‘At that stage I hadn't even considered designing one, but Stephanie’s request prompted me to do so. I sent her a photo of the prototype and she immediately ordered 12. She and colleagues wanted to give them as gifts to other people working on the programme. So of course I got the knitting team involved, and we were able to send her seven by the end of May and the rest a few weeks later.’ That speedy work meant the beanies were able to get a public outing in front of the television cameras at the big release.

Stephanie was delighted with her purchase. ‘The beanies that the lovely knitters at Tiritiri Matangi made are spectacular. Not only are they warm, but stylish too. It’s not very often that you see critically-endangered kakī on wearable items, as they are not as well known as other charismatic species, so it’s a real treat to wear these beanies around town. I’ve gotten heaps of compliments from complete strangers, which provides a fantastic opportunity to chat about our world’s rarest wading bird.’

The beanie team has now produced over 500 of their special hats for sale in the shop – about half of them made by Terri Beals – and in the process earned over $20,000.r


Magic quiltA raffle for a stunning quilt made by An-nette de Raat and featuring a New Zealand design has raised $535 for SoTM. The lucky winner was guide Pam Boyce.

Updated map brochureTiritiri is about to get a new map brochure for sale to visitors. Visitor Experience Sub-committee chair Helen Bucksey says it isn't hugely changed from the old brochure but does feature a new cover image, a larger map, a brand new 2018 aerial photo of the Island, a photo of wētāpunga and species and place names in Māori. Production was coordinated by Derek Tearne and de-signed by Onn Tan.

New wharf trailerThe new wharf trolley/trailer has arrived on Tiritiri on the Hauturu and has already demonstrated that it will be much more useful than the old one which ran on rails.

The trailer arrived stacked with 30 penguin nest-boxes, so was put to use before it was even unloaded. Once the penguin boxes were removed the trailer was piled up with the stores, wheelie bins and gas bottles then towed up to the light-house area and unloaded. This new system worked very well and means it will no lon-ger be necessary to double-handle luggage or equipment. Many thanks to Reid Trail-ers for a great job.

The new generator was also delivered to the Island a couple of weeks ago and de-spite a few teething problems seems to be working well with a noticeable reduction in engine noise. The barge that brought it also delivered another four truckloads of track metal and a couple of packets of tim-ber to boost stocks on the Island.

Ferry fare changesFullers 360 has changed its name and the structure of fares to Tiritiri. In future the cost will be the same whether from Auck-

PEST FREE: SoTM was one of 450 community conservation groups at Auckland's first Pestival, celebrating the plan to make the city pest free by 2050. The photo shows Liz Garrett and Carol Bates chatting with two of the many enthusiastic visi-tors. Hester Cooper, who organised the Tiritiri stall, said it went well 'and showed that we have knowledge (and mistakes!) to share with those who are not so far along the conservation journey.' The event also served as a catalyst for producing a portable pull-up banner (shown at left) featuring a tīeke photo by Geoff Beals and designed by Louise Belcher. Photo / Hester Cooper

land or Gulf Harbour: adults $78, children $47 and families $225. Volunteers still travel free and there will continue to be a Support-ers’ winter discount fare, of adults $47 and children $30, from 1 June to 31 August.

Calendar pin-upsThe Tiritiri Matangi calendar is one of SoTM’s most successful products, both promoting the Island and raising $10,000 a year, and the key figures in its production are designer Louise Belcher and photogra-pher Geoff Beals.

Geoff, who is well-known on the Island as photographer, guide, kōkako monitor and more besides, has for the past seven years had the job of ensuring the photos chosen look as good as they possibly can.

But Louise, who has designed the cal-endar for nine years, is probably less well

known, partly because she now lives in Nelson and can’t visit the Island very often.

She fell in love with Tiritiri when she visited soon after moving to Auckland in 2008 and ‘wanted to be involved. I knew that I couldn’t commit to being a volunteer guide so I wondered what skills I might be able to offer. A brief email was all it took and, because I was familiar with desktop publishing, Mary-Ann soon had me lined up to produce a calendar. Since then, I have helped produce the calendar, along with promotional pamphlets and brochures, postcards and, recently, a large banner.’

Louise says the best part about putting the calendar together is going through all the wonderful winning entries in the annu-al photographic competition. ‘I am always stunned by the moments that the mostly amateur photographers have been able to

CONVENIENT: The new wharf trailer is able to deliver luggage

straight from the ferry to the

bunkhouse.Photo / Ian

Higgins


Annual Report

New museum, field centre, signal mast . . . and how about a giant moa?Exciting times are in store for the Sup-porters of Tiritiri Matangi to judge from the annual report delivered by chair Brian Chandler at last month’s AGM.

As well as reporting on a year of solid work in areas like infrastructure, biodi-versity, visitor experience and education, Brian was able to update members on good progress on the major projects . . . and to speculate on some remarkable possibilities for the future.

SoTM has, he said, finally signed an agreement with the Department of Con-servation for leases for the new field centre, the lighthouse museum and the existing implement shed, plus a licence to build the replica giant signal mast. That has cleared the way for a resource consent application to be lodged with Auckland Council.

Work has also continued on the design of the field centre and Brian was able to show detailed drawings of what it will look like, with a central lounge and kitchen; a deck ‘looking out to Hauturu’, where guests will be able to cook meals, pour drinks, re-lax and mingle; a block of showers, toilets and a drying room; two blocks contain-ing a total of 11 two-bed units for visitors; and two two-bedroom family units ‘for the posh people . . . but they will still have to join everyone else to cook’.

The complex will also include three self-contained units for staff. It will be sited in the area just across Wharf Road from the implement shed,

The time taken to sort out the necessary approvals meant the timetable for the proj-ects, unveiled at last year’s AGM, has had to be put back a year, Brian said. But the Committee had identified and met with an

organisation which might be able to carry out the necessary capital fundraising pro-gramme. ‘They have presented a funding plan which we are considering. We hope to commence the fundraising process later this year and to start building in 2019.’

In concluding his report, Brian looked into his crystal ball and, sometimes with his tongue poked firmly in his cheek, he of-fered some amazing possibilities:

The near future – The field centre and museum open, the signal mast is erected and operating and SoTM has a new gov-ernance structure more suited to the times.

A little further out – The lighthouse museum is voted World’s Best Museum, the Supporters take over running the light-house and, soon afterwards, management of Tiritiri as a whole – ‘DOC has raised the idea informally,’ Brian said, ‘and we could be interested so long as they recognise the need for adequate funding’ – rifleman numbers reach 1000 pairs and they are de-clared a pest, kōkako thrive in Auckland Domain and a marine reserve is declared around the Island.

A little further still – Tiritiri receives a genetically engineered giant moa and a health and safety plan is developed for a Haast’s eagle.

BiodiversityOn the biodiversity front, Brian reported five official transfers of birds, with 30 hihi going to Rotokare and 10 to Bushy Park, 40 tīeke to Shakespear Regional Park, 14 kōkako to Pirongia, returning to their an-cestral home, and two takahē to Burwood. Happily, Waimarie, Anatori and Tussie’s daughter, ‘will stay with them this season to

GETTING CLOSER: The latest design of the new Field Centre with staff accommodation on the left, public accommodation on the right and the kitchen, lounge and deck in the middle.

YOUNG SCIENTIST: Annika Lints, a 12-year-old from Kohia Terrace School, has won the SoTM/Fullers360 prize at the NIWA 2018 Auckland Science and Technology Fair. The prize is a family voucher for a visit to the Island. Annika’s project was an excellent investigation into how mussels are affected by warming seas.She is obviously an impressive young scientist because altogether she won four awards. Photo / Barbara Hughes

capture, and I think about how they must have felt as they took their shot – the thrill of hearing or seeing a kōkako for the first time, or getting close-up to a takahē or, for repeat visitors, perfecting their shot of a tīeke perhaps.’

The birds are the stars of the calendar, of course, but Louise says she always finds room for entries that feature other aspects of the Island’s biodiversity like other fauna, flora, fungi, even events and long-term volunteers. ‘Although they’re smaller, don’t overlook them.’

Louise says she loves the work. ‘I feel fortunate that, even from afar, I can con-tinue to contribute, in a tiny way, to help such a magical and important place’.

Takahē foster motherAfter two years as DOC ranger on Tiriti-ri, Vonny Sprey is returning to her first love, Motuora.

She is particular-ly going to miss the takahē, having spent long hours hunting

for their nests and caring for the chicks. In-deed, at a farewell from SoTM she was pre-sented with a takahē soft toy in the hope, as Mary-Ann Rowland put it, ‘that she won't try to smuggle one of the actual birds off the Island for company on Motuora’.

Vonny was also presented with a Barry Ross Smith print showing her home on the Isaland, the bach, as a gesture of thanks for the great job she has done.


ELECTED: New committee members Karen O'Shea and Jane Thompson.

help with the next chicks . . . which means we will still have five takahē on Tiritiri.’

The latest slow-walk transect survey to estimate bird populations indicated that whiteheads (1868) have overtaken bell-birds (1515) to once again become the most numerous species.

The wētāpunga population has contin-ued to grow, with 156 more arriving from Auckland Zoo to be released in Bush 21, el-egant geckos have continued to arrive from the mainland and are breeding well on the Island, and banded kōkopu have returned to the pools on the Kawerau Track.

Unofficial transfers include the arrival at Shakespear of a robin from the Island, and of fernbirds/mātātā possibly from Tiritiri and the New Zealand dotterel which fledged from Hobbs Beach in 2015-16.

InfrastructureA huge amount of work has been put into infrastructure over the past year with three more barges, carrying 20 trucks loaded with metal and a small digger. This has al-lowed the Ridge Road to be reworked all the way to the DuPont sign and other roads and tracks to be repaired.

Steps have been installed on a tricky section of the new third guiding route, which Brian described as ‘a wonderful route with lots of fernbird sightings’.

Several successful working bees have been held, with rubbish removed, new tanks installed and a new deck built for the bunkhouse. There is a new waterproof cover over the education area at the Visitor Centre. Thanks to the generous support of members the Island now has a new ute.

Visitor EngagementFor the fourth year in a row TripAdvisor has awarded the Island a Certificate of Ex-cellence, although a new way of defining popularity – with emphasis on numbers rather than the quality of the experience – meant that at the time of the AGM the Is-land was no longer Auckland’s No.1 tourist attraction (it is now No.1 again).

Much effort has gone into improving signage, including new bug and plant signs on the tracks (see photos at top right), work is underway on updated signs explaining kōkako, reptiles and translocations at the Visitor Centre, new signs on the hihi feed-ers and a sign for pāteke, pūweto/spotless crake and mātātā at the Wharf Dam.

The penguin boxes have been rede-signed, a spectacular mural by Dan Tippett now brightens up the toilet block, there is a new map brochure, visitors from the digital age can now use a tablet instead of a book to record their stay and work is being

done on a predator control display.Visitor numbers were down slightly –

at least partly due to ferry cancellations – with 30,196 ferry visitors (down 2%) but guided walks up (by 2.8%) to 10,806.

EducationThe education programme continued to prove extremely popular during the year although the number of children arriving was slightly down (by 0.8%) at 5249. Edu-cators Barbara Cleland-Hughes and Liz Maire were a great team, Brian said, and they continued to get tremendous feed-back from schools.

TributesBrian acknowledged the recent passing of SoTM’s founder Jim Battersby, our oldest guide Diana Dombroski and former ranger Jason Campbell. Tributes were paid to all those involved in the wonderful work be-ing done on the Island, particularly Mal-colm and Annette de Raat, who stepped down after several years doing the com-plex membership job, and Ilana Howley-Buddell, Rose Coveny, Jenny Gill and Pam Lorimer who had volunteered to take over.

Brian also expressed SoTM’s gratitude to all the sponsors whose generous support makes the Tiritiri project possible.

FinancesTreasurer Kevin Vaughan reported that SoTM’s finances were in good shape. Dur-ing the financial year ending 30 June 2018 revenue totalled $707,869 and there were expenses of $576,286, resulting in a surplus of $131,583 (down from $179,483 the year before). As a result, accumulated funds, including reserves, rose to $1,533,942. The major sources of income were donations and grants of $267,441, subscriptions of $36,002, shop sales of $265,312 (which had a profit margin of 41.44%) and guiding fees of $94,184.

New Committee membersKaren O’Shea and Jane Thompson (photo-graphed below) have been elected as new members of the SoTM Committee. There were two vacancies as a result of Kay Mil-ton and Chris Hannent stepping down. With three new members nominated and seven sitting members seeking re-election a secret ballot was held. This resulted in the following Committee: Simon Fordham, Helen Bucksey, Peter Lee, Barry Fraser, Hester Cooper, Ray Walter, Carl Hayson, Karen O’Shea and Jane Thompson.

Chair Brian Chandler, secretary Gloria Nash and treasurer Kevin Vaughan were re-elected unopposed.

NEW SIGNS: New bug and plant signs like these are being installed round the Island. They were drawn up with expert advice from Chris Green and Warren Brewer and funded by a grant from Four Winds Foundation. Photo / Helen Bucksey


Once upon a time the elegant gecko – for-merly known as the Auckland green gecko – was found right across the Auckland re-gion including on Tiritiri, Hester Cooper and Roger Wallace told their audience of SoTM members. Journal entries from lighthouse keepers in the early 1900s re-cord them as being on the Island.

But burning, clearing and farming de-stroyed their habitat and the last firm sight-ing was in Little Wattle Valley in the early 1990s. Grid searches in 2006 and 2007 found no sign and the species was consid-ered to be locally extinct.

However, with the restoration of habi-tat on the Island it again became attractive to reptiles. The moko and copper skinks, which had hung on, were able to expand. By 2009, 10 years after the kiore were erad-icated, a footprint showed that Raukawa geckos had crept back up the cliffs. Duvau-cel’s geckos, shore skinks and tuatara were translocated.

The 2013-2023 Biodiversity Plan nomi-nated three candidates for possible return: elegant gecko, robust and Whitaker’s skink. But it was obviously going to be difficult to source elegant geckos for translocation because they are classified as ‘at risk and declining’, populations are small and frag-mented and potential source sites scarce.

Then, in 2015, an opportunity arose when Winston Aggregates quarry site in the Hunuas, where elegant geckos were known to live, was earmarked for expan-sion and, as part of the resource consent, the company was required to facilitate a salvage programme.

It was, Hester recalled, an exciting but challenging opportunity. It was expected that only small numbers of animals would be found and DOC made it clear that the SoTM proposal would be viewed favour-ably if it included captive breeding. This was outside our usual skill base, which usually involves hard translocations where animals are translocated and just do their thing.

As a result, SoTM approached the Her-petological Society, to see if any of its mem-bers would be interested in collaborating, and Roger Wallace put his hand up. How-ever, even for the society, whose members have considerable experience in raising lizards for release into the wild, a breeding programme on a remote site represented a new model.

Other challenges quickly emerged. SoTM applied for a small breeding pro-gramme involving perhaps 15 breeding ani-mals and got a permit to hold up to 90. The

salvage programme was expected to find only a handful of animals, but produced more than twice that. As a result, the cap-tive breeding facility has had to be rapidly expanded.

In addition, of course, the team has had to source a hugely increased supply of the live flies, crickets and moths the geckos thrive on, which next year will probably reach 1500 flies a week.

Nevertheless, Roger said, the pro-gramme was going remarkably well. Last year there were eight baby geckos born – live, not from eggs – and all are thriving. This year there will probably be even more.

Indeed, the breeding programme is suf-ficiently stable that preparations are being made for releases into the wild to probably begin next year. This is likely to involve a soft release zone with a low wall in which the geckos will be able to adjust to life in the wild before gradually spreading out.

Geckos bring a touch of rare elegance to TiritiriThe story of how the beautiful elegant gecko is returning to Tiritiri was told to the AGM by the two members of the Biodiversity Subcommittee running the project, Roger Wallace, who also belongs to the Herpetological Society, and Hester Cooper.

GOING GREEN: Hester

Cooper and Roger Wallace

share the excitement

of the project which is

bringing elegant geckos back to

the Island. Photo / Jim

Eagles

CUTIE: One of the new baby geckos.Photo / Roger Wallace


Kōkako coffee, kōkako music and kōkako experts talking about – you guessed it – kōkako made for a great 21st birthday par-ty for the Tiritiri Matangi kōkako project.

The coffee came from the main spon-sor for the evening, Kōkako Organic Cof-fee Roasters, which actually took its name from the release of the birds on Tiritiri.

The music was provided by a brass quartet of musicians from the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s Young Achiev-ers, whose programme included their own composition, Kōkako.

And the four speakers, who told the Great Kōkako Story, had spent many years working to save this wonderful species.

John Innes, from DOC’s Kōkako Spe-cialist Group, outlined the group’s work managing the North Island kōkako, which began in the 1970s. Early on it was discov-ered that the birds were being predated by possums and, especially when there were eggs, by ship rats.

One of the first projects, an attempt in 2008 to translocate kōkako to Secretary Is-land, off the South Island, failed when none survived. But later successes mean there are now 25 populations of North Island kōkako. The group is currently consider-ing issues such as how many populations are needed for the species to be sustainable and what habitats kōkako can survive in.

Long-standing kōkako management contractor and SoTM volunteer, Morag Fordham, spoke about the kōkako story on the Island, which began with the 1997 re-lease of Te Koha Waiata (TKW), Cloudsley

Shovell, Tiritiri’s matriarch, and Max. Max soon disappeared but TKW and Cloudsley paired up and held a territory in Wattle Valley for many years, successfully fledging 22 chicks. One of TKW’s brothers, Te Hari, is also on the Island and turned 21 on 4 No-vember this year.

Morag said in 2007 it was decided to introduce new genetic kōkako stock to the Island. From 2007 to 2010, some Tiritiri kōkako were moved to the Hunua Ranges and 11 were brought to the Island from Mt Bruce and Waipapa. Egg-swaps have also been attempted but, unfortunately, have not resulted in any new kōkako for the Is-land.

The population has thrived and in the 2015-16 breeding season 20 kōkako chicks were successfully fledged. A highlight came in 2017 when 20 kōkako from Tiritiri were able to be translocated to Parininihi and this year 14 went to Pirongia. There are currently around 35 kōkako on the Island, which includes 15 pairs.

Morag mentioned that our kōkako have got their names in several different ways, with some arriving already named, the Pa-rininihi Trust naming some of the Taranaki birds and volunteers on the Tiritiri kōkako monitoring team being allowed to name others.

Carla White, a trustee of the Parin-inihi Trust that was formed in 2012, talk-ed about its kōkako journey. She recalled how in 1999 the last Taranaki kōkako, Ta-manui, was removed from the Moki Forest in North Taranaki on the understanding

that his offspring would return once the damaged eco-system was restored and a safe breeding site established.

Tiritiri Matangi was the safe haven for Tamanui’s descendants, they bred success-fully, and the Trust was hugely grateful that 20 had now returned to their genetic home. She reported that a number of these kōkako have already successfully bred, and one pair had produced a four-egg clutch.

Translocations of additional kōkako to Parininihi from Pureora are also planned for 2018 and 2019. The Trust has estab-lished a 7-hour public walkway in the area and takes groups on guided walks. Its long-term goal is to have a population of over 500 kōkako established in the area.

Kay Milton, who has given much vol-unteer time to research projects and bird management on Tiritiri, talked about where next for kōkako on the Island.

She said it could be considered that the project had fulfilled its destiny with kōkako successfully being relocated back to Pirongia and Parininihi.

However, there are ongoing opportuni-ties for the Tiritiri Matangi kōkako popula-tion in terms of advocacy for the species, development of new management tech-niques to contribute to the longer-term survival of the birds, helping to improve genetic diversity and finding out more about the birds through research.

In particular, Kay said, the Island’s birds provide an opportunity to make people aware of kōkako, what they need to survive and their ecological value.

CHAMPION KŌKAKO: First place in the 21st anniversary kōkako photo competition went to Geoff Beal's picture of Hemi eating nīkau berries (at left), second was Martin Sanders' photo of Chatters in flight (on the cover), third was Kay Milton's photo of Te Hari and Phantom courtship feeding (at right), Highly commended were photos by Martin Sanders and Oscar Thomas.

Kōkako celebrated in story, music and coffeeThe stunning success of Tiritiri Matangi’s kōkako project, from the arrival of the first three on 10 August 1997 to the recent translocation of 20 birds to their ancestral home at Parininihi in Taranaki and 14 more to Pirongia in the Waikato, has been celebrated in style, reports Kathryn Jones.


MANY HAPPY RETURNS: (above) DOC Director-General Lou Sanson addresses SoTM's birthday dinner; (below) Lou joins chair Brian Chandler in celebrating 30 years of achievement by the Supporters. Photos / Martin Sanders

Tiritiri a crucial asset to DOC's conservation workThe open sanctuary on Tiritiri Matangi is a crucial asset in the Department of Con-servation’s efforts to reach its goals for New Zealand, DOC’s director-general Lou San-son told SoTM’s 30th birthday dinner, held in the Ellerslie Events Centre.

Lou said the work of thousands of members over those 30 years had trans-formed the Island into a magical place which engaged and inspired everyone who visited and that greatly assisted the depart-ment’s work.

DOC had, he explained, set itself a number of challenging Stretch Goals but ‘we’ve actually retired one of these because we’ve reached it. This was to have 50% of international holiday visitors come to New Zealand to connect with our natural places. The work the Supporters have done in re-storing Tiritiri and creating an open sanc-tuary that attracts visitors from around the world has definitely helped us achieve this.’

The Island was also playing a key role in two further Stretch Goals: ensuring that 90% of New Zealanders have their lives enriched through connection to our na-ture and that 50% of New Zealand’s natural ecosystems are benefiting from pest man-agement.

‘We need to keep talking about getting New Zealanders to Tiritiri Matangi, as it is such a wonderful place to connect people with our nature,’ he said. ‘And we also need to keep working together to ensure Tiritiri Matangi stays pest-free, as part of the big-ger goal of making the whole country Predator Free by 2050.’

Biosecurity was an important issue for

Tiritiri ‘as we know from the discovery and successful removal of a rat from the Island earlier this year.’ It was important not only to protect the species there but because it was the perfect place for DOC to demon-strate the benefits of being pest-free. ‘This is really helpful, as we work on our large-scale Battle for Our Birds programme as part of our contribution to making New Zealand Predator Free by 2050.’

There were many challenges to be over-come to win the Battle for the Birds, Lou said, and one of the most disturbing was the stress to staff as a result of aggressive opposition to the 1080 drops which were

an essential part of the predator control programme.

Another challenge DOC was having to deal with was the emergence of new dis-eases, such as kauri dieback and myrtle rust, both of which which pose a serious threat to our native trees.

But, he said, those challenges could be overcome if DOC and its partners – in-cluding SoTM – continued ‘to work to-gether towards our shared goals’.

Lou also thanked SoTM for its support for the family of former Island ranger Ja-son Campbell following his recent tragic death.


SoTM members joined in mourning the death of former Tiritiri Matangi ranger Jason Campbell whose body was found a few days after he went missing on Takaka Hill near Nelson.

Jason, who was only 35 when he died, brought a delightful young family dynamic to the Island when he arrived in 2012 with wife Sofia and young daughter Nina, and that was accentuated with the arrival of Klara two years later. Jason often gave the ranger’s talk with Nina in his arms and she quickly acquired an eager retinue of aunties and uncles keen to care for her when her Mum or Dad were busy.

When news of his death reached Tiritiri, Mary-Ann Rowland and John Sibley set up a bank account for Sofia and the girls, to which SoTM members donated over $8000.

Mary-Ann and Dave Jenkins, who worked alongside Jason as ranger, attended the funeral and they were joined by former guides Lynda Cooper and Petra Dekker who now live in Nelson.

Chair Brian Chandler wrote a tribute to Jason expressing the heartfelt condolences of SoTM members to Sofia and the girls: ‘We had all been hoping for a positive outcome ever since we first heard that Jason had gone missing. As time went on we became more worried but did not give up hope. When it was finally confirmed that Jason had not survived it was pretty devastating for us, so I can’t even imagine how it must have been for his family,’ Brian said.

‘From the first day of his role on Tiritiri, Jason struck up a relationship with the Supporters, which made working with him a pleasure. I cannot remember any contentious issues arising, which, given the fact that he was working under DOC guidelines, was quite amazing! He was proactive from the start and always willing to get stuck into projects along with the volunteers.

‘The new dynamic that he and his family brought to the Island was appreciated by everyone (Supporters and the public) and should perhaps be a model for DOC in the future. The Supporters

would have loved to have Jason and his family back on the Island if that had been possible, but understood having a young family was not totally compatible with island life.

‘Jason possessed that essential capability of cutting through the bureaucratic baloney and getting things done and we at SoTM appreciated that. He understood what made the Island run and worked well with the Supporters to achieve this.

‘Above all, Jason will be remembered by the Supporters as a thoroughly nice guy. This probably didn’t always work to his advantage. For example, because he was such a nice guy I don’t think he ever got accurate feedback on his home-brewed beers. I have had many a session with Jason where we stoically ran down his homebrew stock only to find on each subsequent visit that this had been fully replenished (and with the same recipe!).

'I am planning to move to Motueka next year and was looking forward to renewing my relationship with Jason, but this is not to be. What a tragedy to lose such a young dynamic life. He will not be forgotten.’

In reply Sofia sent a note to SoTM expressing huge gratitude for ‘all the amazing love and support we have been shown. We are blown away by people’s generosity and care. It’s so very appreciated. Winz are helping us with essentials until I’m able to return to work in some capacity. But receiving these donations just means that the girls can continue pursuing sport, hobbies and interests as well as a break or two away, as we all want them to in the next few years to come. They have a lot of life to look forward to and being able to provide positive experiences now Jason is no longer here to share them with us means so much to me.

‘So thank you again Mary-Ann for initiating this. People are being incredibly kind. I’ve attached photos from our time on Tiritiri. Please include something in your next newsletter and give our heartfelt thank you to everybody.

'Much love xx Nina, Klara & Sofia.’

Jason CampbellTiritiri ranger 2012-2015


It’s the busiest time of year for birds and bird researchers, as we try to keep up with all the frantic nesting activity. Riflemen are flour-ishing, kōkako have been swapping part-ners and the hihi programme is trying out some new technology. Once again, our hihi will be under the watchful eyes of Mhairi McCready, back on the Island for her fourth season. The most unexpected event so far has been the sighting of a weka on Coro-nary Hill.

TakahēBy early September both pairs of takahē were showing signs of nesting, with the fe-males disappearing for long spells during the day. Anatori’s nest was eventually found and two small chicks were spotted on 10 October. She and Tussie did an excellent job of rearing twins last season so we are hoping for similar success this year. This time they will have the help of their daughter Waima-rie.

Instead of occupying the northern end of the Island as they have in the past, Edge and Turutu moved to an area stretching from north of Bush 21 to Spaghetti Junction, and from the Ridge Road to Pōhutukawa Cove. Edge’s nest wasn’t found during incubation, but by mid-October she and Turutu had a small chick in tow, her other egg having failed to hatch.

KōkakoFollowing the translocation to Pirongia in July, there have been some changes that have kept the kōkako monitoring team on their toes throughout September and Octo-ber. In particular, young birds from last sea-

son have taken advantage of newly vacated territories and staked their claims, as well as acquiring partners.

Both the young males, Ocarina and Ap-ato, have moved into territories left vacant by the translocation and attracted Skye and Koto, respectively, to join them.

Meanwhile, at the north end, Aquarius is no longer with her former mate Hotu but has moved in with neighbour Rakataura, while Hotu has been joined by Haeata, Pou-tama and Tiara’s daughter from last season. Haeata’s older sister Jenny is now in Bush 21 with Slingshot, and his former partner Melodie has been seen occasionally hang-ing around nearby. The result of all this is that, perhaps for the first time, we have no unpaired males on the Island, and just two or three single females.

After an early flurry of nest building in October things calmed down a little. By the end of the month two females were incubat-ing and four other nests were under con-struction.

Hihi/StitchbirdThe hihi season is off to an early start with the first chicks hatched on 9 October.

During the pre-breeding survey Caitlin Andrews, who is on Tiritiri for the final sea-son of her PhD fieldwork, sighted 134 in-dividuals, 52 of whom were female. Twen-ty-nine juveniles from the 2017-18 season were sighted in the survey and are therefore recruited into the breeding population. This means the Tiritiri population remains stable after the translocation of birds to Rotokare and Bushy Park last April.

The new stainless steel sugar feeders have been installed and they are set up to record the PIT tags on the birds’ leg bands. Trials of these bands continue and the hope is that most birds will be fitted with them by the end of the season. They will enable us to learn a lot more about how the hihi use the sugar feeders and when this supple-mentary feeding is most important to them. Many thanks to Macpac for their generous contribution to the cost of these feeders and the technology that goes with them.

Titipounamu/RiflemanRiflemen are thriving on Tiritiri. Despite in-clement conditions, the annual pre-breed-ing survey identified 30 pairs and eight more birds were caught and banded. Subse-quent searching has turned up many more pairs, the mid-October total confirmed at 54 with more expected. This has already ex-ceeded last year’s total of 48. Twenty-three pairs have built nests in boxes, two of those in saddleback/tīeke boxes.

The most exciting find was one of our founder birds (from Hauturu/Little Barrier Island), building in one of the nest boxes. At around nine years old (minimum) this bird is not only our oldest bird, he is the oldest rifleman on record.

Other wildlifeBy mid-October, very few tīeke/saddleback had started using nest boxes and only one box had chicks. This could be a continua-tion of the decline in nest-box use by this species, which we have noticed over the past few seasons.

DOING WELL: (left) Anatori keeps her new twins safe and warm; (right) riflemen are thriving on Tiritiri. Photos / Vonny Sprey, Simon Fordham.

Fauna Notes

Riflemen flourish and kōkako swap partners


Flora Notes

Ramblers and scramblers: Tiritiri's bindweeds

UNUSUAL COLOURS: Pōwhiwhi usually has pinky-purple flowers (left) but on Tiritiri there is also an uncommon white variety (right). Photos / Warren Brewer

The bindweed family, Convolvulaceae, typically has trumpet- or funnel-shaped flowers with their petals fused together.

Insects are the principal pollinators and the fruit which is formed is a dry capsule with few seeds.

Bindweeds are a worldwide group of plants composed mainly of ramblers or climbers. When climbing, their stems twine to the right. Three genera of bindweeds are present on Tiritiri: Ipomoea, Calystegia and Dichondra. They all have species which are native to New Zealand.

Pōwhiwhi, Ipomoea cairica, is a native scrambling vine which can be found on the hillside above Fishermans Bay. During summer and early autumn these vines display attractive pinkish purple funnel-shaped flowers which have a darker coloured centre.

Also present is an unusual white-flowered variety, restricted to some of the steeper sites.

Tiritiri is regarded as the southern limit for this plant in New Zealand. It occurs widely throughout the tropics and subtropics where it is known as ‘coast morning glory’ or ‘railroad creeper’. The

species name cairica means ‘of Cairo’. The genus Ipomoea has a large number

of twining and climbing species and two are important food crops:

•Sweet potato (kūmara), Ipomoea batatas, which is originally from South America. Batata is from the Taino dialect (pre-Columbian people from Central America). ‘Batata’ became ‘patata’ in Spanish and subsequently potato in English.

•Water spinach (ong choy), Ipomoea aquatica, which is grown as a leafy vegetable and is widely used in Malay and Chinese cuisine. Ipomoea, meaning ‘worm-like’ was named by Linnaeus to describe its growth pattern. Convolvulaceae comes from Latin convolvere ‘to coil up’.

Pōhue, Calystegia sepium subsp. roseata, is commonly known as ‘pink bindweed’. It is a trailing and climbing plant which likes to ramble over shrubs and up small trees and hedges. It was first collected by Banks and Solander in 1769 and is present all over New Zealand and widespread in the Southern Hemisphere.

Flowering occurs from September to April. The pink funnel-shaped flowers are decorated with five white mid-petal bands.

The three species of native bindweed found on the Island – pōwhiwhi, pōhue and Mercury Bay weed – provide a useful mix of groundcover, edible roots and pretty flowers, writes Warren Brewer.

On 5 October, a visitor saw and photo-graphed a weka on Coronary Hill and on the 24th it was seen again a little further north. This is not the first time a weka has been on the Island, as one used to occupy Wattle Valley, and was often heard but sel-dom seen. Weka are flightless and there is no population within swimming distance of Tiritiri, so it is assumed the latest arrival had an assisted passage, either accidental or deliberate.

We are used to sightings of spotted doves on the Island but Barbary doves are much less common. But on 19 August Mary-Ann Rowland photographed one in the pūriri at the Visitor Centre. Mary-Ann recalled seeing one some years ago but, as far as we know, there have been no other records.

Compiled by Kay Milton with contributions from Morag Fordham, Mhairi McCready, Simon Fordham and Mary-Ann Rowland.

MYSTERY: Mary-Ann Rowland's snap of a visitor's phone-shot of the weka.

RARITY: A Barbary dove drops in to Tiritiri. Photo / Mary-Ann Rowland


The narrowly triangular leaves resemble arrowheads.

Pōhue has thick white fleshy roots which were cooked and eaten by Māori. These were described by early settlers as being as floury as a potato, with a slight bitter taste and ‘root of pōhue a delicacy, very plentiful’.

There is also a suggestion that the leaves were also eaten by Māori in some districts.

Calystegia means ‘a covered cup’, describing the leaf-like covering at the flower base. Sepium means ‘of hedges’, referring to its climbing habit. The genus contains about 25 widely-dispersed members.

Panahi, Calystegis soldenella, is commonly called ‘shore bindweed’. It is a perennial vine which creeps along beach sand, shellbanks and other coastal margins and is found in other temperate regions across the world.

It has deeply-descending white fleshy roots which enable it to survive in its harsh and ever-changing habitat.

Its pink funnel-shaped flowers appear from August to March. The leaves are fleshy, glossy and kidney-shaped and the plant can form dense masses.

Māori gathered the plant’s roots, which were pounded into a pulp and used as a relish to flavour some meats.

The plant was first collected and described by the Forsters, German botanists on the Resolution, on Captain James Cook’s second voyage to New Zealand.

Soldanella comes from Latin for ‘firm, dense or solid’, describing the dense mats that the plants can form.

Mercury Bay weed, Dichondra repens, is a native perennial plant which has a creeping habit. On Tiritiri it prefers shaded sites, which can be dry or damp.

The leaves are either round or kidney-shaped.

Tiny yellowish-green flowers occur mostly in September to February. They are unusual for the bindweed family as their petals are not fused, joining only at the base. The fruit is a small, hairy two-lobed capsule.

The plant was also named by the Forsters. No Māori name is recorded. In Australia it is called kidney weed.

Dichondra means ‘two seeds’. Repens means ‘crawling’.

GROUNDCOVER: (left) Pōhue's pink flowers and distinctive triangular leaves; (right) panahi's flowers are also pink but its leaves are kidney-shaped. Photos / Warren Brewer

DIFFERENT: Mercury Bay weed with the tiny, white flowers with separate petals. Photo / Warren Brewer

DISCOVERERS: Reinhold and George Forster, botanists on Captain James Cook's second voyage, collected both panahi and Mercury Bay weed.

Painting / Jean Rigaud.


Tirikids by Eilis Galuszewski

A visit to Tiritiri Matangi is never complete without having checked out

the penguin nesting boxes along

the track to Hobbs Beach. Carefully lift

the lid and see if anyone is

home. You may enjoy a lovely surprise. The little penguin

or kororā is the smallest penguin in the world and they love Tiritiri Matangi as much as we all do.Join the dots in the puzzle (at right) and see who you uncover.Then see if you can solve the penguin crossword puzzle (below).Have fun!

Across 2. Little Penguins use their flipper-like wings to . . . .5. A kororā's feet are coloured . . . . .6. Kororā is the . . . . . . . . penguin in the world 7. Little penguins come ashore at . . . . .9. The Māori name for a little penguin is . . . . . .

Down1. Both male and female adults help to feed their . . . . . .3. Adult penguins lose their . . . . . . . . which is called moulting4. A penguin spends all day . . . . . . .8. When they are building nests penguins can be very . . . . . Answers are below

1

2

3 4

5

6

7

8

9

Answers to crossword puzzle Across - 2.swim 5.pink 6.smallest 7.night 9.kororāDown – 1.chicks 3.feathers 4.fishing 8.noisy

Little Penguin Crossword Puzzle


Day trips: Fullers 360 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.fullers.co.nz/destinations/tiritiri-matangi-island/. Call 09 916 2241 after 6.30am 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 the opportunity to learn about the history of Tiritiri and tools of conservation as well as to familiarise

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, Carl Hayson, Peter Lee, Ray Walter, Karen O’Shea and Jane Thompson.Guiding and shop manager: Mary-Ann RowlandAssistant manager: Annette de Raat [email protected] 476 0010Membership: Ilana [email protected] 638 4429Educator: Barbara Hughes-ClelandAssistant educator: Liz [email protected]: Vincent [email protected] Chorus editor: Jim [email protected] rangers: Kata Tamaki and Vonny [email protected] 476 0920

themselves with population genetics, evolution and speciation. Groups wishing to visit the Island 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 at $15 a night for members and $30 for non-members. Bookings are essential. For further information go to www.doc.govt.nz/tiritiribunkhouse or phone the Department of Conservation on 09 379 6476.

Supporters’ discount: Volunteers who are undertaking official SoTM work get free accommodation 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 50% discount but must first book and pay on line. Then email [email protected] giving the booking number and SoTM membership number (which is found on the label of Dawn Chorus). DOC will then refund the discount to your credit card.

Coming Events3 December

The last Tiri Talk of the Year, 6.30pm in the Red Lecture Theatre at Unitec. Supporters are invited to an evening of laughs and memories celebrating everything that has been achieved by SoTM over the past 30 years. Please come along and share

your special memories of our unique Island and if you feel like it bring a few nibbles too.

The evening will kick off at 6.30pm with a general bet together. At 7.15pm Ray, Mel and other key foilk will start the ball rolling with a few tales. If you would also like to contribute let us know

by emailing [email protected] and we will see how many we can fit in before 9.30pm when the Red Lecture Theatre

will turn into a tieke and fly back to Tiritiri

26-28 JanuaryAnniversary Working Weekend

2 March Tiritiri Concert with OrigiNZ back by popular demand. A fusion Celtic band with everything from traditional bagpipes to rock. A special concert ferry leaves Auckland at 1pm and Gulf Harbour

at 1:50pm then returns from the Island at 7:30pm

2-3 MarchSupporters' Weekend

18 March7.30pm Social.

Please check website for venue and date.

19-22 AprilEaster Working Weekend

18-19 MaySupporters' Weekend

Supporters’ Hosted Weekends 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 a chance for members to give the Island a hand. Travel is free, as is accommodation in the bunkhouse. Book through

[email protected]

Visiting Tiritiri Matangi Island for education or recreation

Enjoy Tiritiri's birds, glorious birdsGet your fill of our wonderful birdlife

from the spectacular 2019 Tiritiri Open Sanctuary calendar or Barry Ross Smith's

wonderful mounted prints.

The calendar is better than ever but the price is still only $18. We can even

post it out for you for just $3.60 (in New Zealand).

Barry Ross Smith has produced a beautiful new series of mounted prints featuring

Tiritiri birds – which you can see below – that are now on sale for just $46.

Our Island shop also has an incredible array of gifts, including nature books, ceramics, bags, puzzles, jewellery, soft toys, artwork, natural

beauty products, special t-shirts and much more.

So spend a day on Tiritiri, see the wonderful birdlife, enjoy free tea and coffee and buy

treasures for yourself and gifts for loved ones,

But if you can't get to the Island ring 09 476 0010 and our cheerful shop team will be happy to help.

TIRITIRI MATANGI OPEN SANCTUARY 2019 CALENDAR

Printed in New Zealand by Safari Printusing vegetable-based ink on paper

sourced from sustainable forest.

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 Zealandwww.tiritirimatangi.org.nz

Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi wishes to acknowledge the generous support of its sponsors

Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi welcomes all types of donations, including bequests, which are used to further our work on the Island. If you are considering making a bequest and would like to find out more please contact a member of the committee.

celebrating 21 years of kōkako and 30 years of supporters ... · dawn chor us bulletin 115 issn...

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