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With continued erosion and steep dune faces, Westland Milk Products came to the rescue to help blue penguins near Hokitika.

Coastal erosion north of Hokitika has left blue penguins or kororā struggling to get down to the beach and then back up to their nests after a hard day’s fishing. Last year, volunteers used spades to try to help but the ramps they cut were almost immediately lost when the next high waves hit the coast. This year, as the penguins are starting their breeding season and sitting on nests, Westland Milk Products came to the rescue.  After Westland made sure penguins were safe in the area during the ocean outfall pipeline construction project and then afterwards with a penguin protection fence, it was a small step to ensure kororā could continue to reach their nests safely earlier this month.

“Westland is committed to a sustainable future and protecting our precious place; protecting wildlife in a situation like this fits that policy”, says Environmental Manager, Chris Pullen. Mr Pullen asked Westroads to take a small digger to the beach and then, under the direction of the West Coast Penguin Trust and with prior approval from the regional council, small ramps were cut where there was already a dip in the dune face. Penguin trust manager, Inger Perkins, explained: “We were concerned about penguins losing access to their nesting sites, being more vulnerable to dogs by spending longer on the beach trying to find a way up or down the dune cliff and wasting valuable energy in doing so.  We checked with the Philip Island penguin colony near Melbourne and they connected us to Dr Teresa Konlechner, a Research Fellow at Melbourne University.  Dr Konlechner told us about the ramps they had cut into the dunes in similar circumstances over there and we put a proposal to the regional council to trial small ramps here.” On the day the ramps were cut, it was clear from the penguin tracks that they were needed.

“The number of penguin tracks trying and failing to find a way up the sand cliff was heart-breaking”, Ms Perkins said. The trust does not expect the ramps to contribute to erosion.  They are small and follow the style of other natural ramps.  However, the ramps will be monitored to ensure this is the case. “Monitoring just a week later shows that the ramps are holding firm and they are all being used by penguins.  We’re hugely grateful to Westland for giving these penguins a great start to their breeding season.”

The Trust's local tawaki rangers monitored nests at three sites in South Westland during the 2020 tawaki breeding season, Knight’s Point, Jackson Head West and Gorge River, to establish breeding success.  Monitoring discontinued when chicks left the nest to creche.  Crèche areas were checked for signs of predation.  Many of these nests also had trail cameras set up to observe breeding success and predator activity and the final sets of images are being analysed through the Jobs 4 Nature programme.  More details to follow once all the data is in. The additional effort to monitor predators during the 2020 breeding season was because it followed a beech mast (massive seedfall event) and it was expected we would see many early chick deaths due to stoat predation, as was observed in the 2016 season.  This did not eventuate.  It is difficult to measure subtleties of the beech mast (timing and local severity), and the subsequent increases in mouse, rat and stoat populations.  Despite this year’s findings, the dynamic forest change led by a beech mast is still present as a threat to all forest dwellers, including tawaki chicks.  We hope to learn more once the imagery from the three colonies has been fully analysed and reviewed. Summary of breeding success, noting that, unless food is unusually abundant or very scarce, and assuming no predation, one chick is usually raised per nest.

Site	Nests monitored	Chicks seen at nest – pre crèching	Breeding success to crèching	Predator / disturbers filmed	Predation events at nest	Predation at creche seen
Knight’s Point	14	14	1	Possum; rat	0	0
Jackson Head West	25	22	0.88	Possum; rat; deer; stoat	0	0
Gorge River	24	20	0.83	Possum; rat; deer	0	0

 

 

Trust Ranger, Matt Charteris, reports that 2020 was a good breeding year for blue penguins on the Buller Coast.  Breeding data supports short foraging trips observed through gps tracking, suggesting that food was not a limiting factor for the 2020 season.  Food appeared to be a problem in the 2019 season and lower breeding success was observed. At localities where disturbance is expected to be present there was a corresponding lower breeding success than areas where disturbance is minimal. The 2021 season is about to begin. Monitoring will continue, including further gps tracking, to continue our long term data set and our understanding of Buller blue penguins. Charleston 2020 season results: The Rahui and Knoll sites receive a monitoring visit every fortnight (mid July – mid January).

Site	Monitored Breeding burrows	Eggs laid	Chicks hatched	Chicks fledged	Chicks per breeding attempt	Breeding success	Failed breeding attempts
Rahui	27	54	52	46	1.70	85.2	1
Knoll	27	54	48	36	1.33	66.7	3

  Other Buller sites 2020 season results: The other monitored Buller sites receive 2 visits during the breeding season (egg period and late chick period).  Not all breeding burrows are necessarily known at these sites and therefore not all breeding burrows are monitored.

Site	Monitored breeding burrows	Eggs laid	Chicks seen	Breeding success	Failed breeding attempts
Foulwind	4	8	5	62.5	0
Whitehorse	10	20	16	80.0	1
Bullock Creek	3	6	6	100	0
Punakaiki River	2	4	4	100	0

 

 

And if you're wondering what that red thing is as our featured image, it is the screen our rangers use when they use a burrowscope for monitoring penguin nests.  A 2m cable with a camera at one end and a viewer - the red box, at the other.  It's not always easy to interpret what they see.

Almost 2000 ANZ staff contribute regular amounts to the bank’s staff foundation charitable trust, matched by ANZ NZ at a rate of $2 for every $1 donated by staff. Charities can apply for a grant, and the West Coast Penguin Trust is one of the latest recipients in a long line of giving. Over $7 million has been donated to more than 870 charities and community projects since 2000 and, for the second time, the ANZ Staff Foundation team really see the value in the education programme and have generously provided their support. Their previous generous grant helped us to expand our education programme to more schools, to more children, and ANZ so loved our story that they created a video to share it and other work of the Trust. This time, the grant will fund around 80% of the cost of the education programme for six months, predominantly supporting our Education Ranger, Lucy Waller, to help teachers and other educators introduce penguins through a variety of activities aligned to the NZ Curriculum.  Penguins are an opportunity to introduce nature and conservation to young minds and encourage the development of conservation values at a crucial age where such values are most likely to be formed. We are hugely grateful to the ANZ Staff Foundation.  Teachers and children love working with us and it's great to know you value us too.

A team from the West Coast Penguin Trust headed over to Oamaru in early May for the biennial penguin symposium, delayed from last year due to Covid. The event comprises nearly two days of presentations.  This year, the first day focused on yellow-eyed penguins or hoiho as well as new research on tawaki, adélie penguins and brown skua.  A wide range of research and practical projects are underway to understand and better protect the hoiho.  There is widespread concern that they could become extinct on the mainland in the next twenty years or so. We learned about the critical nature of engaging with policy makers to facilitate conservation and strengthened networks to do so more effectively.  Probiotics and rescue strategies were reported as well as the use of trail cameras to validate breeding behaviours.  A recent invention by penguin scientists Ursula Ellenberg and Thomas Mattern, PenguCam, is giving valuable new insights into the foraging behaviour of hoiho and tawaki.  Have a look at some snippets here.

Our Trustee and Tawaki Ranger, Robin Long, presented on her tawaki survey work on Stewart Island.  She surveyed a section of coast in northeastern Rakiura in 2019 and Port Pegasus in 2020, finding many more penguins through her knowledgeable and courageous search efforts than were previously thought to breed there. On day two, little or blue penguins or korora were the topic of the day. With the very sad headlines about a marina development coming into conflict with local people trying to protect the environment and blue penguins in particular lately, it was encouraging and inspirational to hear about the marine cultural health programme at Napier Port.  This is a partnership between mana whenua hapū and Napier Port to monitor the health of the marine environment in and around the Ahuriri/Napier area and includes a penguin conservation programme, connected with the local community and schools. We heard from penguin detection dog handler, Alastair Judkins, about his work with Mena to better ascertain the distribution and abundance of blue penguins, including his work on the West Coast last year. NZ Penguin Initiative's Richard Seed, with whom the WCPT is doing a lot of work on blue penguin monitoring, presented on the foraging/GPS study here on the coast, and he introduced the new korora monitoring programme and database, of which we are very proud to be a part.  The lack of consistent data gathering and a centralised database was identified as a gap in the State of Penguins 2018 study, 'Current knowledge and research priorities' by Thomas Mattern and Kerry-Jayne Wilson. And our Education Ranger, Lucy Waller, presented our education programme, explaining how she uses penguins to connect children to nature, conservation and ecology.  There was plenty of interest in her talk, our resource and the possibility of sharing our resource with other groups.

These symposia, presented by the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, are an incredibly useful way for the WCPT to keep up to date with science and to build and maintain relationships across the broad spectrum of NZ penguin research, conservation and rehabilitation.  We connect with scientists, other community groups and rehabilitators.  Our grateful thanks go to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony's Scientist, Dr Philippa Agnew, for another superb symposium. These symposiums are for anyone interested in penguin science and conservation, not just those working and volunteering in the field.  If you're interested in the programme and the abstracts for the 2021 programme, have a read here.   

During the update of our education resource, this question, often put to us by children, came up to be answered.  Education Ranger, Lucy Waller read that a special protein found in the eyes of birds, 'Cry4' might detect blue light so they can see the magnetic field of the earth, but it is not known if this might also be found in penguins.  We asked penguin scientist Dr Thomas Mattern about penguins' navigation capabilities.  While the latest info that has come out regarding Cry4 and navigation capabilities in birds is indeed interesting, so far nobody was able to actually connect all the dots there and find definite proof that the protein allows birds to "see" the electromagnetic field. In essence, we only know that the light receptor protein is there, but not how (or even if) it transfers any sensory data to the brain. So I wouldn't get too hung up on this. More importantly, however, using the Earth's magnetic field for orientation generally only works on a large scale, i.e. during long-distance migrations. On a smaller, regional scale the spatial variation of the magnetic field are subtle to non-existent and likely won't provide any reliable cues for accurate navigation. Instead, penguins seem to rely on visual cues for orientation. In Little [blue] penguins, foggy nights caused massive drops in bird numbers returning to the colony, presumably because the birds could not make out landmarks on the shoreline that guide them back to their breeding sites (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-007-0125-5). We have had the same experience with hoiho [yellow-eyed penguins] that would not return because of low hanging clouds covering the tops of the Otago Peninsula. Taking about hoiho, our work has provided further evidence that visual cues are important for their navigation with penguins changing their travel course when they hit underwater landmarks, such as a reef in an otherwise largely featureless seafloor environment (https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2007/343/m343p295.pdf). Beyond visual cues, it appears as if penguins are able to detect anomalies in the sea surface elevation. Underwater features such as underwater ridges or continental shelves cause the ocean surface to bulge. The penguins seem to be able to detect this bulging effect and travel along the edge of the bulge. We have seen that in tawaki returning to the NZ mainland by following the Macquarie Ridge an underwater mountain chain west of the Auckland Islands (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198688). All that is not to say that magneto-reception may not play an important role. However, we just don't know enough about this process to use it as the default explanation for how birds use the Earth's magnetic field for orientation. West Coast Penguin Trust scientist, Kerry-Kayne Wilson added:

With other birds it has been shown they can make use of magnetic fields, stars and the sun and, for petrels, smell - they may be able to smell their colony from several kilometres and even identify their own nest. However, those that are known to be able to use the stars can find their way on very cloudy days. My take is that birds are using multiple cues. Remember they see the world differently to us, most birds see into the UV so they may be using cues invisible to us.

You can read more about the Cry4 protein here.

This year's Queen's Birthday Honours recipients included four penguin heroes/heroines. Lala Frazer from Otago Peninsula was recognised for her many contributions to conservation on Otago Peninsula. Lala has been involved with the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust since it was founded, and a trustee since the Trust was formed over 30 years ago, including a stint as Chair. She has been actively involved with almost all conservation initiatives on the Peninsula. Mrs Frazer receives her QSM for services to conservation and the community and was also named Wildlife Hero of the Dunedin Wildlife Festival in 2020. Read the citation here, and ODT coverage here, in which Mrs Frazer comments that she has been privileged to be involved in conservation for over 40 years and the honour is in recognition of all the work of volunteers involved in protecting and enhancing habitat on the Otago Peninsula. Lala Frazer Shireen and Francis Helps of Pohatu Penguins at Flea Bay on Banks Peninsula have perhaps done more to protect little penguins than any other individuals. Their efforts to protect the penguins on their farm have been extraordinary and they now host perhaps the largest mainland colony of little penguins in New Zealand. They were instrumental in having the Pohatu marine reserve gazetted and they have done a lot to promote penguin conservation elsewhere on Banks Peninsula. The couple have both become members of the New Zealand Order of Merit for all the work they have done to protect penguins and enhance biodiversity on the Banks Peninsula. Read the citation here and coverage in The Press here.  Shireen and Francis said that it was nice recognition of what they had done over 40 years but also noted that it held meaning for the next generation, encouraging them to continue the work to protect penguins. Shireen and Francis Helps Hoani Langsbury, who, among his many roles - including Manager of Operations at the Royal Albatross Centre, Taiaroa Head, and Trustee of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust - has played a major role in establishing the highly successful little penguin viewing at Pilots Beach - Blue Penguins Pukekura.  Penguins are thriving there and numbers continue to grow. Mr Langsbury becomes a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to conservation. Read the citation here and coverage in the ODT here.  He said ""I wouldn’t be doing it if I wasn’t passionate about it." Hoani Langsbury

The Tāiko Festival was started seven years ago to mark the return of the tāiko to their nesting sites just south of Punakaiki.  There's something for everyone and lots to do. Friday 7th, 4.30pm Westland petrel walk and talk The festival starts with a beach parade and talk by our very own taiko specialist, Kerry-Jayne Wilson, on the evening of Friday 7th May at McMillan's Beach.  Kerry-Jayne will tell you all about tāiko and then help you spot the magnificent black birds gathering on the horizon as they 'raft up' before flying overhead to their nest sites. Meet at the car park at the end of McMillan's Road, south of Punakaiki.

The petrel walk and talk will be followed by an open mic night at the Punakaiki Beach Camp from 7.00pm. On Saturday 8th, there will be yoga on the beach in Punakaiki, 8.30-9.30am (or at the beach camp under cover if wet). Native tree planting is being led by the NZ Conservation Volunteers at the Punakaiki Coastal Restoration project (3916 State Highway 6, Barrytown) between 9am and 12 noon along with a bunch of conservation-focused activities including plant releasing or potting up seedlings and other nursery tasks. Make sure you register by emailing Annie Inwood on ainwood@cvnz.org.nz or by calling 03 731 1808. Parents, children, families and friends are all welcome but please note parental supervision is required for all children. Saturday 8th from 9.00am Community Market The Trust will be at the community market on the village green at Dolomite Point beside the visitor centre from 9am - come and say hello 🙂 and enjoy the local stall holders' creativity. Saturday 8th, 2.30-4pm Punakaiki Beach Camp Afternoon of Entertainment Kiwi Conservation Club West Coast coordinator, Suzanne Hills, will be presenting loads of fun based on the taiko for children and families.  Just turn up to celebrate the return of the Tāiko|Westland Petrel, Punakaiki Beach Camp, Owen Road, Punakaiki. Come and play the giant board games to hatch your petrel egg and raise your hatchling, while guarding your precious egg and chick against the dangers. When your fledgling is ready to fly, get your Tāiko passport and follow the trash 'n' treasure trail. Can you fly the high seas route to reach South America and what will you find? Fly your way back to Punakaiki to get your passport stamped. Free activity open to all families/whānau. Suitable for children of all ages. Parental/caregiver supervision required for under 14s.  Tell all the families you know! Also on offer will be Carrot the Clown and a circus workshop from 2.00pm. Main festival from 4pm The music festival gets underway at 4pm with live poetry, first from Punakaiki poet laureate Trev Hayes, and then "Poet of the People" David Merritt will read poetry against a backdrop of viola from West Coast-born Justine Francis. Kerry-Jayne Wilson is back at 5.40pm to tell the crowds about the precious tāiko. The main music programme begins at 6.00pm with Greymouth's Not Just Jazz and then Tiki Taane & PDIGSSS follow at 7.45pm.  The evening wraps up with Taiko Rap at 10.15 and Dylan C at 10.30pm. The full programme can be found here, and find out more on the festival facebook page. Tickets from Cosmic Ticketing: https://www.cosmicticketing.co.nz/event/5684

Work starts on new penguin protection fence in Hokitika

The biggest killer of blue penguins on the West Coast is vehicles on coast roads and that includes a section of the highway north of Hokitika.  Six penguins have been killed on the road in recent years around the Houhou Creek bridge and sewage ponds but penguins in the area will soon be spared this risk. While Westland Milk Products (WMP) developed the plan to install a pipeline at 2 mile, they started learning about penguins, many of which were nesting between the beach and the paddocks in that area. Chris Pullen, Environmental Manager, explained. “When we first went to look at the site with the West Coast Penguin Trust, we walked out onto the dunes and there were penguin tracks everywhere.  Clearly, we had to ensure we didn’t disturb them through this major construction project and in fact we wanted to do more than that and actively protect them.  A penguin protection fence was an obvious solution, and we will also be restoring part of the site with penguins and possible nest sites in mind.” Trust Manager, Inger Perkins, added: “Blue penguins, at around 30cm tall, are vulnerable to so many threats.  Here on the coast, vehicles are the number one threat and keeping penguins off the road with our penguin protection fence north of Punakaiki has meant no more penguins killed in that area.  This new fence, entirely and generously funded by Westland Milk Products, will be preventing penguins being killed on the road.  As a result, more penguins will survive because, if a breeding adult is killed, the nest – two eggs or chicks – will fail, and subsequent potential generations lost.” Local fencer, John Steele, has been contracted by WMP to do the work, which is one of his more challenging and unusual projects.  Work began recently and will include fencing under the Houhou Creek bridges as well as some ‘escape hatches’ to ensure that if a penguin finds itself on the wrong side of the fence, it can get back towards the sea.  Gates within the fence will have gaps filled to ensure these smallest of penguins cannot sneak through or under them.

With so few trains passing through the area, the railway had not thought to be a potential cause of death for penguins but sadly a penguin was reported to have been killed by a train in the same area late last year.  The penguin protection fence will be installed on the seaward side of the railway and go around the seaward side of the sewage ponds. “This is the quietest time of year for penguins,” said Perkins.  “Breeding finished around December and they will have completed their moult in February/March.  A few penguins hang around all year, but most disappear for two to three months before returning to start preparing for the new breeding season around June.  The fence should be completed by then.” In addition, the careful restoration and planting of parts of the construction site has penguins in mind.  The site fencing will keep dogs out but allow penguins through and nest boxes will be included in suitable areas resulting in a ‘penguin sanctuary’. “Dogs are the second biggest threats to penguins on the coast with around 1 in 5 penguin deaths reported being due to dog attacks.  Nest boxes inside this fenced area, an area close to existing penguin nesting areas, would be a safe place for a new penguin family to take up residence.” Penguin protection fence sign

Following last year’s successful inauguration of World Albatross Day on 19 June, ACAP has adopted the theme “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries” to mark the day this year. 

Join with us in acknowledging World Albatross Day this year and take action to protect these magnificent birds.

Following on from last year’s World Albatross Day theme of “Eradicating Island Pests”, ACAP’s (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) chosen theme for 2021 is “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries”.

It is a well known and appalling fact that many thousands of albatrosses and petrels are dying every year as a result of fishing operations. This was the main driving force for the establishment of ACAP two decades ago and addressing this continuing conservation problem remains an important part of ACAP’s ongoing work.

Solutions are available to address this conservation crisis. This year’s World Albatross Day, celebrated on 19 June, aims both to draw attention to the problem and to highlight best-practice solutions, such as the use of bird-scaring lines in both longline and trawl fisheries, line weighting and night setting or use of hook-shielding devices by longliners and management of offal discharge by trawlers. New Zealand is a party to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) and we know some measures are in place to prevent any harm to these seabirds, but there's always room for improvement while any birds are dying - through injury or drowning. You can help when you choose the fish you buy - at the supermarket, at fish and chip shops and at restaurants. Find Forest & Bird's best fish guide here.

Did you know that there exist 22 albatross species in the World? And that they can fly 16,000 kms without returning to land? These spectacular birds are being recognised globally for one day. In support of World Albatross Day ACAP intends to highlight one or more of the 22 albatross species each year with posters and other artworks.  The featured species chosen for 2021 are the two most threatened albatrosses, both categorized by IUCN as Critically Endangered (defined as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild).  The two Critically Endangered albatrosses, the Tristan of Gough Island and the Waved from the Galapagos, have been chosen to serve as ‘feature species’ to draw attention to the continuing threats all the world’s species of albatrosses face at sea from fisheries.

It is hoped that as many organizations, schools, Trusts, members of the public will be able to use the resources created by ACAP to support their own celebrations of World Albatross Day as 19 June approaches – and on the day itself.  They may all be found in the World Albatross Day section on the ACAP website (www.acap.aq), accessible from the home page.  Please contact ACAP’s Information Officer if you have any difficulty finding or downloading any of the items mentioned.

ACAP has produced a series of posters depicting the two species which can be freely downloaded from its website.  Two infographics have also been produced which aim to highlight the threats the two species face in an informative and readily understandable way.  Also available are two-page attractively illustrated species summaries for all the albatrosses that are aimed for school learners and teachers, and the general public, being written in non-technical language.  And a quiz and word scramble.

Did you know that the oldest known wild bird in the world is a 69-year old Laysan Albatross? Find out some more facts about this fascinating bird by taking ACAP's quiz.

Join with us to celebrate World Albatross Day June 19th!