News

Trustee Jill reports 100 % breeding success in her small colony near Charleston

Trustee Jill Cotton reports about blue penguins nesting close to her home: "My birds had 100% breeding success this season." She noted: "There’s been a change in the visitor pattern to the beach here. Two things: International visitors had this beach north of Greymouth targeted on a website for several years bringing unwanted numbers looking for penguins during the day and letting dogs run around.   Then the pandemic put paid to international visitors and erosion of the lane down to the beach and large shingle pile up made it more difficult for locals.  We mainly have keen fishermen and their families now. We  had observed a reduction in visitor numbers of about 75% over the past five seasons.  I feel the penguins have more confidence in continued breeding here now …..definitely less interference. With growing interest in our local wildlife in recent years, I was pleased to learn about a unique situation in the sale of my neighbour's property.  The house is on the same lane with three penguin nest boxes being used each season in the bush close by.  My neighbour sadly passed away last year … he was a great friend to the penguins and asked his family to respect his wishes that the property be passed on to a similar person.  The new owner is keen to look after and monitor the birds, which is great news. I also have new tenants in my cottage …… penguin-friendly of course!  We are off to a good start to the year."

 

 

Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony Scientist, Dr Philippa Agnew, reports on transponder training with Trust Ranger Linden Brown back in November.

"We've had a very big week this week, inserting 197 microchips into little penguin chicks and adults! We couldn't have done it without help from a fantastic crew! Thanks to Rachel from the University of Otago, Deleece from Forest & Bird - Places for Penguins, Henry who used to work for us and came back to Oamaru give us a hand, Linden from West Coast Penguin Trust and our team, Nia, Kelsey & Philippa."

This was a fabulous opportunity for new Trust Ranger, Linden Brown.  The West Coast Penguin Trust has been gradually using chips (just like those used for cats and dogs) to identify penguins and inserting the chips, known as Passive Integrated Transponders or PIT tags, and Linden will be tagging blue penguins at our Charleston study site this coming breeding season.  Joining the team at Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony as they chipped their latest penguin chicks meant that he gained both the hands on experience and the necessary 'Level 2' wildlife banding qualification to inject the tiny chips under a penguin's skin.

The Trust is expecting to take delivery of a fixed PIT tag reader in time for the next breeding season.  It will be installed at a pinch point where blue penguins come ashore and every time a chipped penguin passes the reader, it will be logged and a great deal more will be learned about the comings and goings of these penguins.

Kerry-Jayne speaks about her new book, New Zealand Seabirds - A Natural History

Kerry-Jayne Wilson's wonderful new book, New Zealand Seabirds - A Natural History, is out now from Potton & Burton publishers. Kerry-Jayne was interviewed on RNZ National over the Christmas - New Year break and you can read or listen to the interview here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-weekend/audio/2018826173/kerry-jayne-wilson-flying-with-the-seabirds A wonderful comment after the interview from a listener and read out by the presenter was to the effect that they appreciated the time provided for Kerry-Jayne to respond.  The answers to questions often needed quite a bit of background and story telling and there was plenty of time for that, unlike some interviews where the interviewee is constantly interrupted! Also on RNZ National, Murray Williams reviewed the book in October prior to its release, and it's fair to say, that he absolutely loved it! https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018817307/book-review-new-zealand-seabirds-a-natural-history-by-kerry-jayne-wilson We previewed the book recently: https://www.westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz/news/new-book-new-zealand-seabirds-a-natural-history/

Phoenix Organics have been selling organic juice in glass bottles since 1986.  As if that isn't good enough, they go above and beyond to support conservation and environmental causes. Earlier this year, Phoenix Organics produced a limited edition special blend of apple, blueberry and lemon organic juice with a picture of and a message to 'save the little blue penguin'. They contacted the Endangered Species Foundation, established in 2013 to support those working to protect rare species and nurture nature in Aotearoa and the Endangered Species Foundation chose the West Coast Penguin Trust to be a recipient of a donation from Phoenix Organics as a result of the blue penguin campaign. Phoenix Organics has a long and proud partnership with Sustainable Coastlines, who work hard to protect beaches and waterways including working with several groups on the West Coast, and were the recipient of a Sustainable Business Award last week!  The drinks company clearly cares about our natural environment and the West Coast Penguin Trust is honoured that their campaign and generous donation will help us to help blue penguins thrive on the West Coast. It is also an honour that the Endangered Species Foundation selected our Trust.  They are raising awareness of species at risk and doing all they can to give those species the best chance of survival through sustainable, long term support.

"I applaud the attention that [the Endangered Species Foundation] give to all species - not just the large charismatic birds and mammals, but also the less well known species of invertebrates, fungi, lichens, lizards, plants, amphibians, and even seaweeds. I wish them, and the species they support, all the success they deserve in this innovative project.” - Dame Jane Goodall

Read more about the campaign here, and the donation to the Trust here from the Endangered Species Foundation.

Black Friday lands on us in late November with a deluge of advertising in every possible medium, enticing us to buy now and apparently offering once in a lifetime deals. If you'd rather have a calm approach to some ethical retail therapy, have a look at our newsletter published this morning for some ideas, with links to our supporters.

For example, Tumbleweed Tees are calling it Donation Friday and sharing 10% of today's sales with all their conservation partners!

Read the newsletter here.   There are a couple of wonderful local supporters that were missed off the newsletter, so apologies and special mention goes to local author/illustrators who make a donation for every penguin book sold: Jeanette Goode for her wonderful 'A Little Blue' book, which you can find online and in good book stores: https://jeanettegoode.co.nz/product/a-little-blue/  "A Little Blue is a hand-illustrated picture book loved by children of all ages. It is particularly relevant for reluctant readers as Jeanette has drawn the pictures to tell a slightly different and deeper story.  It is a tale of love and the arresting power of nature." and Janet Gawn for her delightful Sandy Silkywings adventure with blue penguins, now available at Take Note in Hokitika: "Sandy Silkywings, a house fairy who lives on the West Coast of the South Island in Hokitika" - and meets a blue penguin on one of her adventures.  For younger children. See our post on facebook about both.

From Waka Kotahi - NZTA

From Waka Kotahi - NZTA To try and help protect the endangered seabird, the Westland petrel/tāiko, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will again turn off highway lighting at night on a short section of State Highway 6 through Punakaiki this summer. “In consultation with Buller District Council, all streetlights from Waikori Road in the south to Bullock Creek Road on the north side of Punakaiki will be turned off on Monday, 8 November 2021 and turned back on Monday, 10 January, 2022,” says Colin Hey, Senior Network Manager for Waka Kotahi. Pedestrians, who are the main beneficiaries of the lights, are advised to take extra care at night during this time with cautionary signage being installed on either side of the 3.4 km section of highway affected. “Buller District Council supports Waka Kotahi in this initiative to help protect fledgling Westland petrels from disorientation from streetlights and will darken its local road streetlights in the Punakaiki township during the same dates,” says Eric de Boer, Manager Infrastructure Delivery for Buller District Council. The Westland petrel/tāiko fledglings or chicks nest in burrows and can become disoriented from bright lights under their flight paths causing them to crash land nearby, a phenomena known as fallout. As well as street-lights, any bright lights can attract these birds to land, and cause fallout.

“The breeding colony is just south of Punakaiki, with petrel fledglings beginning to fly from early November,” says Mr Hey. Last year was the first season Waka Kotahi turned off the LED street-lights in Punakaiki. Initial results indicated that fewer birds were found disoriented or killed by vehicles in Punakaiki. More will be known next year after the second season with Punakaiki’s lights off. Safer footpath The footpath through Punakaiki has had a full upgrade this year as part of the new cycling/walking shared path, says Mr Hey, which will help night-time walkers in the settlement. Background to this switch-off In 2019, Waka Kotahi replaced six streetlights in the Punakaiki village which had badly corroded steel poles and were at risk of blowing down. LED fittings were used on the replacement poles, as is standard practice for all streetlight replacements based on energy efficiency and ability to direct the light. “Following the installation, concerns were raised by the Westland Petrel Conservation Trust,” says Mr Hey. “They pointed out that artificial lighting, and particularly LED lighting, may accentuate the difficulties for the petrels and the fledglings, and may cause more ‘fallout’ or disorientation than the original high-pressure sodium lights. “We investigated possible solutions to protect the young birds including changing the bulbs and fitting hoods to the new LED lights. To date no suitable, proven solution with existing street-lights has been found.”  A fraction of the original numbers surviving The Department of Conservation/ Te Papa Atawhai says that today’s breeding population of about 6,200 pairs is a remnant of what would have originally been many hundreds of thousands. With only one breeding colony in the world, the survival of every fledgling to breeding age is needed for the survival of this species, says DOC. The main threats the Westland petrel/ tāiko continues to face are incidental bycatch in commercial fishing, introduced mammal predators, illegal releases of feral pigs into the breeding colonies and climate change, which alters prey availability and increases the frequency of severe weather events, which has caused the loss of breeding burrows to landslides in recent years. Apart from the benefits provided to the petrels by the light switch-off, local residents and visitors to the area will also have the opportunity to see the night sky more clearly during this period.

'Blue Penguins & Other Seabirds' will be ready for download and distribution soon. Watch this space!

We would love you to have a walk on your local beach and let us know if you find any penguin tracks as part of the annual count.

 

An early morning walk will help you rediscover the beauty of your local coastline, discover whether penguins are using the beach and help us build a clearer picture of where blue penguins are on the West Coast - as well as energise you for the day!

 

We have selected dates when the tide will be low early in the morning to keep you safe and to offer the best chance of seeing penguin tracks crossing the freshly washed sand.  You can add your observations any time, but always pay special attention to tide times and conditions.

 

We're getting back to paper and pencil this year!  Here's a simple form: 2021 blue penguin count form to print and take with you or take some paper for a tally and note the key observations.  And then share your results with us either on our super simple Google Form, or email them to us - scan the form or just email your findings.

 

Alternatively, you can use i-Naturalist (look for our Project) - more about that on our penguiin count website page. 

 

The key things to look for are fairly straight lines of footprints heading from the dunes to the sea from those penguins that have left early.  They will be foraging at sea all day and returning after dark to feed chicks at this time of year - we're keen to count the numbers who have headed out again before dawn.  The spread of the three toes make an angle of less than 90 degrees, nearer 70 degrees, whereas many other seabirds have their toes spread wider than a right angle.  They are also a little turned in, or 'pigeon toed'!  (We can rename it penguin toed!)

 

We have put together some information to help identify tracks here: Penguin and other footprints.

And as an aside, if you like being a detective at the beach, have a look at this excellent footprint identification resource from NZ Tracker.

 

Please think of safety before you venture out.  Walking on our wonderful beaches soon after sunrise is often a magical experience but there are a few safety messages.  Check the tides before you go and remember to watch out for the waves – never turn your back on them, and if you come across a seal, give them a wide berth of at least 20 metres if possible. Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.

 

Why not go for a walk with family or friends?!

Have fun, and thank you - we look forward to hearing how you get on and please send us photos from your walk!

Linden Brown takes on the Trust Ranger role on 26th October 2021.

From many excellent applications for the 20 hours a week Trust Ranger role, the Trust has recently appointed Linden Brown and he takes on the role from 26th October. The Trust is sad to be farewelling Ranger Matt Charteris, who is leaving to focus on other conservation projects and build a new home, but we will maintain close ties with him on future blue penguin projects on his doorstep in Charleston. Linden grew up on the South Coast of New South Wales, spending much of his childhood swimming in the ocean, and running around in the nearby forests. After completing a Bachelor of Environmental Science at the University of Wollongong, he spent six months volunteering on Raoul Island which ignited a passion for conservation in New Zealand. This has taken him to other predator-free islands such as Hauturu and Whenua Hou, giving him a glimpse of how New Zealand wildlife can thrive when given the chance. For the last five years Linden has called the West Coast home, working in the DOC Biodiversity Monitoring Team in Hokitika monitoring vegetation, birds and introduced pests.  He brings a broad set of skills and experience to the Trust including planning and delivering field work, leadership, processing monitoring data and high standards of safety on top of a strong scientific background. The Ranger role encompasses field work during the penguin breeding season, a year round trapping project at Cape Foulwind, planning field work and supporting our tawaki rangers in South Westland and volunteers on other projects such as Seal Island trapping, gathering, reviewing and analysing data - whether breeding success or predator numbers, writing up findings, staying on top of the latest penguin science and techniques, community engagement, and advising the Trust as to improving current and developing new research and practical conservation projects. Although handling penguins is minimal and minimised, relating only to the GPS foraging study of blue penguins or rescuing any sick or injured penguins that might be brought to our attention to transfer to penguin rehabilitators, Linden also has some useful wildlife handling experience.  His broad set of conservation skills and his versatility allowed him to spend a month assisting the Kakapo Team in 2019, where he gained valuable skills and experience including wildlife handling and bird health checks. During his spare time Linden enjoys recreating on the West Coast, where you will be able to find him kayaking on a river, spending time in the mountains, or riding his bike. The Trust is delighted to welcome Linden into our small team.