News

Come join the Westland Petrel Conservation Trust, DOC, Forest & Bird's Kiwi Conservation Club and the West Coast Penguin Trust for a celebration of tāiko on Saturday afternoon, 4th November.

Come join the Westland Petrel Conservation Trust, DOC, Forest & Bird's Kiwi Conservation Club and the West Coast Penguin Trust for a celebration of Tāiko (Westland petrel) on Saturday 4th November, between 2pm and 5pm at the Barrytown Hall. The afternoon will be jammed packed with information from local experts on these magnificent birds, including lifecycle, breeding and migration patterns and much more. You will hear about the threats and issues faced by these adventurous and unique local birds and any action you can take to help protect them. Their will be games for children and talks for adults, along with a Q&A session. We hope to see you all there.      

Considering the strong El Niño weather pattern this year, officially declared by NIWA recently having forecast it for some time, we have been relieved to see a very different story play out at South Westland tawaki colonies this season compared to 2015 , when El Niño had disastrous effects and all chicks starved.   We hope the season continues in this positive way for 2023.

Considering the strong El Niño weather pattern this year, officially declared by NIWA recently having forecast it for some time, we have been relieved to see a very different story play out at South Westland tawaki colonies this season compared to 2015 , when El Niño had disastrous effects and all chicks starved.   We hope the season continues in this positive way for 2023. Sarah Kivi and Lucy Waller, our two rangers, took a monitoring excursion down to Haast to do a second check on the colonies at the beginning of this month. The terrain at the two sites are quite different, with Jackson Head being a very exposed coastal, rocky area and Knight's Point being sheltered and very much in the dense rain forest. Burrowscoping is not needed for tawaki in these areas as it is for little penguins in Charleston, as they tend to nest in rocky outcrops and under bushes and trees.    

  At Jackson Head, we monitored 16 active nests: 1 failed nest with a dead chick, 3 burrows with 2 large healthy looking chicks, 12 nests with 1 large, healthy looking chick.  

  At Knight's Point, we monitored 13 active nests: 2 failed nests with abandoned eggs or empty that had had eggs, 1 nest with 1 egg and a sitting adult, 4 nests with 2 large, healthy looking chicks, 6 nests with 1 chick each. Compared to the 2015 El Niño season, this El Niño season is shaping up quite differently, which shows us that each El Niño/La Niña that comes brings with it different outcomes for breeding success of seabirds.  As a species, tawaki usually only raise one chick, with the first-hatched much smaller and perhaps back-up chick not surviving past a few days.  Seeing two healthy chicks in nest groups is very encouraging and indicates abundant food supply.  

 

 

 

 

  Thanks Sarah Kivi for stepping back in as tawaki ranger this season and for being a great guide for Lucy and for all your hard work you have done for the Trust and Tawaki over the last past years. A thank you to Andre and Polly too, for all the monitoring and trapping efforts they have done and for guiding Sarah this year. Our rangers past and present work well together to guide each other around old and new sites to make sure we get the best possible outcome for our monitoring and research.  

An update from the kororā colonies on the West Coast.

Our fortnightly monitoring has continued this year at our little / blue penguin Charleston colony and a couple of checks a season for our other sites, Whitehorse Bay, Bullock Creek, Punakaiki River and Joyce Bay. It has been a late start for the Nile River colony, with some eggs laid in August, as reported to you all in the last newsletter, but then sadly abandoned by the next check. Now we have a mixture of incubating birds, new chicks and even post-guard chicks (when both adults leave the chicks to forage for food). Last year's breeding success was low, probably due to the extreme marine heatwaves brought about by La Niña conditions, and now, with a new El Niño fully established, we are watching carefully to see what effects it may have on this year's season. Further south, at Camerons Beach south of Greymouth, we have a similar story, but with more chicks just entering the post-guard stage. We will continue our monitoring efforts for the rest of the season and by the Christmas newsletter we should have some more news, hopefully of most chicks having fledged by then.  

  Our monitoring efforts are a mixture of looking in nest boxes to searching with a burrowscope into rocky burrows, tree roots and bushes. We are always on the lookout for signs of penguins as we move through the bush, including poo, smells, tidying up of entrances, scratch marks and other common signs.  

 

 

  Watch this space for the latest news at Christmas.....

To South America and back - the Westland petrel annual migration

A Department of Conservation team, with field work led by Westport based biodiversity ranger, Kate Simister, has been funded to conduct three years of research into Westland petrels / tāiko.  The funding comes from the Conservation Services Programme, which monitors the impact of commercial fishing on protected species, studies species populations and looks at ways to mitigate bycatch. The new funding has allowed the work programme to expand to cover a range of new projects not previously attempted with this species. These include:

1. Understanding burrow occupancy rates in this species to determine how burrow mapping and nest counts can be related to numbers of breeding pairs. In particular how the status of apparent non-breeding birds occupying nest sites changes over time (e.g. are these pairs skipping breeding attempts, failed breeders or do these birds lack a partner?)
2. Investigating the diving behaviour of Westland petrels using time-depth records to determine their risk profile from fisheries methods such as surface and bottom long-lines.
3. Carry out multi-year tracking of adult birds using Global Location Sensing tags to determine extent of time spent within the New Zealand EEZ and elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere.
4. Track juvenile birds to determine if they migrate to seas beyond New Zealand.
5. Testing of different tag attachment methods for GPS or Argos passive integrated transponder tags.

The study, currently in the third year of field work and the winter breeding season of tāiko, has recently shared a progress report.  The report includes some fascinating early findings and when, complete, will provide extensive data for further analysis through an MSc student programme and new scientific papers. Findings include dive depth and foraging locations as well as their migration to South America. For the detail, methodology and early findings, the interim report is available here.

The first sign of the arrival of tawaki on our beaches each year is a set of footprints by the 4 to 4.5kg male penguins leading from the Tasman Sea across the beach and heading to the coastal forests to start their breeding season.

A new species of fossil penguin has been named Eudyptula wilsonae after the late New Zealand ornithologist Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM, who was an internationally respected seabird researcher and advocate for conservation.

A new species of fossil penguin has been named Eudyptula wilsonae after the late New Zealand ornithologist Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM, an internationally respected seabird researcher and advocate for conservation, and chair and scientist for the West Coast Penguin Trust. New penguin species are being found and fitted into the jigsaw of the origins and lineage of penguins by a team from Massey University, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Bruce Museum in the USA.  This one, related to the little penguin or kororā of today, was found in three-million-year-old sediments in the Taranaki region.  

  Trust Manager, Inger Perkins, said: “Naming this new species of little penguin after her is a wonderful and fitting acknowledgement for her enormous contribution to seabird science over many decades. We are thrilled her name will live on in connection with penguins, it is a tremendous and richly deserved honour.” Read the whole story here: https://www.massey.ac.nz/about/news/little-fossil-penguin-species-discovered-with-possible-connection-to-korora/  And the research has been published in the Journal of Paleontology: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/pliocene-fossils-support-a-new-zealand-origin-for-the-smallest-extant-penguins/A722D072F8EE3B5FC194A33EF7DBC47F

Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM and emerging penguin scientists were recognised at the recent Oamaru Penguin Symposium.

Our late great Chair, Scientist and guide, Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM, loved the biennial Oamaru Penguin Symposium and encouraged any of our Trust team to attend if they could. Over the years, the symposium has moved from a little or blue penguin, kororā focus, to other Aotearoa New Zealand penguins, other penguins in far off lands and other threatened seabirds. In May, the 13th symposium was again arranged and presented by Dr Philippa Agnew, Research and Environmental Scientist at the Oamaru Penguin Colony.  It was the first symposium since Kerry-Jayne died in March last year and, with the support of Philippa and Dr Thomas Mattern, we were able to acknowledge the tremendous contribution that Kerry-Jayne made to penguin and seabird science and scientists in New Zealand and Australia. To open the symposium, Dr Mattern gave a tribute to Kerry-Jayne and shared a wonderful story of chasing tawaki in Harrison Cove, Doubtful Sound a few years before she died.  It's a lovely story and you can enjoy it on this short recording from the symposium on our Vimeo page - or play from the image below. Before she died, Kerry-Jayne published a book that had been in her mind for many years, New Zealand Seabirds - A Natural History.  Her Trustees found one remaining copy at Kerry-Jayne's home after she died and thought it would be fitting to present it at the symposium.  We agreed that it would go to a young and emerging penguin scientist whose presentation at the symposium stood out. Blake Hornblow was chosen from some outstanding young scientists for his work and presentation entitled Foraging ecology of Tawaki (Fiordland penguin) in Doubtful Sound and a summary of his excellent paper is copied below.  Congratulations to Blake and to all the young scientists and all the presenters at a superb symposium.

  Blake Hornblow's paper from the Oamaru Penguin Symposium is summarised below, and all abstracts can be found here: 13th Oamaru Penguin Symposium programme Foraging ecology of Tawaki (Fiordland Penguin) in Doubtful Sound Blake Hornblow1 Thomas Mattern2,3, Ursula Ellenberg1,3, Jeff White4 and Steve Wing1 1 Department of Marine Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 2 Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 3 Global Penguin Society, Chubut, Argentina 4 McCracken Lab, Department of Biology, University of Miami, USA Tawaki or the Fiordland penguin only breeds along the South Westland coast, Fiordland and the Foveaux Strait region. This is one of the smallest breeding ranges of any penguin species making tawaki particularly susceptible to regional threats. Tawaki are thought to be in decline and are classed as ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN Redlist. However, the key causes of this decline remain mostly unknown as the current knowledge of tawaki foraging behaviour is limited. We are expanding the knowledge of fiord breeding tawaki diets as they have access to different resource pools compared to coastal foraging birds. We investigated the potential of fiord prey resources acting as a ‘buffer’ against climate perturbations that affect tawaki foraging on the continental shelf & coastal Fiordland. GPS tracking, animal borne-video loggers and stable isotope analyses were used to understand the movements and diet of tawaki from birds breeding on three islands within Doubtful Sound. We found very little overlap in the home range of tawaki breeding in the fiord compared with coastally breeding birds. We will report on the foraging plasticity across the three islands colonies ranging 40km from the entrance to the head of the fiord.

Bach owners Daniel Beetham and his Mum Anna McKay are penguin champions.

Bach owners Daniel Beetham and his Mum Anna McKay are penguin champions! We love to share a story of our supporters now and then and Daniel and Anna are overdue for our enormous thanks and appreciation. Based up in Auckland but falling in love with the West Coast, a few years ago Daniel bought a tiny bach, Woodpecker Bay Bach, on the edge of the ocean between Punakaiki and Charleston.  His plan was to make it available for holiday bookings and his bach became a star - voted best bach in its first year!

Daniel and Anna were immediately aware of nature - how could they not be with the waves crashing beside them!  They discovered that penguins could be close by and wanted to inform those who might stay in the bach and contribute to penguin conservation at the same time.  They have linked bach occupancy to donations and managed to maintain that support during the lockdowns. Daniel explained: "The reason we choose to donate monthly to West Coast Penguin Trust… we know the value of regular continuous payments to charities. Helping with ongoing budget projections etc, as opposed to irregular though always welcome surprise donations. "The reasons that we choose to help the penguins… we know it is a well run Trust with a lot of hard work put in by the team resulting in positive tangible outcomes for the penguins, but also, guests to our baches come for the wild west coast scenery and wildlife, so it is only fitting that we give back to nature, to the reasons why guests come in the first place. Guests absolutely appreciate knowing that their tourist dollars are directly helping nature in this case, simply by booking a Penguin Trust ‘Supporter Bach’." Since then, Daniel and Anna have bought a couple more for lucky folk to rent and the most recent has been christened Little Blue.

From the Trust's point of view, regular donations are our lifeblood.  They show that others share our values and our vision and we are encouraged by their lasting support.  Donations enable the work of the Trust to continue and give others confidence to support us too, through donations and grants. So, if you're looking for a break in a stunning West Coast location that is also good for penguins, one of Daniel and Anna's West Coast Penguin Trust 'Supporter baches' would be perfect. Our very grateful thanks to Daniel and Anna.

Find the baches on Airbnb for a memorable break in a stunning location: Woodpecker Bay Bach Waihaha Bach Te Tūtū Bach Little Blue Bach Waituhi Bach at Whitehorse Bay

With penguins thriving on the side of the penguin protection fence north of Punakaiki, numbers appear to be growing and penguins are exploring beyond the ends of the fence through gaps. One of those gaps has just been filled.

With little penguins thriving on the sea side the West Coast Penguin Trust's penguin protection fence north of Punakaiki, penguins are starting to explore beyond the three colonies that were protected and finding their way past the ends of the fence through gaps.  Sadly one penguin has been killed on the road and others have been rescued and returned to the sea side of the fence. We're therefore thrilled to report that one of those gaps in the fence has just been filled, protecting penguins at the northern end of the main fence line just in time for the new breeding season. Our thanks go to WestReef for getting the work done the minute they were able to including the traffic management and other safety measures, and to Waka Kotahi for both permission and support through an annual grant to help maintain the fence. We would also like to thank Geofabrics New Zealand for the very generous discount on the special fence mesh.  Geofabrics (then Maccaferri) helped us out in the same way when we first installed the penguin protection fence back in 2014.  The mesh has stood up to the coastal assaults of sun and salt brilliantly, just as expected.

 

Qualities of penguins embraced by pension company and extended through a donation to help penguin conservation

Pension Insurance Corporation or PIC for short loves penguins and last year gave the West Coast Penguin Trust a very generous donation. This UK company has had emperor penguins at the centre of their brand from the start.  Their website notes that the penguins are memorable and intrinsically appealing and of course the West Coast Penguin Trust knows that is true for all penguins. PIC has translated the qualities of emperor penguins into their own qualities and the PIC team strive to emulate them every day, loyalty, adaptability and resilience. Most penguins form lifelong partnerships - known as partner fidelity.  Pairs work together to protect and nurture their young and some, including the emperor penguin, cooperate with others for the wellbeing of the group.  This is translated to time invested in building long-term relationships, and being dependable and dedicated. Penguins live in a variety of habitats and zones from equatorial Galapagos Islands to southern Australian and New Zealand coasts, South American and south African coasts to sub Antarctic islands and the Antarctic, in other words, they have evolved to live in many different climates and live successfully in water and on land.  PIC too pride themselves on their adaptability, agility and providing innovative solutions. The emperor penguin, the largest of the 18 species of penguins, are tougher than most species, withstanding long Antarctic winters and months without food.  Again, PIC aligns itself with this remarkable bird in its strength in harsh economic conditions and volatile markets.  The little or blue penguin, the main penguin on the West Coast, is the smallest of the penguin species, but resilient in its own small way. PIC's charity partners are very relevant to their clients, focussing on older age and mental illness.  But their charity committee also considers providing support to other charitable trusts and, late in 2022, the committee approved a generous donation to the West Coast Penguin Trust for penguin conservation.  The approach to PIC was prompted by a personal connection in England, which just goes to show that you never know where any of us might bump into a new donor or sponsor, and we always need to be ready to invite and enable donors to help penguins! The Trust is reliant on donations and grants and this year will be investing in improvements to the penguin protection fence north of Punakaiki and developing our foraging study to better understand the life of and threats to little penguins / kororā at sea off the Charleston coast.  That is in addition to all the business as usual including monitoring breeding success and managing threats to both little penguins and Fiordland crested penguins / tawaki, and our education and awareness programmes.  So the support from PIC is immensely valuable in maintaining and growing our penguin conservation efforts. Not only does PIC recognise the wonderful qualities of penguins but they are also very strongly ethical and environmental in what they do, which the Trust values very highly. PIC are investing in solar/renewable energy and decarbonising the economy, supporting social housing and universities, and has future generations in mind as they do business.  PIC employees can also take two days paid leave each year to work on volunteer projects of their choosing. The West Coast Penguin Trust is hugely grateful for the wonderful support from PIC and congratulates the company on their various community and environmental initiatives.