Download >> Newsletter Issue 15 – April 2015
- The stuff of legends
- Full team of Trustees
- Project Coordinator
- Foraging behaviour
- Seeking Treasurer and Secretary
- Bronze Hutton’s sculpture
- Te Rae O Atiu/Kaikōura Peninsula Colony Report
Farewell event – March 2015
March 17, 2015
Farewell to Hutton’s shearwater/titi – Keep your diary free for 29 March 2015!
- Meet at South Bay in Kaikoura at 6.45 am.
- Welcome: Brett Cowen DoC/Rūnanga representative.
- A walk along the Kaikoura Peninsula track to the translocated colony site.
- Farewell to Hutton’s shearwater/titi ceremony.
- Followed by BBQ breakfast and cuppa at the Coastguard.
- Colony update from Phil Bradfield (DoC) and Lindsay Rowe (Treasurer/Colony Manager).
Nau Mai Haere Mai – All Welcome!
The Mystery Bird – Documentary
February 27, 2015
The Mystery Bird is a documentary film on the endangered Hutton’s shearwater produced by Claire Clements and Sean Giffin.
The Hutton’s shearwater was long known to Māori, providing a major sustainable source of protein to Ngāti Kuri in the area. The species was first officially described in 1912, and later there were anecdotal reports from high country farmers and hunters of ‘muttonbird’ burrows at high elevations in the Seaward Kaikōura Range, behind Kaikōura. In 1965, following on from these leads, Geoff Harrow found carcasses in the headwaters of the Kowhai River at altitudes between 1,200 and 1,800 m above sea level, that were confirmed as Hutton’s shearwaters. Extensive searching led to the confirmation of eight colonies, but only two remnant colonies remain today. At least ten colonies formerly existed in both the Seaward Kaikōura and Inland Kaikōura Ranges, and potentially further afield beyond these mountains.
Geoff Harrow – 50 Years of Hutton’s shearwater
February 24, 2015
50 Year Anniversary – 21 February 2015, Kaikoura Town Hall.
50 years ago on 21st February, in the rugged Seaward Kaikoura mountains, Trust Patron Geoff Harrow laid hands on the first carcass of what Canterbury Museum then went on to conclude was a Hutton’s shearwater. And so the journey began – Geoff has dedicated the last 50 years of his life to learning about this endangered species and ensuring their survival, despite the probability at the start of almost certain extinction. What an incredible man, what an incredible story.
DOC Funding helps Trust soar – Kaikoura Star – 16 July 2014
August 19, 2014
Download >> Grant helps Trust soar – Kaikoura Star
The Department of Conservation is to provide a grant of $45,000 over three years to support the Hutton’s Shearwater Charitable Trust in appointing a Project Coordinator.
Farewell to Hutton’s Shearwater/Kaikoura Tītī
July 15, 2014
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu article and film on the Hutton’s shearwater/Kaikoura Titi.
Read article here >>
Hutton’s shearwater count – Population estimation
July 15, 2014
In 2002, an estimate of the population of Hutton’s shearwater was made by Graeme Taylor (Department of Conservation) and Paul Scofield (Canterbury Museum) using mark-recapture techniques. A team visited the Kowhai River colony where 2000 birds were spray painted red or yellow underneath. After the marking was finished, sightings were made from boats at sea or from the beach, of the ratio of coloured/non-coloured birds from which the estimates of the number of breeding birds were made. It had been 12 years since that work took place and the Trust repeated the exercise again in September 2014.
Four boats were used on the water, each with two teams consisting of an observer and a recorder. Each team made observations from a different side of the boat, to ensure birds were not counted twice as the boat moved slowly through the rafts of shearwaters sitting on the water. The count involved counting the number of birds sighted with red paint and the number of birds without paint.
Seabird Weekend – Kaikoura Star – April 2014
April 11, 2014
Download >> April 2014 Seabird weekend article – Kaikoura Star
Kaikoura’s first full weekend dedicated to seabirds and the science behind them has been hailed as a great success.
Seabirds, Shearwaters, Science & Sea Week
February 10, 2014
A full article on the ‘Kaikoura Seabirds, Shearwaters, Science and Sea Week’ is available here (see page 6-8): Birds of NZ – 2014
Saturday 5th April 2014 – Morning
9.00 am Maori Tours – 20% off
Please book direct on 03 3195567 or email info@maoritours.co.nz.
9.15 am Photography workshop
With birdlife photographer Peter Langlands, cost $25.
Meet in Dolphin Mary room at Encounter Kaikoura.
Book direct at langlands@xtra.co.nz or Ph: 027 4501 916
9.15 am Walk with local seabird advocates
Facilitated by Phil Bradfield and Friends of HSCT.
Meet at Point Kean, the Seal Colony car park.
9.30 am Albatross Encounter – 20% off
Book direct at www.encounterkaikoura.co.nz or Ph: 03 319 6777.
Saturday 5th April 2014 – Afternoon
12.45 pm Lectures and Presentations – Memorial Hall, Supper Room – Koha
Guest Speakers:
1.00 pm Chris P. Gaskin
Seabird Conservation Advocate. “Important Areas for New Zealand’s Seabirds: Kaikoura”.
1.30 pm Karen A.Baird
Seabird Conservation Advocate. “Threats to NZ seabirds globally and nationally”.
2.00 pm Graeme Taylor
Seabird Scientist from DoC. “Conservation of New Zealand’s threatened seabirds – new insights about our poorly known oceanic birds”.
2.30 pm Afternoon tea break
3.00 pm Paul Scofield
Senior Curator Vertebrates, Canterbury Museum. “The Albatross of the Chatham Islands: tourists to Kaikoura”.
3.30 pm Andrew Cutler
President Forest & Bird “What next for ocean governance: collaboration or crisis?”
Saturday 5th April 2014 – Evening
5.30 pm Movies, Mix and Mingle – Mayfair Theatre Theatre tickets: $25 – door sales may be limited Tickets available online at
www.huttonsshearwater.org.nz or from Kaikoura i-SITE.
Proceeds to Seaward Lions of Kaikoura and HSCT.
Drinks, Food and Social Hour.
Wine kindly sponsored by Peter Yealands Wines.
6.30 pm Opening: Brett Cowan of Takahanga Marae & DoC Kaikoura followed by HSCT spokesperson.
Guest Speakers:
Winston Gray Mayor of Kaikoura.
Colin King MP.
Ruud Kleinpaste Bugman, Birdman, Ecologist.
Movie: “The Mystery Bird” – Geoff Harrow
Registration and ticket purchase here >>
Sunday 6th April 2014 – Morning
6.45 am Haere Ra Nga Titi – Farewell to Hutton’s
Gather at South Bay Reserve
7.00 am
Prompt departure on Kaikoura Peninsula coastal track to Te Rae o Atiu / Kaikoura Peninsula colony.
If mobility is limited please advise by email in order to arrange transport to colony.
8.30 am
Breakfast at Memorial Hall supper room for bacon butties!
9.30 am Kaikoura Seabirds Guest Speakers
Phil Bradfield Hutton’s scientific update (HSCT Trustee & DoC representative).
Nicky McArthur Hutton’s education update (HSCT Trustee).
Lindsay Rowe, Jody Weir Little Penguins of Kaikoura (HSCT Trustee, Kaikoura Ocean Research Institute).
Te Korowai o Te Tai o Marokura Kaikoura Coastal Guardians Members update.
11.00 am
Ruud Kleinpaste Birdman, Bugman & Ecologist.
“The value of all living things”
11.30 am
Lou Sanson Director General of the Department of Conservation. “Community conservation – NZ last discovered really precious – why it really matters”.
Sunday 6th April 2014 – Afternoon
12.30 pm Free – Seaweek family music and activity event
Adjacent to Memorial Hall.
Run by Brett Cowan, DoC Kaikoura and Creation Care Study Programme.
Please RSVP to huttonssecretary@amuri.net to indicate your attendance to:
• Saturday morning walk
• Saturday afternoon presentations
• Saturday evening at the Mayfair Theatre – $25
• Sunday morning Farewell and breakfast
