WASHED OUT: Heavy rain has left a slip in the face of the Silvester Wetland Dam (at left) and washed away the entrance to the Kawerau Track from Hobbs Beach. Photos / Emma Dunning TiriKids to the rescue TiriKids pages from Dawn Chorus are now being posted on the SoTM website to provide a bit of environmental entertainment for bored youngsters. In addition, extra pages of the delightful TiriKids from this issue, with its game involving decoding signal flags, are going to be run off. When it is possible to re-open the Watchtower, with its display of flags that children often ask about, the pages will be available to visitors. Ranger hits the road By the time you read this, ranger Hedley Timbs, who arrived on the Island back in April on a sixmonth placement, will have left to walk Te Araroa, the national walkway. Hedley sent a farewell message saying he has ‘had a memorable six months on the magic Island, and will miss the birds, the views, and the serenity. Lockdown meant I could pretend to be a lighthouse keeper and live out here fulltime. I did feel a bit guilty that the Supporters missed out on the flowering kōwhai and kūmarahou, and the penguin chicks. ‘Thanks to all the kind people who made my Tiri time more like pleasure than work, I wish you well and hope to see you again. I am off to do Te Araroa and will enjoy seeing the Island in the distance as I walk along the bays.’ Hedley came to Tiritiri so ranger Talia Hochwimmer could spend six months as a supervisor of the inner islands of Rangito-
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to, Motutapu and Motuihe to broaden her experience. While you were away Ranger Emma Dunning reports on what we've missed while Tiritiri has been locked down: We all know the Island is a truly special place, and to be here without people is a unique experience that is hard to describe. Tiritiri is normally such a bustling place, with all the comings and goings of volunteers, supporters, schools, public, researchers, and contractors. Even in winter and the reduced ferry days, no two days are the same and things rarely go perfectly to plan. But lockdown comes with a physical slow down, time tune into what is happening around us, sync with island-time, watch the season change and the grass grow. Spring has been a real lesson that we need nature and the wildlife a lot more than they need us. There are things that have to be done, whether we humans are here to witness it or not. The plants all woke from their winter slumbers, bursting into flower. The birds have territories to claim, mates to find, nests to build and, as time has passed, eggs to incubate, chicks to feed. Over the last eight weeks we have seen the end of the kōwhai season, the karo flowers come and go, the flowering of the puawhānanga/NZ clematis and karaka,
the return of the pīpīwharauroa/shining cuckoo, pūtangitangi/paradise shelduck and spur-winged plover, and the hatching of the kororā/little penguin, and pāteke chicks. The dawn chorus has ramped up to its spring crescendo, becoming the Island’s alarm clock. Now, mid-October, the tī kōuka/cabbage trees are flowering, along with the harakeke/NZ flax and rewarewa. The takahē are nesting, hihi are ready for laying and the chirping of other chicks is being heard. The bunkhouse dam pāteke have ducklings, the kororā/little penguin chicks in the boxes are growing fast, there are spur-winged plovers with chicks in the southern paddock and the eagle rays are back in good numbers at the wharf. Large numbers of tākapu/Australasian gannets are effortlessly cruising the air currents and there are large boil ups of fish. But alas still no marine mammals close to shore. The easing of restrictions has seen a few people return to the Island to stretch their legs off their boats. To be honest it has taken a bit to get adjusted, but I’m coming around. I hope you are all doing ok and managing to connect with nature wherever you can. Rest assured that the Island and everything that calls it home is doing great and will be here, along with us, to welcome you all back as soon as it is possible. Tiritiri TV Finally, if you need an urgent fix of Tiritiri, just Google 'Urban Wildlife Trust Wildcams' and you can see the tūī feeder outside the Visitor Centre as well as other wildcams showing albatross and penguin.
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