What an amazing team at @mdoutdoorsnz!

A huge thank you to the team at MD Outdoors for supporting the Sanctuary through their Great Outdoor Quiz Night at The Boathouse, Nelson which raised an incredible $1,700+ for the Sanctuary! 🤗

Some of our amazing volunteers also joined in to show their support — a fantastic effort from everyone! And congratulations to Team Randy Rampage for taking out the win!

We’re incredibly grateful for the support of our community and everyone who helped make the night such a success. 🌳

Make sure you pop into @mdoutdoorsnz store in Nelson City for all your outdoor needs — their gear certainly comes in handy when exploring the Sanctuary!

🌿 Celebrating Our Incredible Volunteers 💚

At Brook Waimārama Sanctuary, our volunteers are at the heart of everything we do.

Every year, our incredible volunteers contribute more than 25,000 hours of volunteer mahi, helping with everything from fence repairs and pest control to monitoring, track maintenance, visitor experiences, field support, events, bird counts and countless jobs behind the scenes — even jumping into the moa suit!

But it’s not just their time and skills they generously share. Some of our volunteers also go the extra mile by providing in-kind donations, from cushions and beanies to homemade jams and other wonderful contributions that help support the Sanctuary in so many different ways.

Their contribution has a direct impact on our ability to provide a safe haven for native wildlife, protect and restore this beautiful ngahere, and create meaningful experiences for our community and visitors.

We are incredibly grateful for the passion, commitment, creativity and enthusiasm our volunteers bring to the Sanctuary.

Thank you to every volunteer who gives their time, gets stuck in and finds ways to help make a difference. The Sanctuary simply wouldn’t be the same without you.

Ever thought of volunteering, you can sign up today - www.brooksanctuary.org.nz/support-us/become-a-sanctuary-volunteer

Rare tree discovered in the Sanctuary

During our annual kākāriki karaka survey, Biodiversity Ranger Chelsea spotted a small raukawa sapling, a species not yet recorded in the Sanctuary. Biodiversity Ranger Henry accompanied Chelsea to the site and together they managed to locate several adult and juvenile plants. This find is significant as this species has become exceptionally rare in the region.

Raukawa is a tree whose large shiny leaves are delicious to possums and deer. Raukawa was recently moved from ‘Not Threatened’ to the threat category of ‘At Risk - Declining’. This reflects its increasing rarity of this species nationally, however, the threat status of the plant locally in eastern Nelson is probably quite worse.
Within the ranges surrounding the Sanctuary, raukawa is scarce. Where raukawa still does persist, it does so under constant threat of destruction.
The Sanctuary is free of pest mammals*, and in turn has become a refuge for historically common plants like orchids, mistletoes and palatable trees like raukawa.

The leaves are large, thick and glossy, and as juveniles, come in sets of three leaflets. The juvenile leaves are distinctively lobed/ deeply toothed. Once an adult, leaves are produced singly with an entire margin that undulates like a crinkled chip. Raukawa are both male and female at the same time, but not like most plants. Inflorescences(clusters of flowers) of raukawa contain a mixture of separate male and female flowers. This cleverly separates their sexes spatially which may help them to avoid self pollination.

Raukawa is what is called a facultative epiphyte. This means that it has the capacity to begin its life in a tree, in this case tree ferns like kātote and ponga. This ability once kept them out of reach of the giant moa. Eventually their root reaches the ground and then forms a trunk, at which point the raukawa slowly outgrows its host, becoming reasonably large.

This find embodies the natural wonder that is beneath the surface of the Sanctuary. And, the importance of the Sanctuary, not just for birds, but for plants, lizards, invertebrates and habitats and communities as a whole.

#nativeplants #rareplant

Kākāriki survey crashed by local kea

Images provided by Sanctuary volunteer Sean McGrath.

On the 1st and 2nd of September, the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary held the kākāriki karaka population count.

On the second survey day, we were surprised to be greeted by a very curious kea! Not quite the parrot we were after, and not at all a parrot we were expecting.
The kea began to follow two of our volunteers along one and a half kilometres of track, causing general kea mayhem in the process. He nibbled their shoes, landed on their heads and threw the pest tracking tunnels off the tracks. According to the online kea database our cheeky friend`s name is “Track”.

In Aotearoa, three kākāriki are endemic to the mainland islands. The rarest of them all is the orange-fronted kākāriki, the smallest of the kākāriki. This species was once abundant on the South Island. It cohabited forests with the other two mainland species, the yellow-crowned and red-crowned kākāriki. While the other two species still maintain several substantial populations nationwide, kākāriki karaka are critically threatened with extinction. They share the title of most endangered native forest bird with kākāpō.

The population has grown rapidly since their release into the Sanctuary in 2021. On the first survey day, we collectively counted almost 300 birds. The survey methodology and resource availability limits the accuracy of the count within such a large area with such a high bird density. ~300 birds serves as a low baseline population estimate.
However, it would be reasonable to estimate the population to be above 400. The Sanctuary is the world’s largest population of the species. Buller noted in 1869 that the species was common in the hills behind Nelson. Six years ago that statement would have been untrue. DoC are now harvesting eggs from this population to boost their captive breeders.

It has been a delight to watch this species thrive and regain its place in the ngahere.

If you enjoyed these excellent images, please check out Sean McGrath’s blog seanmcgrath.nz

@aptenodytes42
#kea #kakarikikaraka #brookwaimarama