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YRK baro savu bērnu.


(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)
The weighing was at 11.40 am today, Quarry Track chick weighed in at 8.2 kg. She is 216 days old today and YRK has fed her sufficient amounts of food recently that supplementary feeding has not been necessary despite OGK's absence.
YRK has fed her chick 9 times since we last supplementary fed at this nest.
As the chicks approach fledging time they are more active and interested in the other chicks.
(GT)
Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod edited
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)
In this video the Royalcam has zoomed in close on Quarry Track chick There is still some sizable areas of down left at 220 days of age.
Should a chick fledge and end up in the harbour or one of the local beaches where it cannot take off from we will bring it back to the headland where it can try again. This only happens occasionally with the vast majority of chicks fledging successfully the first time.
The wing practice on the headland is all the practice that the chicks get, once fledged they will not return for 5 years. It is a big task learning to fend for themselves on the ocean where they will now spend 85%of their lives. There are no practice flights to the ocean and back.
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)
As the 35 knot southwesterly got up at 12.51 pm Quarry Track chick stood up and held out her wings. After around 2 minutes she takes a jump into the wind and gains height, as she heads towards the harbour she turns towards the ocean and clears the headland. She is the first chick to fledge this season despite 9 other chicks being older than she is.
Her wing feathers are looking great this morning and on fledging she seemed to only have wispy down left. The 23 supplementary feedings have made up for meals that she missed out on from OGK.
Typically once a chick has fledged, they will fly only a few kilometers before landing and beginning its life on the ocean.
We can see in this video from the 24th of August that the ocean is where the albatross really want to be.
Quarry Track chick has fledged at an even younger age than sibling Atawhai who fledged at 230 days of age.
Even though Quarry Track chick has fledged there is still more to expect on Royalcam.
YRK will not know her chick has fledged and could come back in. After not finding her chick she will take a year off to replenish her lost condition from the chick-rearing process. We could see her again in September/October 2023. It remains to be seen if we will see OGK again.
This has been the 7th Royalcam season.
We may yet name Quarry Track chick, it will be a case of 'watch this space'.
FYI the Royalcam will stay at this location until we decide to move it.
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou
Spotlighting rabbits has become a necessary part of rabbit control on Pukekura /Taiaroa Head. Trained Department of Conservation Rangers come in from time to time to provide an alternative method of rabbit control. Rabbits are very tricky to remove and not one method will work for all.
Rabbits cause huge damage to the environment and compromise the native wildlife.
We have issues with:
Erosion
Burrow collapse, hazards for entrapping albatross
Competition for space with little penguins
Grass damage leaving less nesting materials for the seabirds
Encourages predators such as stoats and feral cats which then turn to native birds as an easier to catch food source.
The denuded ground is hotter than the grass covered ground leading to more issues with heat stress and encourages flies which cause fly strike.
Damage to sensitive cultural sites .
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou
18 chicks remain on the headland. Many are still in view of the observatory in the most excellent southerly winds.
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod • 16 hours ago
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)
Seven chicks have fledged and 18 remain on the headland. 3 males and 4 females have fledged ranging in age from 220 to 237 days of age.
No new season returnees have been sighted as yet but it may not be too long before the first one or two arrive. The bulk of the breeders will arrive during October.[
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou
The chick with the Darvic 20 is from an area called Gate Track. Her parents are sometimes spotted in the cam area, they are WOG and YOK. Gate Track is situated far to the left of Bluff Track and is out of view of the Richdale Observatory. She is 233 days old today.
There is much movement amongst all the chicks now, some have wandered over 200m from their nest.
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora albatross friends and whanau!
We hope you have your bells ready!
The first returning albatross for the new breeding season has been sighted! OL (Orange/Lime) was seen on the headland by the Department of Conservation rangers on 20th September. OL hasn’t been seen for 7 months as non-breeders have been circumnavigating the Southern Hemisphere and has now returned to start a brand-new season.
The city churches and schools will ring bells at 1pm tomorrow, 22nd September 2022 and we’d love lots of bell-ringers throughout Dunedin and afar to join in and ring their bells as well to help us celebrate!
• Don’t have a bell? Maybe you could set your phone to ring, sing a song or clap! We love original ideas and lots of fun!
• We’d love you to share your photos and videos with us!
OPT Ecotourism Manager Hoani Langsbury, said there could never be a more appropriate time for the return of a Royal to Pukekura, than the day after Queen Elizabeth’s Tangi.
Nadia Wesley-Smith, Chair of Te Poari a Pukekura Co-Management Trust Board joins the Albatross Centre in celebrating the return of the first toroa for the season. For the board the annual return reminds us of our ongoing responsibilities around the entire living system of the headland, that contributes to the health and conservation of the Northern Royal Albatross.
Department of Conservation Ranger Sharyn Broni said OL, a 10 year old female who was seen ‘keeping company’ with a potential mate last summer, has arrived back at Pukekura while 16 out of 25 chicks wait to fledge. “Egg laying happens in November so only time will tell if OL breeds during the 22/23 season.”
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Now that the bells have been rung to celebrate the return of the albatross for the new season for 2022/2023 here is a bit of information regarding OL the first albatross in for the new season.
OL is a female that hatched on the 26 January 2012 near the top of the headland. She was a breech hatch i.e., hatching in the small end,so needed assistance and was on meds for a week.
As a chick in the post-guard stage, she was supplementary fed 15 times due to being low in weight.
Fledged into the harbour entrance on the 4th of September 2012 at 223 days of age. She made her way out to the ocean on short flights without needing to be rescued.
Returned in January 2017 and spent a couple of months reacquainting herself with the area.
she has spent the last few summers looking for a mate, it remains to be seen whether she will breed this season or not.
She has been spotted on the Royalcam live stream during 2018 and during the 2021/2022 season.
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)
There are 9 chicks on the headland today. TBT has fledged but BT is still here for now.
We have had several more new season arrivals sightings bringing the number to 6.
The fledged chicks and there parents will cross the Pacific Ocean to feed off the shores of South America. The new seasons arrival return via the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. An individual may fly as much as 190 000 km in a year. Their flight is extremely efficient as they are using the wind for propulsion.
This map from Wikipedia of the Southern Ocean shows how albatross can circumnavigate the globe.
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou (hello everyone)
There are now 8 of the 25 chicks remaining on the headland.
As we have an overlap for the new season ahead we have positively identified 13 new arrivals.
Lielas ziņas! Bāreņu dūda DG ir aizbēgusi!Big news! The orphaned chick DG has fledged!
Ranger Julia did a head count this morning and managed to find just three chicks remaining! The windy weather was too tempting, our count went from eight chicks yesterday to three today!
Big effort from DOC staff on the headland with help from RAC staff supp feeding this chick since his foster parents went missing back in April, we fed him over 111kg of fish, squid and octopus!Huge thanks also to everyone who donated to our give a little to help us purchase the fish, so rewarding to see him finally fledge out to sea
see you in five years bud!
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
Kia ora koutou,
A message from Julia....
After a pretty thorough search of Pukekura I have found just three chicks remaining.
BMT@DG, the orphaned chick, has fledged at 244 days! Just 4 days longer than average. The howling SW we have this morning must have been a wonderful temptation.
We are absolutely stoked to see this chick away safely and I want to acknowledge the significant effort that everyone put in to get him to this milestone. We really appreciate the help from Albatross Centre staff, walking up the hill to assist us, on demand, in all sorts of weather conditions. Thank you also for helping to source a more varied diet with your Harbour Fish account! Thanks to Lisa and Penguin Place for the ongoing white fish supply, and to King Salmon for the donated salmon smolt. To the hospital staff, your services, advice and encouragement got the rangers over a few significant hurdles and through to the home stretch.
Kaore ā mātou mihi e āritarita – our thanks are boundless.
Here’s a recap of his story: His biological parent abandoned the nest during hatching so he was fostered as a newly hatched chick to the DG pair, who had an infertile egg. They did a good job of chick raising in the first month, being young birds themselves. This would hopefully have set BMT chick up with some good gut biota to get things started. Unfortunately GWL (10yo) was last seen in March and LOW (9yo) in early April. Supplementary feeding started in mid April and since then we have fed him over 100 times, feeding a total of 111kg of southern blue whiting, salmon smolt, anchovies, sprats, squid and octopus. A couple of respiratory scares resulted in a short course of antibiotics and a blood sample, however we were pleased to find out that his results were within normal range for a healthy bird. He learned to hand feed, which meant he only needed to be held for fluids and the whole process became fairly easy with minimal stress – a good thing given how often we were feeding him!
Ngā mihi nui e hoa mā!
At last count only BT chick, Button's chick, an Toroa's chick (the youngest) remain on the headland.
(GT)Sharyn Broni (Ranger, DOC) Mod
A view shots of the snow this morning. More snow is on the way. We have no concerns for the chicks remaining, at the last count there were 2, and BT has fledged. Chicks are fully feathered now and I suspect the 2 remaining ones are on the sheltered side of the headland.