Nature’s Corner – Mid to Late Autumn
Hihi Herald
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| Male hihi in adult plumage |
Our hihi / stitchbirds (Notiomystis cincta) completed a very successful first breeding season in the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. The first egg was laid on 19 September 2005, and subsequent chick production was quite prolific. Sixteen breeding pairs were monitored and most had two clutches, with the first clutch producing the most fledglings. Remarkably, procreation and parenthood had not yet lost its charms for some, and a few pairs nested for a third time, adding another small batch of fledglings to make a grand total of 89 new recruits to the resident population. The last chicks to fledge left their nest on 18 March 2006. Although the laying of a third clutch of eggs by hihi has occasionally been recorded elsewhere, it is unusual for third-clutch chicks to survive and fledge. One pair actually nested for a fourth time, but the eggs proved to be infertile.
The high rate of egg clutches per pair is not entirely welcome because the raising of successive broods can take its toll on the adults and leave them to face the stresses of the moult followed by the hardships of winter in a rundown and vulnerable condition. Hopefully the abundance of autumn fruits in the bush and our supplementary feeding stations will counterbalance that effect. The production of second and third clutches is probably related to hihi being ‘new colonists’ in the Sanctuary and we expect the rate to decline as the hihi population increases and territories shrink.
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| Male hihi in juvenile plumage Photo by Tom Lynch |
Flocks of juvenile hihi have broken up and dispersed as their members gained confidence in their ability to fend for themselves. Those that make it through the winter will be mature enough to breed next spring. The young males have already moulted into the black feather hoods that proclaim their adult status and are practising the songs that will claim territory and attract female partners.
Tieke Times
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| Tieke chick being banded Photo by Tom Lynch |
Nineteen pairs of tieke / North Island saddlebacks (Philesturnus carunculatus rufusater) raised at least seventy-one fledglings in their best breeding season so far. The last chicks known to have fledged probably left their nest around 30 March. They were first seen on 6 April, when they were estimated to have been out for about a week. Fledglings are fed by their parents for about a month and sometimes, when they are the last of the season, for considerably longer because there is no pressure for the parents to disengage in order to tend a new brood. However, all were leading independent lives by mid May. An orange leg band above a metal one distinguishes this season’s juveniles. A number of young birds seem to have settled in distinct areas, others are still moving around looking for suitable living space. Some pairing-up appears to have taken place already.
Adults, free of family responsibilities until next season, are ranging widely in their territories, presumably repelling any would-be new settlers and eating well to withstand the coming winter. A few may be engaged in dalliances. There is a report that successive females living along the Faultline Track have left their partners and moved in with the male next door in a sort of seismic shift. Whether this will be a permanent arrangement or just temporary hanky-panky remains to be seen.
Exotic Tastes
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| Tui has strawberry dessert |
Tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) have been feasting on the fruit of the Himalayan strawberry tree (Cornus capitata) in April and May. There are quite a number of these trees growing in the vicinity of the Upper Dam and I took this photograph at Easter weekend while lunching at the Henderson Lawn. As the name indicates, this is an introduced tree. It belongs to the dogwood family and other common names for it include Himalayan dogwood, strawberry dogwood, and evergreen dogwood. For a period it was placed in the genus Dendrobenthamia, but reverted to Cornus in 2005. Its natural homeland extends from the Himalayas to western China but it was brought to New Zealand by the nursery trade as an ornamental tree for parks and gardens. It depends on birds to disperse its seeds. The fruits are just as appealing to New Zealand birds as they were to the birds of its homeland, so it can easily spread into areas where it is not wanted as has happened here. As the purpose of the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Trust is to restore the indigenous vegetation and animals and return the ecology as far as possible to that of pre-human times, these trees are being reduced in number and replaced with native species. Eventually all will be removed and resident tui will have to dine out if they still fancy a meal of foreign fruits.
Foreign Fungi
Autumn rains have brought forth the spore producing structures of a range of fungi. The two most eye-catching species seen in April and May are also of foreign origin, although unlike foreign trees, there is no programme designed to eliminate them from the Sanctuary.
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| Fly agaric Photo by Pam Fuller |
Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). These are the same colourful toadstools depicted in illustrated books of fairy tales. I cannot claim to have seen any fairies or elves sitting under or on them in the Sanctuary, but I remain hopeful. The Morning Star Mine Track, the Valley View Track, and parts of the Turbine Track are good places to look for them. You will find them near pine trees like Pinus radiata, one of a number of introduced northern hemisphere trees with which these toadstools have a special relationship. When the exotic Pinus species are eventually removed from the Sanctuary as planned, the toadstools may die out too. There is concern that they have adapted to live in partnership with New Zealand’s native beech trees (Nothofagus species) in some parts of the country, but the Sanctuary does not fall within the natural beech zone.
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| Orange pore fungi |
Orange pore fungi (Favolaschia calocera). Have you noticed small bright orange toadstools, like flattened kidneys honeycombed with holes, growing in colonies on dead wood? There are usually some to be seen when walking Te Mahanga Track or the Round the Lake Track. They are attached to the wood by lateral stems. Of tropical origin, these fungi have become common throughout the North Island and the upper South Island during the last 30 years. There is speculation that orange pore fungi might displace native fungi that provide food for native insects, but research is needed before the implications can really be understood.
Nectar! Nectar!
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| Maire tawake flowers Photo by Tom Lynch |
Maire tawake / Swamp maire (Syzygium maire). These flowers were photographed in mid April on the tree at the west side of Lake Road, just north of the V transect and between the Swamp and Te Mahanga junctions. To the naked eye, the flower clusters high on the tree look like powder puffs, but in this closer view the individual flowers can be distinguished, with their central nectar cups fringed by long white stamens. Tui, hihi, and korimako/bellbirds were competing for access to the nectar during March and April but will be looking for alternative sources as the flowers become scarce in May.
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| Akakura flowers |
Akakura / Scarlet rata vine (Metrosideros fulgens). The scarlet stamens that fringe these nectar cups will attract nectar-seeking birds from a distance. Flowering continues through late autumn and winter when there are few other natural sources of this high-energy food, ensuring plenty of bird visitors to pollinate the flowers. On the far side of the lower lake, several vines were flowering on the western scarp in May, including one above the ‘waterfall’ of kiekie (Freycinetia banksii). Another could be glimpsed off to the left of the Round the Lake Track as you start the climb to the ridge with the picnic tables on top.
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| Kohekohe flowers |
Kohekohe (Dysoxylum spectabile). Mature trees on the western scarp are flowering in May. Unlike most trees, the flowers are not exhibited high on the canopy. They are on long sprays emerging from the bark and hanging down from trunks and branches. One has to be standing under a tree to notice them. Korimako/bellbirds perform gymnastics to sip the nectar. Unfortunately no flowering trees border our tracks. Young kohekohe grow alongside Te Mahanga Track and near the Morning Star mine entrance but as yet they have not reached flowering age.
Fruit To Go
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| Kohia fruit |
Kohia / New Zealand passion vine (Passiflora tetrandra). Near the bollards that restrict road access to the Visitor Centre, the vines climbing on the trees across overflow channel have an impressive display of orange fruit in May. They are obviously ripe for pillaging. On 20 May I noticed a few already broken open and stripped of their contents so whether the rest will last out the month is uncertain.
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| Karewao fruit Photo by Tom Lynch |
Karewao / Kareao / Supplejack (Ripogonum scandens). Bunches of bright red fruits hanging high in the trees or detached fruits scattered on the ground belong to the vines whose barren rope-like stems seem to tie the forest together. The red packaging is deceptive as the fleshy outer covering is quite thin. The one or two (sometimes three) hard, spotted seeds contribute most of the bulk. The fruits seem to be more of a standby food than a firm favourite with the birds, but have the advantage of being available almost year round. This photograph was taken from the upper Swamp Track.
For information and photographs relating to other plants that flower or fruit in the Sanctuary in late autumn, refer to the Late Autumn 2005 edition in our Archive.
Tuatara Roadshow
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| Mr Big or Red Blue Yellow, a male tuatara |
You never know what you might stumble across in the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. For one of our long-time volunteer guides, it was a tuatara! On a sunny day at the beginning of April, Joan Adams was walking down the Union Mine Track, a former road that borders the south side of the fenced Research Area where the majority of our tuatara are confined. She was looking for Mr Big, a large tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) that sometimes basks on the cleared strip just over the fence. To help visitors view these rare reptiles, which can be difficult to distinguish from their surroundings because of their cryptic colouring and long periods of immobility, guides periodically record the locations of visible tuatara on a whiteboard. Each post in the Research Area fence is numbered, so locations can be indicated quite precisely. Tuatara tend to have favourite basking spots where they blob out on warm days. Several are quite near the fence, offering a good view of the sunbathers once you know where to look.
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| Tuatara "Yellow Blue" |
Suddenly Joan was startled by a scrabbling noise at her feet and looked down to see an equally startled female tuatara with yellow and blue identity beads attached to the neck crest. Joan had either bumped Yellow Blue with her foot or Yellow Blue had run over her foot when it came too close for comfort. As part of a study to assess the impact of mice on tuatara, ten live outside the Research Area enclosure, but this was probably the first time a guide had encountered one of these elusive ‘outsiders’. Joan was about to witness an unusual sight – a wide-awake and very animated tuatara in broad daylight.
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| Tuatara "Yellow Blue" impersonating a rock. Body length 42.1 cm |
In fleeing from Joan’s feet, Yellow Blue had the misfortune to choose quite the wrong direction for a hasty retreat because she immediately fetched up against the fence. Obviously feeling cornered, she moved up and down the fence looking for a way through, but a fence designed to exclude mice will not provide an exit hole for a tuatara. She revealed even greater agility in several attempts to climb the obstruction and ultimately succeeded in reaching the top of the mesh, but the wide metal band above was an unpleasant surprise. There was no way to get a foothold on its smooth slippery surface. Yellow Blue lost her grip, plopped back to the ground, and did her best to disappear before Joan’s eyes by lying very still and impersonating a rock. As Joan did not advance on her, Yellow Blue probably thought she had her fooled, but Joan’s tuatara detection faculties were already honed. She was able to alert other guides and visitors to Yellow Blue’s presence and organise a guard to keep people at a respectful distance where they could observe and take photographs without spooking her. Without a guard Yellow Blue might have been trodden on. Newcomers on the scene, myself included, could not distinguish her at first, even when she was pointed out – a testament to her rock-impersonation skills.
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| Tuatara "Yellow Blue" sprinting |
Meanwhile, Yellow Blue must have been recovering from her frenetic burst of activity, reorienting herself and selecting a new escape route. Her strategy was interesting. Instead of a headlong rush, we saw a carefully staged retreat. From her position on the north side of the road, she made a sudden short sprint into the middle of the road where she clamped down and turned to stone again. It was ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ and onlookers who had been distracted by cameras or conversation had to have her new position pointed out again. Another interval of immobility ensued, providing perfect photo opportunities, before a second brief dash brought her close to the south side of the road. For those who have never seen a running tuatara, I can report that the gait is decidedly saurian, like a mini-crocodile. Curiously, although so close to the concealing safety of rank vegetation, she froze again, still in full view. Another wait, and we were just starting to wonder if she had settled there for an afternoon of sunbathing when she lunged forward into the grass and vanished.
We are not expecting a repeat performance any time soon. Apart from being deterred by the risk of another transformation from unrecognised reptile to instant celebrity, daytime basking naturally loses its appeal as temperatures decline. Tuatara are much less active in cold weather, preferring to spend their time sleeping or sheltering in their burrows. Even their nocturnal hunting forays become infrequent, postponed until hunger makes them really necessary. However, if you walk the Union Mine Track next summer, do watch where you put your feet.
This edition of Nature's Corner was written by Sanctuary volunteer Allison Buchan on 23 May 2006. Hihi and tieke news has been adapted from reports and other communications from Sanctuary conservation staff. Thanks to Kate McKenzie for answering tuatara questions and to Joan Adams for details of her tuatara encounter. All photographs in this edition are taken by Allison Buchan, except where indicated, and are © Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. Clicking on photos with blue borders will take you to a larger photo.
Published 1 June 2006.
Updated 21 Aug 2006.