After being formally opened by local business man, Mr A.J. Alden, General Manager of Totara Hotels, the meeting was led by the key-note address of Dr J.R. Waas of Waikato University whose department has led much work upon vocal and physical communication in Blue Penguins, which he expanded upon here.

Interesting comparisons of foraging techniques were made between different populations of Blue Penguins living off Otago and Motuara Island in New Zealand and the Victorian coast, Australia. They were presented by workers from Otago University and the Philip Island Nature Park, respectively. The University of Otago’s Marine Sciences Department and Philip Island workers also provided trans-Tasman comparisons on prey species in Blue Penguins in work which documented very clearly that bird’s adaptability to changing circumstances of prey-species availability – there was a remarkable concurrence between the trans-Tasman studies.

The remaining papers of the first day considered Blue Penguin management in a hostile (urban) environment in Australia and the remarkable degree of mate fidelity of New Zealand Blue Penguins at Taiaroa Head. Discussion from the floor revealed this to be in marked contrast to the Victorian birds, where the ‘divorce rate’ is considerably higher. Dr Chris Challies described the distribution of the white-flippered variety of the Blue Penguin as it related to terrain around Banks Peninsula.

After a field trip on the first night to see Oamaru’s Yellow-eyed Penguins and then a visit to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, the second day was mainly devoted to aspects of the Yellow-eyed Penguin. The exceptions were two papers, both from Melbourne, on management of marine oil damage to birds.

Dr P.J. Seddon of the University of Otago presented the effects of tourism on Yellow-eyed Penguin biological well being. A case is to be made for focussing the attention of ‘casual visiting’ tourists upon one site in a region, thereby limiting distraction and disturbance by unregulated visitation at other sites. The impact of unregulated tourist visitation upon the Humboldt Penguin of Chile is demonstrably extreme in its adverse effects, a general lesson to be borne in mind when considering the management of penguin populations. A gratifying success story was that of the new autonomous Yellow-eyed Penguin colony which has become established at Moeraki Lighthouse Reserve, where a rehabilitation centre was first established about 20 years ago, and consequent to environmental development and predator control there.

The University of Otago presented evidence suggestive of a negative impact on penguin wellbeing caused by cats on Stewart Island. With implications for general penguin care, the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust of Dunedin described anti-mustelid strategies. Department of Conservation staff presented two papers on the biology of crested penguins. One study was of the Snares subantarctic island group and the other from Westland, of the Fiordland Crested Penguin. Unfortunately, the expedition was dogged by technical specification failure but some good leads on prey species were collected.

The success of the symposium was due in no small part to the organisation, hospitality and facilities provided by the staff of the Quality Hotel Brydone. The support of the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony and the businesses of the Oamaru community is gratefully acknowledged. We look forward to reconvening in 2005.

A G HOCKEN
Convenor

The bird fed for periods of six to nine minutes, then rested in the tree for periods of eight to 12 minutes.

I timed one spell of feeding, which lasted for eight minutes and 45 seconds. In this time the bird ate 426 fruits before resting.

The pigeon may have been feeding for some time before I first saw it, and it would be interesting to speculate how many fruits the bird consumed during the day. It may, of course, have switched to or from other food.

GEOFF MOON

The crippler of the day was a Rook that flew northwards high above Paraparaumu Beach. A search of the Waikanae Estuary and associated ponds added another 22 species, including Dabchick and Brown Teal, but Royal Spoonbills were away from their usual roost, due to the presence of numerous whitebaiters enjoying a balmy sunny afternoon. Short stops at Otaki Oxidation Ponds and Lake Papaitonga picked up Black-fronted Dotterel, Eastern Rosella and Shining Cuckoo, but nothing new was found at Lake Horowhenua, except that we finally got a Chaffinch as our 61st species.

The tide was well out at the Manawatu Estuary, and again Royal Spoonbill eluded us, as did Lesser Knot, both of which we had regarded as certainties. There were no Gannets or flutterers off the beach, so we headed to Wanganui having run out of time to detour to see Sulphur-crested Cockatoo in the Turakina Valley. Myna and Coot were obligingly obvious, and so we headed up the river to Kemp’s Pole to try for Nankeen Night Heron that Ralph and Mary had seen emerging from their roost at 7.35pm three evenings earlier – we got there at 7.30pm to find they had all gone, but saw California Quail and numerous Peafowl on the way, and heard Fernbird in scrub by the road. A single Morepork ended day one on 74 species.

We returned to Wellington and boarded the 1.30 am ferry, but gave away the chance to spotlight Fluttering Shearwater and Gannets in the Sounds for an attempt to get some sleep. Our rental car was waiting, and we headed south to catch an Oceanwings cruise at Kaikoura at 6.30 am. Most spectacular were the vast flocks of Hutton’s Shearwaters (50,000+?) close to shore that swirled around like a swarm of angry bees. We picked up 15 new species, including Grey-backed Storm Petrel, a couple of recently-arrived Short-tailed Shearwaters, and a Reef Heron skulking on a rock stack made 91 species, breaking last years’ record tally, but we dipped out on White-chinned Petrel (seen the previous day) and Antarctic Fulmars (common until a week before).

Thanks to Ralph and Mary’s intimate knowledge of Kowai Bush we soon found Rifleman, Brown Creeper and South Island Robin, to take the tally to 96, with three hours to go. Despite a constant watch as we headed north, no Gannets were seen, but at the Ure River bridge, Hugh saw a probable Falcon flash past in the opposite direction, but by the time Ralph woke up, and the car was turned around (Ralph wasn’t driving!), it had gone.

Cool, overcast conditions at Jack Taylor’s farm meant that the various singing male Cirl Buntings he had lined up for us were quiet, but just as we were about to give up we spotted a handsome male Cirl Bunting flying, and then later perched on a log on the ground – 97.

With time running out, the inlet of Lake Grassmere had to provide the last 3 species to make 100, but only 4 Red-necked Stints obliged to make 98. A probable Curlew Sandpiper (seen a fortnight earlier by Brian Bell) flew off before we could make a definite identification, so we were happy to end our tally at 98 species, rather than the cricketer’s nightmare of 99. If we had got to 99, we would have tried to invoke a Feral Rooster seen and heard crowing at Lake Papaitonga as our 100th species – if so we were going to call ourselves “100 By Rook and By Chook”!

The magical 100 is certainly possible in New Zealand, with a modicum of good luck, better tide times, and with some good crake spots lined up in advance – perhaps next year!

HUGH ROBERTSON