Peregrine Wines invited me to participate in the Saddleback
Conservation Program, so off I headed to the ‘deep south’, to Breaksea Sound in
Fiordland. As a sponsor of the program,
Peregrine Wines supports the work of the Fiordland Conservation Trust and the
Department of Conservation in the re-establishment of the rare Saddleback
bird. The aim of this particular
exercise was to capture 40 of the threatened South Island Saddlebacks and
relocate them to Buaza, a newly established predator-free island. At least three years of painstaking work
eliminating potentially dangerous animals is required before a reserve is
declared predator-free.
We had five days to reach our target quota; eleven people were
involved with nine as catchers. I was
one of five who left mid-way through the third day; at which point our group
had caught 31 birds. To be able to
capture this number was a very pleasing result.
In way of a perspective, back in 1964, there were only 36 Saddleback
left in the world!
The exercise took place in a ‘mist net’. We were dropped off by boat on the rocky
coast and after finding a suitable location we began trimming untouched bush to
obtain a clearing 1m x 9m in area.
Speakers were set up to broadcast calls to entice the birds into a
net. With very early starts, the days
were long and the anticipation tiring.
Being a city lad, this was my first time in the wilderness,
and it was special. The peacefulness was
something I had never experienced before.
It was ironic, looking at my watch reading 5.30 pm, normally ‘peak hour’
for me, seeing only two boats, and the skipper saying “This is busy!” There is a magic to the South.
On the trip, we ate very well.
(Hey, I’m the restaurant rep at Regional – food is never off my mind…)
We had blue cod as fresh as it can be and fleshier than anything you would get
in Wellington. Crayfish that made legal cray’s look like
prawns! And the paua …well, you get the
drift.
Being in Breaksea Sound and Fiordland, I can truly say New Zealand can
be proud of its ‘Clean Green’ image. It
became a reality for me, and I admire the people who believe in and work at
protecting the environment and saving wildlife, being involved in programs such
as the Saddleback Conservation. If you
ever get the opportunity of taking part in something like this, I say jump at
it. You will never forget or regret it,
but I do recommend you take your mozzie repellent!
There are many other ways you can help in the conservation of
our native wildlife. Head on up to
‘Zealandia’, the Karori Wildlife Experience – or simply buy and enjoy a bottle
of Peregrine (such as the Pinot Gris 2008) or Saddleback wine (the Pinot Noir 2008 is excellent). The
winery donates a portion of the monies from every bottle sold to avian
conservation work. Go to www.fiordlandconservationtrust.org.nz and www.wingspan.co.nz for more.
- Stephen Clarke