October 2006
Chick season…
With the chick season now underway I would like to ask parents and
teachers, to discourage young children from disturbing nesting
birds. While children think they are doing the right thing by
removing chicks from their nests, it is detrimental to the survival
of the young chicks. When children see a nest without an adult bird,
they instantly think that the chicks have been abandoned. It is so
sad to think that an adult bird will return to her nest after
gathering food, to find her babies have disappeared. With good
intentions, the children take the chicks home to look after them.
Within hours, the novelty wears off, responsibility sets in and the
job is left to mum. Mum has better things to do with her time, so
then the chicks are sent to the Centre for us to look after, and
like Mum, we have far more important things to cope with.
Visiting the Centre…
When visiting the Centre please leave your pets at home,
particularly domestic birds and dogs. Birds in captivity scare
easily, so a squawk from a domestic bird will frighten our wild
birds here at the Centre. Dogs are banned from the Centre. Although
some dogs are kept on leads and are often well behaved, the scent
left by a dog can really disturb our kiwi. When we bring one of our
kiwi out for show after a dog has been around, the kiwi will react
really badly. The dog is one of the main predators of kiwi. The
slightest hint that a dog is in the vicinity, will upset the kiwi.
So, please leave your pets at home.
At this stage we are unable to have the Centre open for public
visits on weekends. As many will know by now, the time we give to
the Centre is all voluntary. The weekends are the only time Robyn
and I get to work around our own place. We both come to the Centre
during the weekends to tend to the birds, but this is not until
around 4.00pm. If you are at the Centre around this time of the day,
you are more than welcome to come in and have a look around. We are
currently working on a plan so we can open the Centre during the
weekends, for visits. We would love to have more visitors. As soon
as we sort this out we will let you all know.
The Centre needs your help for new gear…
We now have the footpath and the public area completely concreted. A
BIG thank you, for doing a great job, to:
Fence and Pergola 2002 Bruce’s Concreting Firth Concrete
There are still some items that we would like to get
for the Centre. We need two new BBQ tables and two bench seats to
place in the public area. It would be great to have somewhere for
people to sit and watch the birds.
The other item we need, which is a ‘biggy’, is an outboard
motor to replace the old one on our boat. We use the boat for sea
bird rescues and releases. We have had the new one priced and it
will cost around $7000. The old motor is 12 years old and is not
very safe. For me safety on the water is no joke, so, give us a call
if you think you can help. Robert Webb |
Other Issues:
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006 |
