While our field team is working in the Perth River valley they have the great pleasure of regularly seeing kea, pīwauwau (rock wren) and whio. This update shares videos that one of our rangers has taken of these special birds.
A group of up to 10 kea were caught on film in the Upper Barlow area in May, after the first phase of the predator removal operation.
This whio was spotted alongside the Lower Barlow River, approximately one month after the completion of the predator removal operation.
Several pīwauwau (rock wren) were also filmed in the Prospectors Creek area during monitoring in April this year.
So far, we have not seen any possums, rats or stoats in the area since the predator removal operation was completed. We expect that this means kea, whio and pīwauwau will all have a very good upcoming breeding season.