Aviary at Virginia Lake

A great memory I have from my childhood is a family holiday driving through the North Island one summer. We packed up the van and drove from town to town, stopping in places that looked interesting to explore and staying until we ran out of things to do. As a family of bird lovers, we often ended up at lakes or parks with aviaries where we'd feed as many birds as we could and play with the ones we could get close to.

One aviary that stands out in my mind is at Virginia Lake in Whanganui. We loved walking through this open air aviary and would stand there for ages, searching for all the different breeds and leaning in as close as we could to the cheeky birds that would casually step back when approached by a human.

This weekend, my dad and I drove through Whanganui on our way to a wananga in New Plymouth. We couldn't resist taking a quick rest stop and leg stretch at Virginia Lake for old time's sake. I looked for the aviary but it seemed like it was no longer next to the car park like I'd remembered ... until we spotted it on the other side of the car park just as we were driving off. We quickly turned around and headed back in to a cacophony of birds dive bombing and racing around the aviary, enjoying breakfast and chattering in the sunshine.

Here's who we met on Friday morning. Hopefully we'll have time to stop in again on our way home on Monday for another happy dose of nostalgia.

A cheeky acrobat

A proud parrot

An outdoor shower

This fantail has some tidying up to

I still don't understand guinea fowl

For the Birds

The biennial New Zealand Festival is in full swing. Last night I attended For the Birds, an outdoor nature and light exhibition at Otari-Wilton's Bush.

I seem to have dreadful weather karma for these events. Two years ago, I forfeited my Power Plant tickets as a freakishly strong storm lashed the city. (It was bad, even by Wellington's standards!) The event organisers still insisted they were going ahead but I doubt many would have actually attended or enjoyed it in such adverse conditions. Waking up yesterday morning to gale force winds and rain, I wondered how I'd manage to once again book tickets for a stormy day. Turns out that it really didn't matter as Otari is very sheltered. Apart from the entrance and exit, the bush was warm and calm.

It's hard to describe what to expect at an event like this. LED lighting guides you around a 2 km interactive walk through the bush. Birdsong created by cuckoo clock mechanisms, penny whistles and recorded loops serenade you as you make your way along the path and acclimatise your eyes. (Put your torches, phones and camera flashes away!) Native birds tell their extinction stories as talking huia, laughing owl and Haast's eagle eggs. Fireflies dance along the creek and mechanical cranes hover above while mechanical robots light up their flight path as they fly overhead before leading the way through a delightful white lit tunnel. There were more installations towards the second half, perhaps serving as a distraction for the steadily ascending path back to the bus.

It took about an hour to walk around the exhibition at a reasonable pace and spend some time at each installation. I imagine there would be fewer kids at the later sessions. We saw a couple of families trying to push baby buggies around; the path really isn't suited for this so follow the instructions and leave buggies behind. You'll need sturdy walking shoes and be prepared for some slopes; we realised all too soon while walking down a gently inclining path that we'd eventually have to walk up again - and that part of the trail (including steps) was much steeper.

There is no parking available around Otari-Wilton's Bush so take the organiser's advice and park in Ian Galloway Park (about 1.3 km away) and hop on the free transfer bus to and from the venue. Get there well before your session starts as the queue for the safety briefing moves very slowly. We had tickets for the 8.30 session and queued from 8 pm to finally set out around 8.45. Others around us had an even longer wait so plan for a later night than you may have expected.

Accommodation available

We have accommodation available at our place. It's quite modest and might not appeal to everyone but would be perfect for the right tenant. It's a bit bare at the moment as it has been vacant over winter but we promise that the leaves will arrive soon, making it a cosily furnished home. Ideally, we like a tui or pair of tui to move in to this tree in our backyard for summer. A family of four would also be comfortable there. Guests are welcome to stay after summer but we usually find they migrate elsewhere for winter.

We can offer lots of benefits and are very hospitable housemates, as previous tui will attest to. There are other trees in the area that are good for visiting during the day or to shelter in when the wind picks up. Cats (including ours) don't tend to climb up this tree so safety is assured. There are also stunning views of sunsets all summer long. You could probably even see the beach from that high up! The best bit is the price tag: free.

We have been excitedly anticipating the arrival of tui in our trees ever since they started returning to the area at the end of winter, but none have appeared. Perhaps they just haven't found our tree yet or would prefer the furniture to grow first?

Others are gradually taking up residence nearby and we eagerly await our very own tui to sing to us each day. We don't expect spectacular whistling but enjoy recognising 'our' tui when we hear them in the neighbourhood. Last year's tui sounded like a car alarm, which was highly amusing. A baby tui singing a simple note or two would be welcome, so long as they move on to other sounds after a while. For those aspiring to tui greatness, they might like to watch this video of WoofWoof the talking tui, who lived to a ripe old age of 16 and entertained bird lovers the world over.

High tech birds

A giggle for a rainy Tuesday morning.

Nga Manu Nature Reserve

Nga Manu Nature Reserve in Waikanae is a small, attractive reserve about an hour north of Wellington. Featuring a range of native flora and fauna, it is also home to a number of bird breeding programmes and reptiles. We spent a few hours at the reserve today, joining the feed out tour, and enjoying a picnic lunch in the sun.

Picnic area at Nga Manu Nature Reserve

We got to see kakariki, kereru, kaka, kea, kiwi, morepork, little owls, and tuatara up close. This was the best look I have ever had of two North Island brown kiwi; they were much larger than any other I had seen before and quite happy to come out and eat in front of us. The following photos were all taken inside the nocturnal house on a limited light camera setting, so the quality isn't all that clear but I think the subject matter is fantastic!

Little owls

Morepork

Tuatara

North Island brown kiwi

My mother has always been a bird lover and my brother and I have inherited this trait. I love birds of all kinds and really love visiting large open aviaries, my best friend's worst nightmare. As a family, we would often stop in at aviaries or bird attractions while on holiday or on our way somewhere. Sometimes it was just stopping near a pond to feed ducks (for us, they were always called duckies). We would grab stale bread and entice the duckies towards us, grinning madly as they quacked around us and gobbled up the food. My mother would always try to catch one (usually successfully), but it always ended badly when my younger brother would attempt to do the same (always unsuccessfully) and we'd end up leaving with him very grumpy in the back seat. It was the same experience every single time and I loved it.

As soon as we arrived at Nga Manu, I spotted some duck feed at the counter and quickly added it to our admission price; another activity on my 101 in 1001 list - #22: Feed duckies. There is something so satisfying about the instant congregation of bird friends that forms whenever free food is on hand. These duckies were no different, gobbling down whatever they could munch from our hands and following us when they thought their food source was moving too far away from them.

Satisfied duckie friends

Nga Manu is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area or want to show visitors a slice of New Zealand's natural heritage. Being smaller than similar reserves, it's easy to get around and a much more relaxed way to enjoy the beautiful grounds and scenery.

The Parrot Ranch

A friend of our has bought a two-acre plot of land on the edge of Levin, a rural town nearly two hours north of Wellington. He had been inviting us for some time to visit one weekend, then pitch a tent somewhere on his land and camp overnight. The land is completely undeveloped in its current state, with two sheds and a small, temporary cabin as its only adornments. It has several dozen gum trees, reaching about 30m each, and a tiny pond at one of the property ... and nothing else. He has plans to eventually build a log cabin in the middle, but it's not there yet. We (I) decided we weren't too keen on the camping bit (even though he'd promised to hire a Port-a-loo), but were happy to visit.

The idea was that about 15 of us would head up for the day and to go the Organic River Festival nearby. The festival didn't really appeal to us, and the $20 cover charge appealed even less, so we dropped our friends off and went for a drive before meeting later for a barbeque. (Levin is tiny; driving around it doesn't take long.)


We came across The Parrot Ranch. I have always loved birds and grew up in a family of bird-lovers. Parrots, in particular, have such distinctive personalities and I especially enjoy their playful intelligence. Although bookings are essential for tours around The Parrot Ranch, we took our chances and were lucky enough to find a tour leaving in five minutes. Great!

This place is fantastic. The owner is so clearly dedicated to his work and shared his passion for all the birds and animals in his care. This must be an incredibly demanding job; the hand-rearing process alone means that baby birds are hand-fed every two hours, moving onto every four hours once they are a few weeks old. There are numerous species of parrots and other birds in both inside and outside enclosures. He also has a native bird rescue programme, whereby injured birds are brought in for rehabilitation before being re-released into the wild.

Here are some highlights from our visit:

Jackie is a sulphur-crested cockatoo. He is about 24 years old and came straight over to the edge of his cage, putting his head down towards the bars. I knew what he wanted but wondered whether I'd get in trouble ... until he did it again and said "scratch". How could I resist an invitation like that? I was very tempted to take Jackie home ...

This male harrier hawk had been attacked by a farm dog and had no tail. He had been at the ranch for four months and will remain there until he moults out the remaining damaged tail feathers and grows a new tail, when he will be re-released into the wild. You can see his impressive wingspan. There was also a female harrier hawk who had flown into power lines.

Rio (on the right) is the ranch's pet hybrid macaw. He is a cross between a blue and gold macaw (like the one on the left) and a military macaw. Being incredibly cheeky (not quite their description, but you get the picture), they've decided to keep him as a pet as he responds best to the ranch owner.

And, finally, Mrs Goose. Mrs Goose follows the owner everywhere. As soon as she hears his voice, she goes waddling over to him. She hangs around outside his bedroom window at night and knows if he's awake inside. Her honk sounded like a pig grunting (hilarious!). She has the run of the ranch, but is never far away from the man she thinks is her father.

You can see more photos from our visit to The Parrot Ranch on Flickr. They were taken on my phone (we hadn't planned to go, therefore didn't bring a camera!), so the quality varies.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14738279@N04/

I'm really glad we chose The Parrot Ranch as the venue for goal #77 - Visit an aviary. Well worth a visit (remember to book for a tour!) and somewhere I'm keen to go back to again.