Rosemary's Ravings

Mark Lammas asked me to write something for Saving Maungatautari Facebook. Here is a copy.




My Maungatautari Adventure



Maungatautari is a mountain I have loved since coming to Putaruru over 30 years ago. I have watched the Ecological Island grow from a good idea to a great accomplishment. I have followed its recent ups and downs through the newsletter. Each time my husband and I walk in the Southern Enclosure, we notice improvements in the great system of walking tracks. We are amazed when we realize the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes by dedicated workers and volunteers.



Last week we had the experience of a life-time when we met up, quite by chance, with Kiwi Tracker, Mark Lammas. It so happened that we kept bumping into Mark on the tracks. Going well beyond the call of duty, Mark finally invited us to come and track a kiwi with him and his wonderful dog Bella. Often when walking the tracks we have seen the faint trails used by pest-control monitors, and wished we could follow them into the bush, but being dutiful citizens (!) we obeyed the signs to Stay on the Track.



Imagine then our delight when Mark invited us to go with him. Mark was perhaps a little dubious about taking a couple in their mid-eighties into the rough stuff, and asked how we were “off road”. It was a case of, “Lead on, and we'll follow!” And so we did, tripping up on vines a bit, slithering down amongst the parataniwha a lot, walking through a bit of mud and sloshing up a tiny creek.



We were rewarded by seeing not one, but two kiwi. The first was found by Bella scarcely a metre from a track. Mark did not even know about this one, unbanded, unrecorded, a very young bird. I asked if I could touch it as Mark held it, and was thrilled at the feel of its feathers. Mark returned it to its burrow and we continued searching for the bird he wanted to find, directed as always by Mark's antennae.



When Mark knew he was closing in on his quarry, he asked us to wait while he and Bella went into the thicket for the final search. It seemed ages that we waited in quiet bush. Then we saw Bella's orange jacket through the trees. Mark followed, empty-handed as we thought, but happy about it.



Then he gently pulled from his jacket a young kiwi. Mark had to examine, measure and weigh this bird, and also change its transmitter. Such a task being easier with two people involved, it became my privilege to hold the kiwi while Mark did the work. What an experience, having close contact with the little bird! Unfortunately the kiwi was not enjoying it as much as I was, so I could not help feeling glad when Mark took it and put it again in his jacket to take it back to its hole.



As as we walked out of the forest later, my husband said to me, “Can you believe it really happened, back there?” Hardly! But Ray took lots of photographs to prove it! We hastened to send copies to family and friends, to show them what great work the Maungatauri Trust is doing in caring for the endangered species they have in the enclosure, and in preserving and enhancing the enclosure. Earlier we had seen Mark feed and weigh two takahe, and had been shocked to hear how few of these birds there are in the world. Saving Maungatautari is one of the country's most worth-while endeavours. May it go on from strength to strength! Rosemary Petty