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Hello and welcome to our autumn newsletter.

 

As you will have read, our dear Kerry-Jayne died on Tuesday, slipping away peacefully before dawn as the shearwaters would have been taking flight. Her absence is filling our thoughts but also inspiring us to maintain her legacy and maintain the effort to protect and conserve threatened seabirds.  

 

This newsletter was prepared before she died and we're sure Kerry-Jayne, as such a hard working and dedicated conservationist, wouldn't want the Trust's efforts to pause while we remember her and her life's work.  Kerry-Jayne retired from Lincoln University before usual retirement age because she had so much work to do - writing books including her recent and wonderful 'New Zealand Seabirds - A Natural History', and advocating for seabird conservation.  She leaves a huge hole in this work and our lives, and we'll carry on in her name and her memory.

 

There is a wonderful note on The Tawaki Project website - appreciation from fellow penguin scientist, Dr Thomas Mattern, and a personal story - I cried and laughed and then both together:

https://www.tawaki-project.org/2022/03/29/glide-on-forever-kerry-jayne/

 

As a tribute to Kerry-Jayne’s memory and her enduring love for the West Coast and all seabirds, her family have chosen the West Coast Penguin Trust for memorial contributions.

A very generous donor has offered to match any donations made in her memory up to $5,000.

Donations can be made via the Trust’s website westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz/donate.

A memorial service will be some way off and details will be announced when they are known. 

 

Before I go on, I need to correct my earlier email - Kerry-Jayne was born in 1949, not 1950 - my sincere apologies for that error. 

 

Deep breath ...

 

Winter and spring weather must have suited blue penguins on the Coast as we have had a superb breeding season in our monitored colonies near Charleston.  I hope the wonderful summer weather on the Coast suited you too.

 

In this newsletter we report on the breeding success of our blue penguins and present nest box plans that can provide the perfect shelter for future breeding. 

 

We are also delighted to introduce our new Trustee, Suzanne Hills of Barrytown, and we report on the RMA Commissioners' decline of the proposed mining on the Barrytown flats - mining would have created an additional threat to Westland petrels or tāiko there. 

 

Speaking of tāiko, it was sad to read that the wonderful Tāiko Festival has been cancelled for this year.  Let's hope things are closer to normal in the coming months. 

 

And speaking of cancelling events due to the pandemic, the Trust made the call not to present a Community Conservation Symposium this year.  We are very grateful to those who responded to our survey about a second symposium.  There is a clear desire to meet in person and we received some helpful feedback about presentations that would be most useful.  We are exploring options and will provide an update soon. 

 

As usual, we're including the DOC hotline so that it's handy in case you come across an injured penguin or any wildlife that seems to be struggling, 0800 DOCHOT (362 468), and do all you can to ensure they are safe from dogs.

 

Also, if you see or hear about a dead penguin, please let us know using our simple reporting form, ideally with a photograph, so that we can add it to our database - which informs our conservation actions.  We are pleased to be helping Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research with a project commissioned by the Waka Kotahi, the NZ Transport Agency, to better understand what mitigations actually work to minimise the risk of vehicles hitting birds - we'll bring news of that in the future. 

 

Thank you again for your continued interest and support, and please feel free to forward this newsletter or any stories - who doesn't love talking about penguins?!

 

 

Inger

 

Manager (Lucy will be back soon)

News from the Trust

Outstanding blue penguin breeding season

 

Trust Ranger, Linden Brown, reports that 2021 was one of the best breeding seasons for West Coast blue penguin/ kororā since monitoring began!

 

Read his report here

 
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Building nest boxes for blue penguins

 

Linden has been busy making Penguin nest boxes to give penguins a safe place to breed (and moult once the breeding season is over).  Building nest boxes is a great way you can help blue penguins thrive in your area.

 

Find out what you'll need to make some nest boxes yourself and how to do it here.

 

 

Introducing new Trustee Suzanne Hills

 

The Trust is delighted that Suzanne has accepted their invitation to become a Trustee.  She brings a passion for the Coast and its biodiversity and much more. 

 

Read about her background and what she loves about the Coast here.

 
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Regular donations are our lifeblood

 

The Trust is incredibly fortunate to have around 30 wonderful Supporters, some of whom have signed up for annual donations through our website and others who have very generously and independently arranged to make a donation every month or every fortnight.  We are hugely grateful to them all and suggest that you might like to share the joy of giving and supporting the Trust's work.

 

The options are here, thank you. 

 

Application to mine at Barrytown declined

 

Proposals to mine the Barrytown flats presented new risks to Westland petrel or tāiko.  The Trust provided comments and the reason for our concern to the regional and district councils and was relieved to learn that our concerns, shared by and presented brilliantly by biodiversity ranger Kate Simister for DOC at the hearing, had been helpful for the hearing commissioners.  

 

Find out more here. 

 
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Find a penguin on an Easter egg hunt!

 

Grey District Library is presenting 'Story Walk' - an Easter Egg Hunt between 14-19 April at Dixon Park.

 

Children can pick up entry forms at the library and then the search will be on to find pictures and photos of the native birds - including the blue penguin / kororā - hidden around the park.  Find the names of all the birds to claim an Easter egg!

 

 

Kerry-Jayne Wilson's wonderful book

 

Have you got your copy yet?

Listen to a RNZ National interview with Kerry-Jayne Wilson when she spoke about her wonderful new and final book, New Zealand Seabirds, A Natural History.

 

Read more here.

 

Order your copy today here! Also available at book shops and DOC visitor centres on the West Coast. A perfect gift any time for bird lovers out there.

 
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Have you ever thought about including the West Coast Penguin Trust in your will?

 

Other than right now, there never seems to be a right time to mention or discuss this, so here goes. Whoever you are, whatever your situation, you can help make a difference and help create a better world by including a gift to our charity in your will. You can even link giving now to giving later.

 

Read a brief introduction here and we'd be very happy to discuss your ideas with you.

 
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In other penguin news ...

First penguin stretches

 

Imagine emerging from an increasingly cramped nest box and spreading your wings for the first time - what joy! Bliss!

Enjoy this little video of a penguin chick doing just that and shared by our friends at Mohua (Golden Bay) Blue Penguin Trust.

 

Find the Youtube video here.
 
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Tawaki studies

 

Sometimes it's interesting to know about the people behind the science - here's a story about American student, Jeffrey White, working with our Friends at The Tawaki Project - he's working on a variety of topics to learn more about this little studied penguin species down in Fiordland.

 

Find out more here.

 

 

A big THANK YOU to all our supporters, donors, volunteers and the community for all your support.

 

We really appreciate you!

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Don't forget to follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with all the important and fun local penguin news!

 

 

 

And remember our website also has all the latest news, up-to-date information about the Trust, our projects and much more!

 

Stay connected....

www.westcoastpenguintrust.org.nz/

Coming soon:

  • Review of the tawaki breeding season in South Westland 
  • Preparing for the 2022 season
  • Lucy finally gets back to NZ
  • And much more - local as well as some global penguin news

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West Coast Penguin Trust

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