Volunteers win top kiwi award

A community trapping group in the Kahurangi National Park has won a top kiwi protection award.

Friends of Flora collected the Tohu Tiketike; Kiwi Project of the Year award at the kiwi conservation hui in Lyttelton last week.

The group won two additional prizes.

Photographer Ruedi Mosimann won joint first prize for his picture of kiwi feet.

Volunteers Robin and Sandy Toy won the ‘‘good egg’’ award for their study of great-spotted kiwi distribution in Nelson and contribution to the Roroa Recovery Plan.

Friends of Flora was founded in January 2001, and works with the Department of Conservation to save native bird populations from introduced predators such as stoats and rats.

The group helped introduce more than 40 adult kiwi into the Kahurangi National Park

It was wonderful. It was recognition of all the hard work that all the volunteers put in.

Robin Toy

between 2010 and 2016.

Volunteers Robin Toy, Paul Ewers and Mosimann collected the awards in Lyttelton last week.

Toy said it was fantastic for the work of Friends of Flora to be acknowledged.

‘‘It was wonderful. It was recognition of all the hard work that all the volunteers put in.

‘‘It’s always nice to get positive feedback.’’

Most volunteers were involved in trapping, he said.

On a typical day, volunteers travelled to the Flora car park in the Kahurangi National Park and service a trapping line. Many lines are off-track and the terrain is rugged. Some lines take up to 10 hours to check.

Volunteers have trapped the Flora catchment for 17 years and promoted reintroduction of greatspotted kiwi.

Kiwi have been intensively monitored since being introduced.

The project will now enter a new phase where kiwi will be monitored with weatherproof sound recorders.

Toy said kiwi were only seen once a year when monitoring batteries on their transmitters ran out. The birds were virtually never seen otherwise.

Mosimann said he took the photograph of ‘‘Iwa’s’’ feet on April 22 when volunteers were removing old transmitters from the kiwi.

The annual kiwi hui was run by Kiwis for Kiwi and was cosponsored by the Department of Conservation.

RUEDI MOSIMANN Friends of Flora volunteer Ruedi Mosimann took this award-winning shot of kiwi feet while the birds were being fitted with new transmitter batteries.