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Volunteer Guides
Most
visitors sign up for a guided tour and the volunteer guides arrive with you on
the boat. We were divided into small groups. My group consisted of myself and a
woman engineer from Chile spending a month in New Zealand to improve her
English.
I made two trips to Tiritiri the first in winter when my guide
was Sally Green (left) who has been volunteering at Tiritiri for many years. A
software engineer by profession she is very knowledgeable about the plants and
birds of the island. Mel, my guide on my second trip in December (summer) was
equally knowledgeable. One of his daughters is also a volunteer.
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One of the remarkable things about the island is that most of
the work of restoring it was done by volunteers like Sally and Mel. Many have
been working on the island since the restoration started and they are very
proud and enthusiastic about the island.
Brown
Teal
The first activity was the release of a pair of
Brown Teal by the Auckland Zoo with the financial aid of Ducks Unlimited. The
Brown Teal is perhaps the most diminished duck species in the world and several
pairs have been released on Tiritiri. The introduction has not been successful
in the past with the released pairs disappearing immediately. |
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The release was well documented on film. The distinguished
gentleman at left is Don Sandee of Massachusetts.
The ducks were
released into a small pond next to Ridge Road. They swam about for a time, but
had disappeared by the time I returned to take the boat back to Auckland in the
afternoon. There was no news about this pair of ducks when I returned in
December. Perhaps they too found another home. |
The Brown Teal is a dull version of the Chestnut Teal of
Australia. The male (left) has a green head and chestnut underparts. Both male
and female have a brown eye with narrow white eye ring clearly seen in this
photograph of the released pair.
The Brown Teal is listed as a "Rare
Endemic".
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