The grand master of Houdini tricks was found dead in his burrow just before Christmas. He appears to have died peacefully lying on his side in a deep burrow. We will all miss the challenges Koniwi gave us in keeping track of him. There are some new birds coming sometime this year and the school will have an opportunity to name one of these new ones. Konini School has been great in getting funding to sponsor a trap to help keep Koniwi safe from predators but unfortunately old age seems to have overtaken him. There will be a ceremony once he is returned to the park.

Milo has been behaving himself lately. We have been able to keep track of him consistently which has been great.

Lorenzo was tracked to burrow recently where it was great to see his rear end sticking out as he moved further into the burrow. He is now making better choices of burrow which are not as exposed/open as his first ones were; This means he is safer from any potential harm caused by wandering dogs.

Isn’t he a clever boy…? He incubated the egg up to 60-65 days which is a great feat. They had chosen a very deep burrow; nice and dry with plenty of leaf litter to keep the egg warm. When we touched the egg it was hot.

Manaia may be the youngest of the females but definitely the cleverest, at the moment. She laid two eggs but the other one was not fertile. This is not uncommon in the Brown Kiwi. She has lost a wee bit of weight but not much considering she had laid two eggs. The picture shows the good egg tucked away in the amongst all the leaf litter.

He is still in training; had moved back to the initial release area but then wandered off again. They say Kiwi legs make up a third of their body weight due to their muscle and the bones are full of marrow, like humans. I think perhaps Tahunahuna must have legs more like a rugby player by now, rather than a runner!

Potiki really likes hanging out with Manaia and Waikiwianui and at one stage Lorenzo was also up there. Kiwi are suppose to be very territorial and have their own "patch" but it seems that our birds are determined to be different and that’s Ok with us.

This girl is still up the top looking down on all the other birds. Now that Koniwi is no longer up there she is pretty much on her own. Here’s hoping Tahunahuna (who is on the same side of the stream as her) realises she is up there soon.

Doing really well; will not be given any food for a few days to allow it to use up the egg yolk in its stomach. It will then be given some food to try before being transported to a predator free area to grow to a good fighting weight (in case it comes across a stoat when we put it back into the park!)

Watch this space!