Long Point February 2010

Fencing / reserve opening / nest checking

Aaron Sutherland and his crew from South Otago Fencing completed the fencing at Long Point just before Christmas, despite the often challenging weather and terrain. All up around 3km of fencing went in, plus carparks were formed at Helena Falls & Manuka Beach.

The opening of the reserve is scheduled to take place in March, once the  signs and route marking have been completed in the reserve. Access to Long Point will be as of right for the first time; with a ten minute walk from top carpark above Manuka Beach to the reserve boundary, and another twenty minutes out to the trig point on the tip of the peninsula.

The Trust worked with the Department of Conservation on the yellow-eyed penguin nest check at Long Point in late January, and also completed the check at Cosgrove Creek. Final figures have not been collated, but the chick weights were generally good. Unfortunately we were unable to match the “sumo” chick weighed  by DOC at Nugget Point which was almost off the scales at a whopping 7.3kg!

Trust staff joined Jim Young and Jamie Newman (Otago University) on the 8/9 February to burrow scope titi burrows at Long Point, and 7 chicks were found, confirming their continued persistence  in the face of introduced predators, such as cats and stoats. Jim is working with Dr Deb Wilson (Landcare Research) to establish predator monitoring lines to establish baseline predator relative  abundance and  species composition. The data gathered will contribute to the development of effective trapping regimes to protect titi, yellow-eyed penguins and other seabirds.