Fosterling Island
Saturday, April 16th, 2011
Beautiful Tiritiri Matangi island: choirs of birds — some I’ve never seen before — and the bush as it was before humans came. I loved meeting the iridescent takahe (photo), thought to be extinct until a few were found in the Fiordland mountains in 1948. A farmer saved them by training his bantams to foster the takahe chicks: see the sweet picture book, Elwyn’s Dream, by Ali Foster of course. There are now 240 in the world. The takahe’s song sounds a lot like a baby crying for its mother (listen: takahe-song).