Pūkorokoro Miranda Journal of the PūkorokoroNews Miranda Naturalists’ Trust May 2019 Issue 112 Our intrepid pathfinder Eight days to Japan Now for the Arctic Two world premiers and one world Pūkorokoro Miranda Newsrecord | Issue 112 launch the Year of the Wrybill1 THREE PATHFINDERS: (from left) The publicity-hungry Wee Jimmy, who turned up whenever a camera appeared, pictured the day before he left; the cautious Amanda who was often seen but only at a distance; the shy JoJo who was rarely seen, snapped for once at Piako shortly before departure. Photos / Peter Freisen, Jim Eagles, Janie Vaughan Discovering where our Kuriri come from We may have caught only three of the desired 10 Pacific Golden Plover, or Kuriri, to fit with satellite tags but, writes project coordinator Jim Eagles, they have already answered a great many questions about the species. The email we had all been waiting for Japan. And the third – officially called Jim, It was, in fact, asking questions about arrived from Lee Tibbitts, wildlife biolo- though I prefer Wee Jimmy – left rather just that which started this whole project gist at the US Geological Survey’s Alaska late but seems to have made it to Guam. off. In the beginning, I had no intention Science Centre, at 12.48pm on Easter Hopefully, not long after you read this, of getting involved in a research project, I Saturday: ‘Amanda made it to Japan.’ an even more exciting email will arrived just wanted to write an article for PM News Amanda, one of three Pacific Golden saying that at least one of our birds has has about the Pacific Golden Plover. I’d previ- Plover we had managed to catch and reached its breeding grounds in the Arctic. ously written about Red-necked Stints and fit with satellite tags in the course of an That will tell us for the first time where at Ruddy Turnstone, Black-billed Gulls and exhausting summer campaign, had taken least some of the Pacific Golden Plover Skylarks, without it turning into a major eight days to complete a flight of almost which have been visiting New Zealand drama. But PGPs, as we have learned to 10,000km from the Firth of Thames to each spring and summer for thousands our cost, are different. the Boso Peninsula, not far from Tokyo, of years actually come from. They might be the fourth most com- on the island of Honshu. I had misty And if we’re very lucky, come next mon of the Arctic migrants to visit New eyes – not for the first time in this project September the satellite tags’ batteries will Zealand each summer – officially native – at hearing she had made it safely. Her last long enough to track at least one of birds because they spend more than half namesake, this year’s summer shoreguide our travellers back to the Firth of Thames, their life here – but as soon as I started Amanda Hunt, who was with visitors at after a round trip of around 30,000km, asking about them it turned out we knew the hides when she got the news, respond- and we will have begun to unravel the life almost nothing. ed, ‘Yeeee ha! What a little beauty!’ cycle of these beautiful, mysterious birds. Where in the Arctic do they breed? It was a huge step forward in the But we won’t stop there. When the What route do they take to get here? Why Shorebird Centre’s project to help these Kuriri return to the Firth of Thames in have numbers recorded in the national beautiful, enigmatic birds. As banding September, we’re going to use our recent wader census dropped from around a committee chair Adrian Riegen put it, experience of these wary creatures to try thousand 30 years ago to 200-300 today? ‘Amanda’s flight has already told us more to catch seven more, fit them with our re- And since they play an important role in about Pacific Golden Plover migration maining satellite tags, and set them loose Polynesian culture elsewhere – usually from this country than has been learnt to collect even more information. as messengers of the gods – what is their throughout the entire history of New That matters because Kuriri numbers Māori name? No one seemed to know. Zealand ornithology.’ have fallen sharply in the past 30 years The last query was the only one able Since then (as the map opposite and only by discovering where they breed, to be solved fairly easily. When the books shows) further emails have reported a what routes they follow on their migra- and websites I consulted didn’t have a second bird – nicknamed JoJo after JoJo tory journeys and where they have their Māori name I asked Morehu Wilson, a Doyle who organised the huge volunteer stopovers can we find out why that is hap- rangatira of Ngati Paoa, who we regard as effort to monitor the birds – also reaching pening and try to do something about it. tangata whenua of the Pūkorokoro area. Cover: Photo of the big, bold, beautiful Amanda in front of the Stilt Hide by Chelsea Ralls 2 Pūkorokoro Miranda News | Issue 112 Morehu said he didn’t know but would TRACKING: The dots are GPS consult kaumatua. Three months later pinpoints recorded for the three bre eding r birds. The dark green shows he reported back, ‘I have since siberia ange alaska found that the Māori word the PGP breeding area. for the Pacific Golden Map / Adrian Riegen Plover is Kuriri.’ To find answers working on applica- to the other ques- tions. tions everyone Japan One of the pointed to JoJo 26 AprilTokyo first approached JoJo• Amanda 17 April Wally John- 20 April was the Ron son, who and Edna has spent JoJo 19 April Greenwood the past Amanda 15 April Environ- 40 years m e n t a l study- Jim 2 May JoJo 18 April T r u s t i n g Guam which had Jim 1• May• PGPs, earlier Amanda 13 April Jim 27 April visiting Pohnpei JoJo 17 •April provided count- funding less Amanda 12 April f o r t h e Nauru Pacific JoJo 16 April mist-net- countries Solomon ting gear Islands and using JoJo 15 April that might telemetry, be used to geolocators Vanuatu catch the and most PGPs. The Trust JoJo 14 April recently satel- promptly gave us lite tags to track $5000. Weehaa. We where they go. Wally Amanda were underway. After departed 8 April JoJo 13 April was hugely helpful and Jim departed that, however, the fund- only too pleased to share 23 April raising got a little slow. A New his knowledge. His research Zealand couple of organisations which has found that birds from Hawaii had seemed likely sources turned us fly direct to and from Alaska; those down. I began to feel nervous. from Fiji and Samoa travel to Alaska via But then, as so often happens, Trust Japan; those from China, the Philippines Adrian responded enthusiastically, ‘If members who had read about the proj- and at least some from Australia’s North- you can get Wally Johnson down here to ect in PM News came to the party. John ern Territory travel to Siberia via Japan, tag plovers your pay grade will go up quite C Black and Jeanne Kleyn, who live in China or Taiwan. a bit’. The PMNT Council agreed, Wally Washington State in the USA, but have But Wally said he didn’t know where remained keen to come and it seemed we done the Miranda Field Course, offered New Zealand’s PGPs – which are at the were committed. $5000. Other members, who didn’t want extreme end of the range – nested or what I then learned anew that, as our chair to be named, also chipped in. Soon route they migrated along. However, he at the time Gillian Vaughan puts it, ‘If afterwards the Mazda Foundation gave was very interested in finding out and you come up with an idea at PMNT, you another $5000. Then Birds New Zealand suggested, ‘Maybe we should think about own it.’ In other words, I had a project to came up with $4600 from its project as- some tagging there and track your birds. organise. Fortunately, when that happens sistance fund. If there’s interest at Miranda maybe we you also find there is a lot of support from We were closing in on our target but should get together and plan something!’ experienced people to make it happen. the time for ordering the tags was getting I was very interested because by now Sorting out the basic details of what close and there was still a gap. Then Wally I had become fascinated by these remark- was required was fairly easy. Wally sug- got in touch to say that Brigham Young able birds. But my main job as a volunteer gested we would need 10 of the PinPoint University Hawaii, with which he had at the Shorebird Centre was to put out the Argos satellite tags, made by the Canadian worked for many years on plover research, quarterly magazine. I wasn’t a real birder. company Lotek, which he used in his most was keen to be involved. It would pay the So I contacted Adrian and explained recent tagging round the Pacific. Lotek’s travel costs of his team of experienced that Wally had ‘raised the possibility of New Zealand arm gave a quote of $22,995 plover catchers, plus two students, to coming here to fit GPS pinpoints to some so we had our fundraising target.