A visit to the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary in Nelson

We have been studying our class bird the Kea. We have found out that the Kea is an endangered New Zealand Native bird. We went to the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary to see all the different things that we can do to help rid the New Zealand bush of pests like rats, stoats, possums and weasels that are killing our native birds, their babies and eating the food that the birds need. We are looking forward to seeing kiwi and tuatara being able to live in the bush once again as well as seeing and hearing increasing numbers of tui, piwakawaka and kereru once the pests have gone.

We looked at all the information in the visitor centre before we walked through the bush.

We collected insects to feed the native gecko. The number of insects collected tells us if the bush is a healthy place for birds to live.

We looked at the trees that native birds like to feed on.

We sat in silence for five minutes in order to listen to all the different sounds of the bush. After that Rick showed us some of the tracking and trapping devices used to get rid of pests.

We ended the day by crossing the bridge at the top of the valley and when we got to the bottom of the valley we crossed the stream by going across the stepping stones. Nobody fell in! We had a great day and we learned heaps about conservation.