Rotorua Stinks!

  



  

Ozzie, named for Ozzie Osbourne because when he arrived,
 he was very unruly and had a major attitude.

 Every time I say the town name of Rotorua, it reminds me of “Roto-rooter” and is quite appropriate because the town smells like sulfur and stinks.  But, after you adjust to the smell, the town has lots to offer for visitors.             My first activity was to attend a show at Wingspan, which is a center devoted to the rehabilitation of raptors.  The show coincides with the daily training time for the raptors so they include talks on training, rehabilitation, re-introduction into the wild, and the preservation of raptors in NZ.            The day I was in attendance, the trainers were working with Karearea Falcons, more commonly known as the NZ Falcon.  The Karearea Falcon has many traits similar to our Peregrine Falcon and one in particular is that it can fly at speeds over 200 mph and kills its prey through the force of the attack.  The falcons are an endangered species in NZ and methods are in place to re-introduce the falcon to areas where it no longer resides.      

Trained to fly after a decoy with food, it is snapped away from them
so they practice flying to stay in shape.

  

Showing how acrobatic he is, Ozzie  tried to strike the decoy, missed and flew straight up to dive again at speeds of over 200 mph.  And, that is why my pictures are not very good as he was a very fast moving target.

  In 2005 funding was given by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry towards a program that uses the falcons to control birds that damage grapes and act as pests in vineyards as well as monitoring the birds and establishing a breeding population in the vicinity of the Marlborough wine region.

I suddenly realized that I was in the flight path between the trainer and
the high perch that Ozzie liked.  He swooped over me several times and is such a silent flyer
that I did not hear him until he was right by my head.

  Initially, four falcons were relocated to the vineyards from the surrounding hills. After the release of a further 15 birds, breeding began to occur - the first time it is thought to have happened since land clearance 150 years ago. A major ongoing threat to the birds is electrocution on electricity distribution transformers with a fifth of the birds killed in this manner.         One falcon that was released to a vineyard was from a brood of three eggs that were taken into the center for hatching and re-introduction purposes.  One of the eggs was not viable, one was classified as weak, and the third was the only real possibility of a successful hatching in captivity.   

Checking the adjacent field for a tasty mouse or small bird.  They are
free to fly about for food.

The chick that hatched successfully was prepared for release and was given her freedom at a vineyard to control smaller birds that are vineyard pests.  

Before flight, they puff out feathers to get them properly aligned.

 She had a successful introduction and has even been reported to have a “wild boyfriend” so that there is hope she will breed successfully in the wild.                   I had an opportunity to talk to Andrew, who is one of the trainers.  He and I talked about the work with the Peregrine Falcon in downtown Richmond and how Wingspan is interested in how the program works for the protection of the chicks.  We will share information on the programs in place to benefit falcons in both regions.

I put the glove on to feed Ozzie.  You cannot feel them land as they are so very light.   I have had this experience with a Red Tail Hawk at the Greenbrier in West Virginia.  Such amazing creatures to get a close up view.

                   The next stop in Rotorua was to the local museum.  This is the National Museum for the native Maori as well as an historical facility that used mineral baths to cure all kinds of disease (although not proven to work).   The docent was magnificent and toured our group of three for over two hours.   He provided an in-depth understanding of the importance of the Maori culture, the myths and legends, and current day influences of the native tribe in NZ.    We also were taken on a tour of the basement where mud baths and mineral baths were administered, some with electrical shock therapy.   Everyone knows water and electricity do not mix so not sure I would have trusted those doctors.