8. Alpine Birds
Despite the hard work here, I have liked connecting with the other lodgees and the many guides who join us for dinner each night. Our group is made up of 20-50 olds, and include Kiwi's, Brits, Aussies and one Canadian.
Tonight I was helping one of the lodgees with bar duties as she felt extremely uncomfortable dealing with the public. How odd, I thought. I love interacting with people and would happily swap a Dishes shift for a Bar shift any day! We are all different here.
I decided to buy a bottle of wine while at the bar to take back to my room. On my way back, a cheeky weka ran across the boardwalk in front of me, then decided to run ahead before escaping between the two rat traps and under the building, directly under my room. I am pretty sure he lives there as I hear him at night time sometimes. I call out for him to settle down and he goes quiet. We've got to know each other quite well but I would never invite him in as he would peck and poop all over the place.
I don't mind the Weka but I love the Kākā and Kea birds here. Just a couple of days ago I decided to spend a day walking up and down the Pass. It wasn't especially warm so I didn't stay on the Pass for long. On my way down I stopped to photograph some Kea playing on the track. I identified them as juvenile Kea as they still had the yellow markings around their eyes and top of their beak. They also had a patch of silver feathers on their head, like the Kākā, which confused me initially.
I was told that they have nothing to do with the Kākā; they don't mix at all. They say that the Kea has the brain of a four year old child and they often work together to solve problems, like how to steal my walking poles while one holds my attention and poses for the camera. I heard a scraping noise behind me and quickly stood up to find one Kea trying to get his beak around the base of the pole. Honestly! After I secured all my things they jumped up the track and onto a nearby possum trap. I watched as the three young parrots used their beak to try and force open the lid for the bait inside. For this reason the trap lids have to be bolted down, not screwed.
Juvenile Kea are up to four years old before they become adults and lose their yellow markings. These birds were very playful and entertaining to watch. I sat with them for around thirty minutes or so until they eventually flew off.
I walked over the stones and noticed that even more tree fuchsia, or kotukutuku, flowers were dropping along the trail. The brightly coloured pink and purple flowers littered the ground in places and as I bent down to pick one up, I noticed a bush robin watching me from the edge of the path. I love those little birds!
I used to make a honey blend called Three Trees and it contained Tree Fuchsia honey, collected by honey bees in the Catlin region. It was honestly the most delicious honey ever. The bark of the tree is very flakey and easily recognisable along the path. After flowering, the tree produces dark purple berries, known as konini by Maori. They appear sometime in January and because they are edible and delicious, I plan to go out and collect enough to hopefully make a jam, otherwise will pop some in my salad. Apparently they taste a little like tamarillos!
January will also be the time for the flowering mistletoe, epiphytes that live predominantly on silver beech trees here. I have been looking out for them and according to one guide, she said they are everywhere high up in the canopy. She added that I will definitely see red flowering mistletoe nearer Glade House. Just keep an eye out for fallen leaves that are bright green, then look up, she told me. I will need a well trained eye, I think.
There is a special little native bee that pollinates the Tree Fuchsia, Mistletoe and even the Mt Cook lily (which is actually a buttercup) and that is the lasioglossum sordidum. At just 5mm, this black bee easily mistaken for a tiny fly. It's actually one of the most abundant ground-nesting bees and it just happens the east coast of the South Island has the most adult numbers of all native bees.
I have yet to look for nests, but will wait for the warmer months of summer. Although they are solitary bees (unlike the exotic honey bee) they are known to forage together.
It will all have to wait as I have a week out soon and I plan to go and visit Ohau Lodge on the way up to Christchurch. According to one guide here there is mistletoe there. I can’t wait!