We visited Tawharanui Regional Park this weekend. We're so lucky to have it only a short drive from home. Looking forward to the access road being sealed and not having to spray the car down after a visit. (Ok if I'm honest it's now Thursday and we are still driving around with a muddy layer of half rain washed dust all over it. Luckily we don't have a flash car.)

We spent the day arguing the difference between a pukeko and a takehē. Apparently the takehēs are a lot bigger and have green feathers on their backs, in which case we only saw pukekos. We're not the only ones to struggle with seeing the difference. Last year, deer stalkers were hired by DOC to carry out a cull of the much more common pukeko. Four takahē were shot in a case of mistaken identity. This was a big deal considering there are only approximately 300 takahē in New Zealand.

Ten critically endangered takahē were moved from Fiordland to the predator free open sanctuary at Tawharanui in October 2014. Since then another 3 have been relocated from Tiritiri Matangi Island. We will be keeping our eyes peeled on our next visit.