I hadn't seen the keas in a while so I went to Willowbank yesterday.
When I came into the enclosure I saw two ladies working with some wooden contraptions into and out of which a bunch of the young keas were hopping.
A video camera was set up to record events.
As I was watching Kati flew over and hopped on my hand.
I sat on the bench by one of the feeding stations and was soon surrounded by curious birds.
Bill was there too but he was in a foul mood. He fluffed up at his siblings, pushed them away with his foot and even made a biting gesture at one of them. When I didn't respond to him sitting beside me he craned his neck over and gave my arm a firm pinch-something he had never done before.
I guess everyone has bad days.
I asked one of the ladies what they were studying and she told me she was assisting with PhD research to look at keas cooperative problem solving skills. She said three of the youngsters were dominating the exercise.
While we were speaking she looked at me with a strange look as if I was a total weirdo who might do something sudden and dangerous.
The lady doing the actual PhD seemed curt and mumbled something about the inconvenience of doing this sort of research while being based out of Auckland. She said this while walking briskly out of the enclosure.
I am so far from doing anything that will ever be useful to kea research and moments like this really drive that point home.
I went back to the bench and sat with the keas. Kiki came and perched on my shoulder and Kati hopped on my knee.
Some of the park staff walked through including the man who is in charge of the native animals. He doesn't like me at all- a fact which has been apparent ever since he caught me dropping almonds on the ground for a kea snack.
This makes sitting with the birds when he walks through uncomfortable.
Then there are the guests that walk through and ask if I work there or if I am getting paid to sit with the birds. They take pictures of me with birds on my head or shoulders or boots.
I feel like such a weirdo when this happens.
I am torn between telling them about the keas and sitting quietly and waiting for them to move through so I can enjoy the company of the parrots by myself.
It's hard to describe the sense of well being I get from visiting these birds.
I have been coming to sit with them for almost two years and I've become very fond of the group.
I am not a scientist, I'm just a guest who sits with the keas for a long time and feels a great delight in watching them play and call to one another.
I really need to find a little cottage in Arthur's Pass where I can go and observe and write down my layman's account of what goes on with these amazing birds.
Maybe someone will discover my notes one day and use them to educate the world about the keas
.
When I came into the enclosure I saw two ladies working with some wooden contraptions into and out of which a bunch of the young keas were hopping.
A video camera was set up to record events.
As I was watching Kati flew over and hopped on my hand.
I sat on the bench by one of the feeding stations and was soon surrounded by curious birds.
Bill was there too but he was in a foul mood. He fluffed up at his siblings, pushed them away with his foot and even made a biting gesture at one of them. When I didn't respond to him sitting beside me he craned his neck over and gave my arm a firm pinch-something he had never done before.
I guess everyone has bad days.
I asked one of the ladies what they were studying and she told me she was assisting with PhD research to look at keas cooperative problem solving skills. She said three of the youngsters were dominating the exercise.
While we were speaking she looked at me with a strange look as if I was a total weirdo who might do something sudden and dangerous.
The lady doing the actual PhD seemed curt and mumbled something about the inconvenience of doing this sort of research while being based out of Auckland. She said this while walking briskly out of the enclosure.
I am so far from doing anything that will ever be useful to kea research and moments like this really drive that point home.
I went back to the bench and sat with the keas. Kiki came and perched on my shoulder and Kati hopped on my knee.
Some of the park staff walked through including the man who is in charge of the native animals. He doesn't like me at all- a fact which has been apparent ever since he caught me dropping almonds on the ground for a kea snack.
This makes sitting with the birds when he walks through uncomfortable.
Then there are the guests that walk through and ask if I work there or if I am getting paid to sit with the birds. They take pictures of me with birds on my head or shoulders or boots.
I feel like such a weirdo when this happens.
I am torn between telling them about the keas and sitting quietly and waiting for them to move through so I can enjoy the company of the parrots by myself.
It's hard to describe the sense of well being I get from visiting these birds.
I have been coming to sit with them for almost two years and I've become very fond of the group.
I am not a scientist, I'm just a guest who sits with the keas for a long time and feels a great delight in watching them play and call to one another.
I really need to find a little cottage in Arthur's Pass where I can go and observe and write down my layman's account of what goes on with these amazing birds.
Maybe someone will discover my notes one day and use them to educate the world about the keas
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