Friends of Flora

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Friends of Flora

Friends of Flora is a group of volunteers dedicated to restoring a healthy eco-system to the Mt Arthur Tablelands/Flora/Deep Creek area of Kahurangi NP.

Friends of Flora volunteers have undertaken predator control work for 21 years, with our trap lines now covering approximately 10,000 hectares in Kahurangi National Park. Currently we monitor over 1,285 stoat traps. In 2007 we re-introduced whio into the Flora Stream. We now have a sustainable breeding population of these ancient birds. From 2010-2015 we re-introduced 44 roroa (great spotted kiwi) within the predator control area. The first chick was born in 2012, and the population continues to grow.

24/09/2026

You think that with the incredible success of DOC's recent 1080 operation taking care of the rats & stoats, one of our precious taonga, the kea, would have a great chance this season.
But unfortunately while looking through the exciting footage of Ironman and his female doing all the right stuff we have seen some heartbreaking moments.

We have captured footage of a weka taking not 1 but 2 very young white fluffy chicks from the nest, 30 minutes apart. 💔
It is not unheard of for weka to take kea chicks if the nest is unguarded & for some reason both the female then Ironman left the nest 40 minutes before the opportunistic weka approached.

Both parents are still at the nest every day & feeding like nothing has happened. This may mean there is another chick in the nest but its not always the case, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that there is.

Kea Conservation Trust
Department of Conservation

19/09/2026

Praying mantis surprise. These photos are not from the Flora, but it was special to witness these tiny New Zealand praying mantids emerging from their egg-case. They emerged en-masse and took ten minutes or so to harden up before scurrying away. The neat looking egg case is very different from the foamy blob of the South African praying mantis egg case. The latter are becoming increasingly abundant in comparison to the native species. Female NZ praying mantids apparently have better manners than their South African counterparts which often eats its partner after copulation! Thanks Robin for sharing the photos.

15/09/2026

How one rat made it onto national radio! There was zero rodent tracking in FOF's tracking tunnels following DOC's National Predator Control Programme 1080 operation in the Flora/Cobb area in late June. AND since the operation only one rat has been caught in all 1342 double set trap stations and that was in a 1080 exclusion zone. So one rat and no stoats. This huge success was recognised on RNZ's First Up programme this morning. Our birdlife, our unique bugs, and the health of our beautiful forests will all benefit. Thanks Ruedi for the photo of a rat's extraordinary teeth.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/first-up/audio/2019052071/conservation-win-at-kahurangi-national-park

26/08/2026

Things are looking positive for the kea this season!!

After viewing all the camera footage, Ironman and his female are happily settled into the nest, observed preening, feeding, mating and just hanging out together, things are going well.

With fewer than 7000 birds (Kemp et al, 2020. Kea conservation trust) every kea is precious, when they’re in your backyard they are even more so.
The female will look after the eggs then the fledglings for 4 months while the male (in this case our Ironman) forages for the whole family.
At this time the kea are very vulnerable to predation particularly by stoats but also possum, feral cats and ferrets. Rats are also noted to eat eggs and harass nesting birds. Luckily, we can report that none of these pests have been seen at the nest so far since the 30th June.
So, until the next update – fingers crossed.

23/08/2026

We're part way through looking at the footage from our Kea nest.

In between all the action with Ironman & his female there have been a couple of other visitors to the nest and so far no baddies Yay!
But look at what just happens to pass by the cameras.

Because it is unbanded we know that this Roroa (great spotted kiwi) is Flora born, an offspring of one of the 44 kiwi that were reintroduced by Friends of Flora. This one seems to be wary of sneaky flying insects.

22/08/2026

The first kea nest check of the season has arrived!!!

The cameras🎥have been up at our known nest site since the 28th June and the 1st SD cards were retrieved on the 19th August.

We were hoping for interesting footage and I'm pretty sure we're going to find some after we've looked at the 4418 videos 😲that are on those cards.

What I can say is Ironman an his female are together at the nest so fingers, toes, eyes & everything else crossed that you can🤞.

Stay tuned

07/08/2026

It's cold out there but we're still doing it. A trip up to the Flora mid week for a bit of maintenance. It was great to see many people up there getting reacquainted with the area after the road closure.

30/07/2026

Wetlands are vital for our wildlife, even in winter. But this ruru was a surprise. A couple of days later a kiwi ambled by.

21/07/2026

There were some early starts, but with 27 volunteer days the mahi was done. Good work team! Trap lines were serviced and 14 lines of tracking tunnels were deployed. And the result was ... well nothing! The best possible result. 0% tracking of the inked cards by rats and mice is fantastic news for the Flora's wonderful wildlife. The kakariki, tītitipounamu, kaka and kea that entertained us all weekend should now have a great chance of breeding successfully. DOC's recent National Predator Control Programme aerial operation has done it's job.

14/07/2026

Winter trapping brings unexpected pleasures. Robin spotted these vibrant finger-like 'coral' fungi emerging from the moist leaf litter.

Address

C/o Department Of Conservation, PO Box 97
Port Motueka
7143

Website

http://www.fof.org.nz/

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