Kiwis spotted
On an autumn evening in 2004, I was with a group of ornithologists listening expectantly in an open boat floating near the eastern shore of Lake Rotoiti, Nelson Lakes National Park. For half an hour the only sound we heard was the rhythmic slap of water against the hull. Then, just as the last hint of daylight was disappearing, we heard what we had been waiting for: crrick-crrick-crrickcrrick-crrick... A female great spotted kiwi was calling from the forest. Almost immediately the shrill whistle of a male kiwi joined in, and we were witnessing the first kiwi duet to be heard at Lake Rotoiti in more than 70 years.