Fine Feathers op shop team leader Marion Waterland of Napier talks about how she helps Waiheke Island penguins.
What's an op-shop in Napier got to do with a kororā little blue penguin colony in Waiheke Island?
The unlikely connection stems from Napier woman Marion Waterland's decades of dedication to helping raise funds to support native bird rescue and rehabilitation programmes.
Waterland used to run the Wild Wings op-shop on behalf of Taupo Bird Rescue Charitable Trust before it outgrew its premises. It was the only op-shop in the country to raise funds for wild bird rehabilitation.
"There's no government funding for this sort of work."
In August last year she opened Fine Feathers Op shop down Greenmeadows' busy Gloucester St, with funds going to Native Bird Rescue on Waiheke Island.
Waterland was friendly with the rescue centre's manager, Karen Saunders - herself a former Hawke's Bay resident - and offered to start the shop to help raise funds.
"A lot of birds throughout New Zealand go there for rehabilitation.
"A lot of people are passionate about native birds and want to support us."
Marion Waterland has spent decades raising funds to support native bird rescue and rehabilitation programmes. Photo / Warren Buckland
She said the shop had been even busier since people learned of the plight of the penguin colony on Waiheke Island which could be destroyed by the development of a new marina.
"I was horrified," she said upon learning the news.
"[Native Bird Rescue on Waiheke Island] just want more time to relocate the penguins."
Saunders said the group had until Monday to remove penguins from the rock wall where the new marina is being developed.
She estimated there were far more than the 34 penguins indicated by a penguin-dog, adding the situation had many parallels to Napier Port where many more penguins were discovered than initially thought.
In 2018, Napier Port developed a penguin sanctuary as part of its Six Wharf expansion project to help protect the at-risk and declining species.
Saunders hoped to allow more time for a study of the Waiheke Island penguins to be undertaken so they could determine what options would be best.
She said the op-shop made a huge difference to their work, helping raise about $26,000 in the last few months.
She expressed her gratitude to the volunteers who made this possible.
