Endangered kākā seen in Kerikeri are likely to have been visiting from an offshore island.
At least four kākā, a raucous native parrot similar in appearance to the kea, were spotted in the Pā Rd area on several occasions last week.
Bird expert Richard Robbins, of Project Island Song, said it was not the first time kākā had been seen in Kerikeri — one took up residence by the Stone Store for a few months — but sightings were infrequent.
It was most likely they had flown from Hauturu/Little Barrier, Great Barrier or the Poor Knights.
Kākā are also increasingly seen at Whangārei Heads.
Give a little for Seth
A Givealittle page has been set up for the family of an 11-year-old Northland boy who is fighting for his life in hospital after begin hit by a truck.
On Tuesday, Seth was hit by a truck on State Highway 10 at Kareponia, and suffered major injuries. He sustained a heavily fractured skull, neck and spine, liver and kidney lacerations, a right broken arm, bruising and deep lacerations to both knees and feet and a large amount of blood loss.
The major concern at this time is for his head injury, the Givealittle page set up for the whanau reads.
''Seth right now is 'fighting for his life'. That is the sad news.''
There is hope that young Seth will fulfil his dream to be a great basketball player, and be an inspiration to others.
His mum and dad, Elsie and Robert, will be assisting him 24/7 throughout this ordeal, which makes employment difficult at the moment. Among other changes, Robert will need to move to be near him. Yesterday the appeal had hit $18,000.
If you want to contribute go to https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/support-for-seth.
Probe into Covid breach
Northland police are investigating an allegation that a man from Auckland breached Covid alert level restrictions to travel to a holiday home at Matapouri last weekend.
Police said a report had been received about an alleged breach of alert level restrictions at a Matapouri address at the weekend.
The report was received on Sunday night and has been followed up since. Further enquiries are being undertaken to ascertain whether a breach of current restrictions has occurred, police said. Police enquiries are continuing.
Graduate police in Northland
Two new police officers will start in Northland later this month from the latest graduation from the Royal New Zealand Police College.
Thirty-nine new constables graduated from the college on Thursday and they will start work on the frontline in their districts on October 11.
Two will be posted to Northland.
Kerikeri nailgun accident
A Kerikeri man has been taken to hospital in a serious condition after he was accidentally shot in the stomach with a nail gun.
The incident occurred at a building site in Hall Rd at about 12.20pm on Thursday.
A St John spokesman said the 75mm nail entered the man's abdomen just above the navel.
With no helicopter available at the time, the 31-year-old was transported by ambulance to Whangārei Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Senior Sergeant Phil Le Comte, of Mid North police, said it appeared that the man had inadvertently shot himself when he slipped while working on scaffolding.
