Magical Matariki at Pukaha Mt Bruce

HAVEN: The Pukaha Mt Bruce forest is home to at least 29 North Island kokako, an endangered species known for its beautiful and haunting call. PHOTO/FILE

Pukaha Mt Bruce staff have stars in their eyes after an amazingly successful Matariki night held at the National Wildlife Centre on Saturday.

The weather Gods came to the party, clearing away a week-long period of cloudy skies to allow those who signed up to a special Matariki night to not only enjoy the forest and all it had to offer but also to see the night sky in all its twinkling glory.

Visitor experience supervisor Laura Saba who came up with the idea of staging the night said everything went brilliantly.

"It was awesome, a magical night.

"We were able to see millions of stars as we reached clearings in the bush on the forest walk and saw a constellation which could have been The Pleiades (Matariki), although we couldn't be definite on that," she said.

Ms Saba said the night was not a cold one and there had not been "a breath of wind."

The forest trek lead to the Lookout Track where a resting spot was found for storytelling and a prayer given by Warren Chase of Rangitane.

"As he was finishing, almost on cue kiwi started to call."

The walking group was also able to feed the giant eels on a nocturnal feeding expedition and on returning to the visitors centre capped off the night with a warm-up drink and a light supper.

Before setting on the walk they had shared a meal of pork and puha stew with gourmet breads.

"The Pukaha cafe did us proud," Ms Saba said.

She said many people stayed on and chatted well after the organised part of the night had finished.

The Matariki walk is now likely to become an annual event.

Pukaha has double cause for celebration as a just-completed walk through survey in the forest has identified a North Island kokako population of at least 29 birds.

The walk-through was done by Department of Conservation staff and volunteers and the count may well be conservative.

Pukaha board chairman Bob Francis described confirmation of 29 kokako as as being "fantastic."

"It shows our predator controls practices are working.

"With a total of 16 of the 29 confirmed sightings being unbanded birds we think it is most likely there are 40 to 50 kokako in the forest," he said.

Mr Francis said the result was worth all the fundraising done each year to ensure that predation levels are kept low enough for a kokako population to be maintained at Pukaha.

"Thanks has to be given to the Department of Conservation who not only carry out the predation control on behalf of the board, but also our volunteers who regularly service traplines and have also assisted with the survey".

Around 25 North Island kokako were released into the Pukaha forest in 2006, with most of the birds having come from the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. Found mainly in mature podocarp-hardwood forests, there are fewer than 400 pairs of kokako living in several isolated populations in the central and northern North Island.