(re-posting with proper sized text) barbara and gaston and i did a night trek through the maungatautari bird sanctuary on thursday - a refuge for native birds and plant life that was created by the locals, a lot of fencing, and some ambitious pest controllers. the area around this mountain was fenced off jurassic park style, all of the mammals were removed over the course of 10 years, and now they have a native bird sanctuary where people can go at all hours to view birds and trees and lots and lots of glow-worms (at night) in their native habitats. barbara and gaston had already been to the refuge during the day and noted that it was extremely crowded, so they talked to one of the docents who suggested that they return at dusk/night for less crowds and a chance to see/hear some of the nocturnal birds. we got there just after dusk and heard a few birds as we were parking the car, but once we were inside the electric fences (like jurassic park) the whole place went strangely silent (like jurassic park). for the 2 and a half hours we were trekking around in the dark (with our headlamps, of course) we heard nothing but ourselves and saw nothing but plants and loads of glow-worms (which made the trip worth it for me - i love them). luckily, it was a beautiful and clear night out so although we didn't see/hear and birds we did see more stars than i have ever seen in my life - and there was no one else around at all, which was also quite lovely.
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