A Northern Royal Albatross and its chick at Taiaroa Head, painting by Shary Page Weckwerth

An Endangered Northern Royal Albatross Diomedea sanfordi chick has been killed by what most likely a non-native Stoat Mustela erminea within the albatross colony on Taiaroa Head, South Island, New Zealand  This the first such reported fatality since 1997 (click here).

Royal Albatross Centre manager Hoani Langsbury said the culprit would have climbed the fence, at the breeding colony on the Otago Peninsula.  “While the death was upsetting his team worked hard year round to keep predators out.  The Royal Albatross Centre relies heavily on traps and other predator management techniques to keep mustelid creatures like Stoats away from the birds, killing about 15 Stoats a year".

Taiaroa Head does not have a predator-exclusion fence that could keep out mustelids, as well as rodents and feral cats, as exist at some other albatross colonies.

There are 24 chicks at the colony at present, out of 36 eggs laid in the current 2019/20 breeding season.

Watch the live-streaming ‘Royal Cam’ at Taiaroa Head here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 March 2020

‘PLIGHT of the Albatross’ by Mary Ingrum, final composition, mixed media, including trash

 For the first two months of the year ACAP has collaborated with ABUN (Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature) on its 30th Project in support of World Albatross Day that seeks to increase awareness of the conservation crisis that continues to be faced by the world’s 22 species of albatrosses.  The collaboration has been more successful than was ever expected with many artists creating exciting artwork for ACAP’s use.  One of the ABUN artists has created a compelling work out of “bits and pieces” that addresses the plight faced by albatrosses in an unnatural and polluted world.  ACAP Latest News reached out its creator, Mary Ingrum, to find out what motivates her artistically.  She has written back about herself.

“My name is Mary B. Ingrum and I am from Tennessee, USA.  My inner artist emerged around 2012 when my muse, my sister Ellyn, brought watercolours with her on a visit to Tennessee.  Now I’m hooked on watercolours, acrylics, collage, mixed media.  I love them all.  If you were to pin me down for a quote I would tell you “each of my pieces has my stink on it".  I believe that when you see my work you will know it's mine, because they are uniquely mine.

Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature adopted me in 2014.  I went to high school with Kitty Harvill, ABUN’s founder; we caught up on Facebook.  Now here we are creating together, with all our ABUN family for a cause, that of threatened species.

One of our most recent challenges and for our largest project so far was to paint the beautiful photographs of 22 species that came from ACAP.  I could only illustrate five of them, so I wanted each to have its own special touch.  I then added these five individual artworks to a single 16 x 20-inch canvas on which I had painted a backdrop of swirling shapes.  ‘PLIGHT of the Albatross’ was created with sequins, glitter, acrylics, Mod Podge craft glue, gift bag confetti, fabric scraps from a quilt I'm making, tulle, Halloween netting, cereal boxes, alcohol ink, YUPO paper and trash.

I am an artistic encourager, what I mean by this is that I like to believe that everyone has an artist inside them waiting to be tapped into, recognized and accepted.  Embracing my inner artist is what most makes my soul sing.”

With thanks to Mary Ingrum.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 March 2020

Here are the five individual art pieces along with the photographs that inspired them. Chatham Albatross and chick by Lorna Deppe; flying Northern Royal Albatross and sunset scene by Dimas Gianuca; Shy and Southern Royal Albatross on the sea by Laurie Smaglick Johnson - with thanks.

"On March 2nd, George came to feed its youngster, and spent more time with it".  Photograph by J. Plissner

“The two-month-old Short-tailed Albatross chick has tripled in size and is nearly the size of the nearby adult Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses”.

A remote camera has revealed that the chick is being fed by both parents, named affectionately George and Geraldine, but that the times between feeding visits vary considerably.  “Parents may alternate between long and short foraging trips to feed themselves and their youngster.  As the chick grows and is better able to protect itself from the hot, salty and windy conditions, the intervals between feeding become longer up until the time the chick can fly.”

A Black-footed Albatross P. nigripes visits the Short-tailed Albatross chick

Access past posts about George and Geraldine here.

Midway Atoll 's other well-known albatross  pair, 69-something Wisdom and mate Akeakamai, the Laysan Albatrosses P. immutabilis, are taking a 'gap year', having not laid an egg this season (click here).

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 March 2020

Kalinka Rexer-Huber (left) and Graham Parker on misty Disappointment Island (see text)

New Zealand continues to lead on photographing World Albatross Day banners on albatross breeding islands.  Following displays on Bounty and Campbell Islands this austral summer, the intrepid team of Graham Parker and Kalinka Rexer-Huber of the environmental consultancy Parker Conservation returned last month from the Auckland Islands, where they found time among their monitoring research to get their banner out on both Adams and Disappointment Islands in the group.

Kalinka and Graham have written to ACAP Latest News describing the circumstances of each banner photo they’ve taken at the Aucklands.

“The World Albatross Day banner in the study area of the Gibson’s subspecies gibsoni of the globally Endangered Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis is being studied in turn by a chick close to fledging.  We were there for the annual visit to continue the mark-recapture study on Gibson's Albatrosses that Kath Walker and Graeme Elliott started almost 30 years ago.  We are in the Auckland Island group, on Adams Island, where the majority of the world's Gibson's breed.  The flank of Mount Dick, the tallest mountain in the New Zealand sub-Antarctic, is in the background.'

“Light-mantled Albatrosses Phoebetria palpebrata (Near Threatened) have a stronghold on Adams Island in the Auckland Islands.  The high southern cliffs of Adams Island, in the feature photo here, are the focus of our efforts to start understanding more of how Light-mantled Albatrosses are doing in our region."

“Near Threatened White-capped Albatrosses Thalassarche steadi breed almost exclusively on Disappointment Island, a small 4-km² island off the western cliffs of the main Auckland Island.  Since 2015 we have been building a mark-recapture study to understand better the population's trajectory. The White-capped Albatross study colony is on the steep cliff-top edge of Castaways Bay, above us in the feature photo.”

And this is not to be the end of this now well-travelled WAD2020 banner!  It has recently been taken to the Three Kings Islands, breeding site of Near Threatened Buller's Albatrosses T. bulleri of the northern subspecies platei.  Soon it will be off with Paul Sagar to the Snares Islands where nominate Southern Buller’s Albatrosses breed.  ACAP Latest News will, of course, post on both these visits.

Graham and Kalinka flew into South Africa yesterday to sail for Gough Island later in the week to join the Gough Island Restoration Programme that aims to eradicate the island's House Mice later this year.  No need for to take a WAD2020 banner with them this time: Gough's been sorted already!

With thanks to Graham Parker and Kalinka Rexer-Huber.  Research on Auckland Islands’ albatrosses is undertaken on behalf of the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 March 2020