Tiritiri Matangi Island Trip (Reflection)

Last week on wednesday, I went to Tiritiri Matangi Island with the year 7 & 8 extension group. I learnt about some of the wildlife and more that is on the island, I also come to learn that the island started off as a bunch of trees and a lot of seabirds, but as time flew past people started using the island as farming land. Many years ago most of the trees were cut down and only 6% of it survived because the steep parts of the island’s mountain’s could be a hydroslide for  the cattle to roll down the hills and land in the water. But the farmers didn’t want that to happen so they marked the steep parts off with the trees. Now the island is 90% forested with trees and only 10% of the island has land.

A few things that I loved about the island was… 1st the open space, it was just lovely to smell nature all around and it was so cool to see the rivers and dams that were built over 50 years ago. 2nd the wild life, absolutely loved the wild life, I learnt about new birds on the island. There were some pretty cool birds on the island, some of them I’ve never heard of before now. Like the Saddleback, it is small and it’s not so good at flying but this bird can run. The reason why they are called the Saddleback is because of the saddle shaped color on their back.

What I learnt from the island is that we need to protect the endangered species by, throwing our rubbish in the bin especially plastic. By using less plastic especially Glad Wrap it kills the animals, that’s how most animals get sick and become endangered. I also learnt that the Takahe when they’re young they have brownish blackish beaks compared to the older ones who have red beaks. The way you tell who is the Takahe and who is the Pukeko is the Takahe is much fatter. Tiritiri Matangi was a really cool island, I just want to say a big thanks to D.O.C (Department of Conservation) for letting us come, and all of the volunteers for the fun. It was a great experience and I’d love to go back there again!