Corey Mosen

Natural selection of kea researchers - survival of the slimmest

I have been chasing Kea around the mountains for about 4 years now and there have been a few hairy moments, most involving dangling off bluffs or trees failing to hold my weight when using them as hand rails to get myself down slopes in a hurry. But the one experience that has had my heart racing the most was getting myself inside Nest # 8.

With a few schematic drawings in hand of the shape of the nest and the style in which to enter, as well as assurance from the boss that it was physically possible to get into the nest I enthusiastically headed towards one of my favourite places in the world, Nelson Lakes National Park. The purpose of this trip was to determine whether there was an established breeding pair of Kea on the spur above Nest #8 and to install a camera inside the nest to see what, if anything, has been visiting the cavity.

After an hours drive I met up with Matt Chateris and decided on a plan of attack. Nest # 8 and the spur above it are located on the Southern side of the 6 Mile Stream. Looking up towards the direction we were heading from the roadside, gives you the impression that it is an inaccessible place, with jaggered rocks, steep bluffs and as always with Nelson Lakes, pristine mountain streams covering the mountain side, things that all act to make access anywhere difficult . In actuality it is one of the easiest nests in the area to get to, most of the elevation is gained via the Rainbow ski field road with a short 20 minute walk up a surprisingly walker friendly stream. It’s steep and legs were burning on the way up but we arrived at the nest still relatively fresh. Comparing the real life nest entrance to the schematic drawings of the nest with the stick figure on them doing a head stand to get in got us thinking that you really did have to be a stick figure to get inside this nest, if I hadn’t been told that it was possible I don’t think I would have attempted it.

Being the slimmest out of the two of us I drew the short straw and started stripping off the layers and even my boots, anything to make me smaller was going to benefit me getting into and out of this hole safely. Head first was the only option, so in I went, blood rushing, heart pumping and breathing rate increasing. Memories of me getting stuck inside a tunnel when I was young came flooding back to me and an overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia came over me but I continued because it would have been impossible to reverse out. So I was committed and the only way I was coming out was if I successfully got in. The sides of the entrance were in a tight ‘V’ shape with the base of the ‘V’ being much too small for me to get to, so movement along the shaft involved me putting one hand at the base of the ‘V’ and arkwardly caterpillaring along, all the while having all my body weight wedged against either side of cold rock entrance. I was filled with fear and at the same time excitement as I penetrated deeper into the darkness, breathing became more difficult the further I went, with my body wedged against two sloping sides it was actually quite hard to expand and contract my chest as is necessary for respiration. With each exhalation I found myself sliding deeper into the ‘V’ and therefore each subsequent inhalation being that much more restricted. There was a lot of pressure on my one arm to keep me positioned high enough to give me adequate breathing room.

I finally got to the end of the entrance tunnel where there was corner to negotiate and all of a sudden I was in what could only be described as a spacious cavern, well compared to the entrance anyway. There was heaps of space to move and even turn around. I spent some time setting up a camera, covering up any potential pest entrances, I inspected the empty nest bowl and set about to extract myself from the earths tight embrace. The boss, who is probably the only other human being to have been inside this hole said that the only way out was the same way you got in, therefore backwards. I choose to ignore that direction and tried getting out head first. After bending my knees around the corner in directions I didn’t know they could bend I found myself back in the entrance shaft and after what I can only describe as a rebirth I was back at to my pack and ready to keep heading up to locate any birds that might be in the area.

After an evening survey we learnt that there was a pair hanging around which showed a promising chance that there would be photos of kea coming and going from nest #8. Two and half months after deploying the camera inside the nest, I returned to find out what had been inside the nest. Of course this involved the whole above process all over again and this time I was all alone but managed to in and out again without any problems, but still with the adrenaline rush. After analysis of the photos all that it showed was a pair of skinny white legs exiting the cavity and regular visits from an inquisitive possum. Hopefully future visits turn up something more promising and I don’t gain any weight otherwise I will need to convince someone else to squeeze in to check the camera.