Latest news with #aviary
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Engineering firm strips doors off Pūkaha aviary after $245,000 bill unpaid for months
BK Engineering was contracted to build the shore plover aviary at Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre. Photo: Supplied / BK Engineering An aviary at a wildlife sanctuary in financial strife has had its doors stripped in a stoush over an unpaid bill for almost a quarter of a million dollars. Pūkaha Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre on the border of Tararua and Wairarapa districts has issued an urgent plea for financial help , without which it faced imminent closure. At the heart of the plea was an invoice for an under-construction aviary for the endangered shore plover bird. Board co-chair Mavis Mullins said the breeding sanctuary needed to find $600,000 by the end of the week to avoid shutting its doors, after it was unable to secure funding from major partners the Department of Conservation and Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā . Brent Reid, co-director of local Masterton firm BK Engineering, hoped some of that money would be going to him and an outstanding invoice for more than $245,000. He said Pūkaha commissioned the firm in May 2024, to "construct, repair and refurbish" shore plover aviaries. Everything was smooth sailing, he said, until the payments stopped in November. Assurances that payment was imminent kept the construction work going "in good faith" until February this year, he said, but to date no further payments had been made. In a letter sent on 29 May to the Pūkaha board seen by RNZ, he said the company had taken out loans to keep afloat. "We are in serious financial difficulties because of Pūkaha. We don't deserve this." Reid said at the end of last week he cleared the worksite and took the doors off the aviary. "We loaded all the gear in our vehicles ... and we also removed as many doors as we could off the aviary so that it can't be used. "We're beyond caring about what anyone thinks and just need our gear back." The endangered shore plover bird. Photo: Supplied / Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre/ Tara Swan Ultimately, Reid said he wanted to receive the money that was owed and finish the job, and thought the Department of Conservation (DoC) needed to step in. "The government spends money on all sorts of wacky things, but this is something that you can go and see. "You can touch it, you can feel it, you can see the aviary, you can see it built. It's not good money after bad, it's a real thing, and it will save these birds." DoC's operations director for the lower North Island, Alice Heather said the department was aware of Pūkaha's financial difficulties. "We have been working with the Pūkaha board, alongside Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā, since we were made aware of the situation, and continue to explore options." She said Pūkaha was an independent charitable trust that for many years had delivered great conservation work. "DoC has not contracted work on the aviaries at Pūkaha. Any queries relating to non-payment of bills or contracts between contractors and Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre should be directed to the Pūkaha Mount Bruce Board." Pūkaha board co-chair Mavis Mullins said Pūkaha staff and BK Engineering were the top priority for the immediate $600,000 fundraising effort. "Our priority is our staff and those creditors because they are people that are known to us. We are working so hard and they are the priority." She said for several months the board had been working with potential investors. But last week, it "received new information" that left them with "no choice" but to engage Grant Thornton financial advisors. "We've also been in discussion with the Department of Conservation about the payment of outstanding invoices for shore plover aviaries, a nearly completed construction project urgently needed to continue the national programme of protection of this endangered species," she said. Mullins denied any suggestion of financial mismanagement and said while negotiations were ongoing to secure funding, every effort was being made to raise capital elsewhere. She said the community had supported Pūkaha since it was established in 1962 to breed and release endangered native birds, with the takahē - a Fiordland bird once thought extinct - its first species. "But the current operating model, which includes only part funding of conservation work by the Department of Conservation, with the rest from community funding, is no longer sustainable." It had been humbled, she said, by the global response to its plea for financial help. "Vistors, ex-kaimahi that have worked with us, this weekend the centre has been chocka with whānau coming, wanting to pay full rate rather than their half rate that they're entitled to, making donations ... It's been very, very humbling the response from the community." She said the board and management had been communicating to lenders, creditors and staff about the potential closure of Pūkaha, and acknowledged the stress and hurt they were feeling. She said former board chair Bob Francis and local businessman Shane McManaway had been brought in to oversee a complete overhaul of the organisation. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
ABC News
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Budgie show preparation in full flight ahead of competition in Cairns
Bruce Schuster pampers his budgerigars with shampoo spritzes and a daily superfood medley. "My wife thinks they're better fed than she is," the 77-year-old says. "It's got all the nice vitamins in there. I've got my greens in there. I grate my carrot, I grate the beetroot and a bit of sweet potato." The retired real estate agent is a three-time national champion budgie breeder and competition judge. He is organising the 49th annual Australian National Budgerigar Council (ANBC) championship show in Cairns next weekend. Mr Schuster will also be among the 220 exhibitors bringing the nation's top 640 budgies to compete at the event. Since joining his local budgerigar club in 1992, his humble backyard operation in suburban Cairns has clinched the three national titles and many more podium finishes. "This little aviary here which only breeds around 100 birds a year if I'm lucky, what it produces is unbelievable," he says. During the two-day event, judges working in pairs will assess the birds against a "Standard of Perfection" which sets out strict criteria for form, colour and condition across 28 varieties. To get his birds show-ready, Mr Schuster sprays them every few days with shampoo and water to fluff up their feathers and uses a cotton bud dipped in milk to carefully remove any stains. "And different birds use different shampoos," he says. He also uses a toothbrush to loosen up head feathers to create the desired bouffant hairdo. "We used to have a hair dryer and we'd go out there and blow them around. I don't see it happening so much lately but it used to just buff the bird up," he says. "You also put a little bit of oil on their feet and their beaks to shine it up." The native Australian parrot's journey from desert nomad to the world's third-most popular pet behind dogs and cats began in 1840 when budgies were first exported to England. They have been bred for competitions since the 1920s, leading to the marked difference in appearance between exhibition budgerigars and their ancestral cousins that swarm in their thousands in the Aussie outback. Wild budgies are smaller and sleeker, averaging 18 centimetres in length, while show budgies are ideally 24cm long with head feathers so fluffy they appear to obscure their eyes. Colour mutations and selective breeding have given rise to 28 varieties in Australia and a cornucopia of shades including cobalt, violet, buttercup yellow and snow white. With names like opaline, cinnamon wing, recessive pied and saddleback, each variety has colour and plumage differences, from the shade of the bird's iris to the intensity of its markings. Griffith in the NSW Riverina hosted the first official gathering of Australian budgie fanciers in 1967. From a peak of more than 5,000 registered breeders during the pastime's heyday in the 1980s and 90s, the community has declined to about 1,600 breeders, most older men. ANBC president Russell Ogden says there is a concerted drive to recruit younger members through events like South Australia's Budgie Fest and Warrnambool's Budgies in the Bool. "We jokingly refer to it as a dying hobby," he says. "The juniors are going to be the future of our hobby in years to come, but we're also trying to encourage it as an inclusive family hobby." The pastime has also expanded around the world, with the Australian titles to be live-streamed to 48 member countries of the World Budgerigar Organisation including Sudan, Bangladesh and Slovenia. "It's actually probably more popular in some countries than it is in Australia, which is surprising," Mr Ogden says. Budgie shows are a fierce contest over differences in features that are barely discernible to the untrained eye. The tiny details — an out-of-place spot, aberration in tail feather numbers, or disallowed flecking in the plumage — are what set champions apart from the rest of the field. Breeders like Mr Schuster set out to create perfectly proportionate wing and tail lengths, a 30-degree angle of deportment on the perch, and just the right Pantone shade and markings. When it all comes together, he says the diminutive birds can elicit gasps of, "Wow, he's powerful." "The exhibition budgie is such a magnificent bird to look at," he says. "The directional feather and the colours and everything of those 28 varieties are unbelievable." Mr Schuster has enjoyed the camaraderie of the budgie community over three decades but admits it can be "over-competitive" at times. "You can see some people look at you and think, 'Oh, I'd love to beat him'," he says. But he too enjoys a bit of healthy competition. He gets a twinkle in his eye when he recounts some wins, such as successfully cajoling another breeder to lend him their prized cock or hen and bagging quality birds for a bargain. "I've won the nationals with a $50 bird," he says. Mr Schuster says some birds fetch "crazy prices" at auction — up to $10,000 — but he believes discernment is more important than deep pockets. "I play with bloodlines. I don't buy a lot of birds, and I think I've got a good eye," he says. "What you've got to remember is [a seller] is getting rid of their bird. If it was good they'd be keeping it."
BBC News
17-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Aviary destroyed as fire spreads through Cowes back gardens
A fire has spread across the back gardens of three homes on the Isle of Wight, destroying an aviary and several garden & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service said the fire in Elm Grove, Cowes, began on Friday at about 21:30 from three stations - Newport, Cowes and Ryde - were sent and the fire was put out shortly before 23: fire service said officers had found the cause of the blaze was believed to be an electrical fault. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Preston Park aviary works begin, as major revamp continues
Works to revamp a popular aviary, as part of a multi-million upgrade of a local park, are due to Preston Park is undergoing significant redevelopment after the council secured £20m in government Levelling Up funds for the regeneration of the Yarm and Eaglescliffe area. Preston Park's aviary, which has been a key feature of the site since the early 1980s, is set to be expanded as part of the redevelopment, affording visitors better views of the River Tees. Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council said they expect work on the aviary to be completed in July. The aviary's steel-domed structure will be retained, with the roof refurbished to provide additional shelter and a flexible seating small buildings within the aviary will be revamped, with secure doors added, which the council says could provide storage for outdoor activities such as paddle-boarding and open-water swimming by visiting artist, painter and former musician Kate Jackson will also create a mural across the back wall of the aviary, as part of the Stockton and Darlington Railway festival (S&DR200) which began in March and continues until September across the region. Other redevelopment projects in the park, including a two-storey extension to the museum, are near completion. The revamped museum, situated in a Grade II-listed, 19th century manor house within the park grounds, includes a new exhibition and gallery space for international exhibits - with councillor Nigel Cooke saying the site is "set to gain national attention".The enlarged space will also allow hundreds of unseen local objects to be put on park redevelopment includes an extension to the cafe, improved parking facilities and new public toilets."Our plans will ensure that other elements of the park, like the aviary, become a highlight once again for visitors," said Mr Cooke."The major exhibitions and events in the museum will bring thousands more visitors to Preston Park from the local area and further afield," he added. "I am looking forward to seeing so many people being able to enjoy this safe outdoor space once again." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
