Terrible Sad News :-(

Mum and I have been sitting on the couch watching the news, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) has announced that the South Island Kokako is now officially extinct.

I had held dreams of being the first person (or cat) in forty years to have a confirmed sighting of this pretty little native bird, but Mum has been thwarting me at every turn. She thinks my motives are less than honest. But I say there's nothing like wild bird!

Mum found the link to a news article on the internet for me so here it is here:
Kokako

And we had a hunt around for some pictures to show you too.

In this painting, the North Island Kokako is the one in front with the blue wattles. It is endangered and there are projects in place to rescue them. The bird at the back is the lovely South Island Kokako and I think they have much prettier wattles. Well they would if they were still around. I blame the dogs.

DOC may have declared the South Island Kokako extinct, but there are some people who reckon DOC is wrong. One of these people is a person called Ron Nilsson. He's an ornth... ornathlo... bird man, and I want Mum to get me to meet him. I think he must have some good methods for catching birds. I wonder if he's seen as many as Maalie and Simon?
Here's a some links to learn more about them (Mum helped me google for them).
2006 sighting
A Little bit more

My aunties have just got home with the groceries, so I might go find out what they bought! I hope you are just as sad as I am :-(

Thank Goodness That's Done With

Oh boy, was this Christmas a trial.

Mum and Auntie Casey both left. The three of them had big plans for a roast chicken Christmas Dinner before they did, but No - It Didn't Happen. I blame Mum, she's always trying to get out of any work going on around the house. Though she did have a big clean up before she went.

So there it was - just Auntie Emma and me. And man was it TOUGH! She hardly ever got up in time to feed me for breakfast. I had to settle for 'brunch' which sounds to me like a lazy person's excuse. THEN on top of all that, she didn't want to give me all the cuddles I am due. No siree. Instead of picking up where Mum and Auntie Casey had left off, she only gave me her cuddles, which are not nearly enough for me!

But you know what? My prodigal relations came home on the same day! So I got a DOUBLE dose of cuddles on that day! Oh yeah and they really know how to scratch a cat. They got a few of my bidi bidi's out too which was good once it was done, but I don't much like having to suffer it.

So the new year has kicked off pretty much the same as the old one - with everyone forgetting me once something more important comes up. My nemisis came in for some of my food today and since Mum was wrapped up in a book I decided to take him on myself. I don't normally do this in the house - usually Mum or one of the Aunties are around to chase him away. I'm big enough to take care of myself mind - I just don't like getting my paws dirty. But I got him outside, down the stairs and out under the apple tree before Mum even made it herself. She threw some apples and squirted some water at him but I told her I'd already taken care of the situation. She pretented to be all worried about me and wanted to pat me but I knew really she was proud of me. And why shouldn't she be?