The trials of fieldwork
Stewart Island is often spectacularly beautiful but conditions are not always ideal for fieldwork. First there is the problem of access. There are no roads outside the area surrounding the village of Halfmoon Bay and the only practical and quick way of getting to remote parts of the island is by boat. Even then, many of the tops do not have tracks to them and progress through the dense manuka, leatherwood and inaka scrub is often slow. After heavy rain, the going is likely to be even slower. Once on the tops, a lot of patience may be necessary, waiting for favourable weather. Westerly gales and thick cloud swept Table Hill during a trip in December 1991, making surveys possible on only four of 17 days. Much of the time, visibility was less than 50 metres and the wind was strong enough to blow us over. There is little point in searching the tops in these conditions — any dotterels that don’t have eggs or chicks to look after simply won’t be there.
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Forest and Bird, Issue 266, 1 November 1992, Page 15
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176The trials of fieldwork Forest and Bird, Issue 266, 1 November 1992, Page 15
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