Danny climbed the tree to investigate, and shone his torch into the hold. There he say two fluffy ruru chicks inside the cavity and realised he couldn't blow the tree up while a small family lived inside it.
Danny contacted the Department of Conservation who contacted Dawne Morton of Turakina Bird Rescue. Dawne contacted Janet Hunt of North Taranaki Forest and Bird and Janet then contacted Carol and Dave Digby of South Taranaki Forest and Bird.
Janet says Dawne felt it was best to retrieve the mother bird as well as the chicks.
"She said it would be easier to raise the chicks with her help. Rather than trying to just fed the chicks it would be better to feed the mother bird who would then feed the youngsters.
Obviously rescuing her would keep her safe from the blasting work being done as well."
On Wednesday Dave and Janet me Danny and Tony at the tree. They held a whitebait net over the hole and hit the back of the tree, making the mother bird fly out, into the net.
Janet says the first attempt wasn't successful, with the bird managing to escape, so they settled in and waited for her to return, successfully capturing her.
"We rapidly and carefully transferred her to a box with plenty of air holes, a stick and paper to sit on," says Janet who says caution was needed as ruru can, and do, bite.
Getting to the two chicks was tricky as the hole was too small for a hand to reach in.
Instead, says Janet, they had to carefully chisel the hole bigger.
Once that was done, the chicks were retrieved and placed into a second box. Janet says they weren't placed with their mother as it was likely she might accidentally stand on them.
The chicks, says Janet, are tiny.
"Covered with white-grey down, they have the smallest pin feathers starting to show through. Daytime is sleep time for owls, of course, and their little black eyes are just smudges, only just opening."
Originally the plan had been for the birds to be taken to Stratford Vets from where they would be couriered to Whanganui to be collected by Dawne.
"The courier wasn't due until 12.30 in the afternoon, and it was only 9.30am at that point, so as I didn't have anything pressing on in my day, I decided to drive them to Whanganui immediately as I felt the sooner they were in expert care, the better," says Janet.
A couple of hours later the precious cargo was handed to Dawne. Dawne says while she was "a bit horrified" by the small size of the chicks she believes they maybe able to be saved, as she has successfully raised hawkes from eggs in the past.
Until Dawne is sure the mother has re-accepted the chicks, she is keeping them apart as there is the risk of the chicks being eaten.
While there is no guarantee the young chicks will survive, Janet says she and the others involved in the rescue all feel it was worth the effort and hope for a happy outcome for all three birds.
