Broken ankle - feeder camera data

A bit of bad news for me today, but good news in another way. I broke my ankle heading down from Kākāriki Hatch to the aviary. It occurred only about 30 seconds after entering the hatch. I started slipping (a layer of dead leaves over super-slippery clay on a short but steep bank), and with hindsight, was trying to protect my camera on my hip. This meant I landed facing sideways instead of facing out. I heard and felt two clicks, and immediately felt a sore ankle. It didn't seem too bad though and thought that a bit of use would help out, and I'd be OK to continue on the day's tasks. We (myself and Peter Hayes) continued down to the aviary. I took my boot off for a look, and immediately knew I was in trouble. My ankle was swollen big time, about 15 minutes after the accident. Peter fortunately had a constrictive bandage which we used to wrap my ankle. Peter is also a vet, so had more knowledge of such things than I did. I had never had a broken limb, or even a sprain before now.

I knew I had to get up the hill and back to the vehicle while I could still walk so promptly but carefully headed back up. End result, Weber B fibula fracture and I was in plaster by the end of the day and facing six weeks on crutches.

So, where is the good news here? Since the first translocation, we (Brook kākāriki karaka volunteers) had been spending a fair bit of time at the aviary observing which birds were coming and going. We'd attempt to ID every bird, then add the observations to the DOC (Department of Conservation) OFP (orange-fronted parakeet) application (their database with mobile data query/entry capability). However, much more data was being collected through the five trailcams (four on feeders and one on the water bath). DOC staff usually process this data, but at this point were about six months behind. We (Brook volunteers) wanted the data, we wanted a better handle on which birds were present, which birds were likely pairs, and we'd also be able to spend less time observing birds at the feeders and perhaps more time finding nests in the knowledge the trailcam data was being speedily processed. The absence of up-to-date trailcam data had resulted in us making the decision to set up a roaming trailcam of our own on various feeders, I processed the images and noted the IDs of birds.

Long story short, I made an offer to DOC that I use my six weeks immobile to process the backlog of trailcam data; it would mean we'd all have the data and I'd avoid dying of boredom/frustration. It would also mean I'd be still very much entrenched in the lives of my little green friends, although via a PC screen. DOC agreed and arranged to send me the data.