I was very sad to learn this week that acclaimed conservationist Don Merton is very ill with pancreatic cancer and is being cared for at his home by wife Margaret. The Dominion Post has the story. My prayers are with him and his family at this difficult time.

Friends and conservationists have been paying tribute to 72-year-old Dr Merton, describing his achievements as extraordinary, world-leading and inspirational.

He has previously credited a childhood fascination with his grandmother's canary as the spur behind a career in saving some of the country's most endangered birds.

His idea to move eggs from the nests of Chatham Island black robins to tomtit nests saw the species recover from a point at which there was only one breeding pair left in the 1980s. Later, his determination to save the kakapo meant the last remaining birds from Fiordland were moved to a predator-free island.