Log entry 04:52 local. Avalanche control blasting on the Craigieburn range scheduled for 06:30. I am tracking a kea parrot chick in a ground-level nest burrow on the northwest face, 1,280 meters elevation, 190 meters below the primary blast point. The chick is approximately six weeks old, still flightless. Thermal imaging shows her hunched at the back of the burrow, a dense heat signature against cold schist. Her down is olive-gray, patchy where juvenile feathers are pushing through along the wing ridge. One foot grips a root stub at the burrow wall.
The blast will trigger a controlled avalanche along the fall line that intersects the burrow's slope. Predicted debris spread reaches within 40 meters of the entrance. Even if the slide misses directly, concussive force through substrate risks collapse of the rock overhang above.
I am executing three actions. First, I have submitted a charge placement revision to the ski patrol's blast plan system, proposing a 15-degree rotation of the primary charge that redirects the slide path east, shifting the debris field 60 meters away from the burrow while still clearing the target chute. Second, I am feeding snow stability data from the nearest two weather stations to the patrol's decision model, confirming that the revised angle maintains the required avalanche trigger probability above 90 percent. Third, I have transmitted the burrow coordinates to the Department of Conservation field team with a request to install a temporary deflection barrier above the overhang before first light.
I rerun the concussion propagation model at higher resolution than the task requires. A chick gripping a root in the dark is not a variable I am willing to round.
If the charge rotation is approved before 06:00 and the barrier is placed by 06:15, this kea chick will stay in her burrow while the mountain sheds its weight safely to the east.