Welcome to the Midnight Collective Broadsheet 124
Actively
supporting NZ’s endangered wetland birds
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| Paradise duck (putangitangi) chicks at Raumati Beach |
The
remaking of our dunelake area is now nearing completion and though we have been highlighting serious problems, there are a
couple of wildlife good news stories at last.
The local District Council has been
undertaking flood control work above the bridge construction site. In doing
this they have monitored then removed at risk marine life. The results are
encouraging in that eel, whitebait (the punua (young) of five species of native
fish), and the endangered kokopu have been discovered up in the town precinct. So
despite two years of pretty constant site pollution, these marine animals
appear to be still able to make their way through to this area.
One
of our biggest worries however continues to be the loss of our local water birds. This is particularly concerning over the duck population which
has virtually disappeared. By mid-spring we would normally have had around 6-8
broods come out on the creek and the dunelake. So far we have spotted only one.
And they didn’t hang around for long.
However
a black swan with cygnets was seen in mid-September (though not by us), making
their way upstream. These females are pretty canny regarding the safety of
their young and a swan pair with cygnets subsequently appeared in a small
wetland pond on the other side of the airport. This may be the same family, because
a drain links the Wharemauku to this area.
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| Paradise duck family under bridge -nervous father at top of bank |
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| Indomitable mother and her five chicks (two days old) |
Just
as surprising has been sudden emergence of a paradise duck pair with five
chicks, right under the bridge itself. The male had been seen on his own for a
while which can indicate a nearby nest, and this may be the same family that
raised a brood last year, because they tend to come back to the same area to
breed. Last year they hung around for about three weeks before leaving for
safer climes.
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| The next day she had moved them to the other bank |
These birds are very good parents though the Dad was very nervous
about hanging around in such an exposed area. Three days later the mother had
moved them all over into the new cleared area.
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| On the march. She's taking them out into the open spaces away from the bridge. |
There
is a problem here with safety because the area has now been permanently drained.
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| Drain to Wharemauku - East |
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| Drain to Wharemauku -West |
Surface water continues to
collect but this is very shallow and the safety of these birds is dependent on
their ability to get out into the middle of a lake when threatened. They are
currently much more vulnerable to kahu, predatory pukeko, spurwinged plover and then domestic
animals than previously, when there was deep water and plenty of
vegetative cover. This may sort itself out over time however.
To
our even greater surprise we discovered what appears to be a second brood at the other end of this
reconstituted area. Here there we found six chicks with a rather bemused father. Though
we’ll have to wait to confirm this.
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| New brood at southern end of escaprment |
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| Putangitangi chicks making themselves at home |
The
pukeko’s are back but we haven’t yet seen any youngsters which is surprising;
though its still early days in the season.
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| Lone Pied Stilt |
The
other regular is the Pied Stilt. There are three returnese feeding. Two are
obviously a pair while the third may be an adolescent reluctant to leave home,
or once again, a bird whose mate is sitting on a nest. These birds share
nesting duties, but the tell tale sign is when they mount an aerial attack on intruders and they can do this from half a mile away. They seemed quite unperturbed by our
presence which indicates there probably isn’t a nest close by.
It
is still early days in the re-settling of this area. There are big losses but
also plusses and we’ll just have to wait and see how they pan out. Nature
is already taking back control with cleared and
planted areas rapidly weeding back up; but the big test will be as this duneland dries out in summer. Lupin and blackberry are having a field
day, though it wont be clear just how much of a wetland we have left until
we’ve seen a full year’s cycle.
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| Incandescent tui in the kowhai |
And
here finally is another good news story. They are very difficult to photograph
but this year has seen a significant rise in the local tui population. They
relish the yellow kowhai which seems to not only give them sustenance but also something like a sugar high (those with children will know what we mean.
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| And another |
We have five trees in our garden and another three close
by and counted eight birds this
year. They larrikin around and really go for the sparrows (they’re meat eaters
too... uh oh!). They’ve now developed a taste for Japanese cherry and camellia flowers,
so there should be a further population increase come the new year.
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| The Tony Soprano of our native bird world |
Track
we were listening to while posting
this…well we’ll have to go for Dylan with his Nobel Prize given the fact that
he doesn’t seem fussed one way or the other which rather shows up the other
laureates as a tribe of fast Harry’s (and Harriets) …
So here’s something
from Another Side… I shall be free
No 10 all done extempore if my
memory serves me well
You’re probably wondering
about now
What this song is all
about
What’s probably got you
baffled more
Is what this thing here is
for
(Jangles a chord sequence)
That’s nothing (giggles)
Just something I picked up
over in England
