Welcome to the Midnight Collective Broadsheet 106
Actively
supporting NZ’s endangered wetland birds
It is around this time of the year, in late summer, that you begin to see waterbirds flocking. And we’ve seen two species at it so far, both at the
Waikanae Estuary, where 15 or so paradise duck had gathered. These appeared to
be youngsters because they were just getting their adult plumage.
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| Mallard youngsters at Waikanae estuary |
Here also large
flock of newby ducks were convening. We counted 60 or so, all mallards, all
youngsters, with the males yet to develop their distinctive green heads.
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| And still more... |
Then we
found them again, down at the
Ratanui wetland, where they had converged into a group. They were very nervous
in this enclosed space, and took off together soon after we arrived. It is the first time we had seen two species
flocking like this and then flying together.
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| Middle distance - mallard and paradise duck (30 odd barely discernible) |
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| Taking flight ... |
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| Amy and Stan on Kapiti Island |
One indispensable record of
Kapiti Island, was penned by early conservators Stan and Amy Wilkinson. Kapiti Diary and Kapiti Bird Sanctuary record their observations from the
establishment of the Iisland as a reserve in 1923, through to the 1940’s.
It was
in the 1920’s, before mallards were introduced into this country that they recorded
our native duck, Parera, flocking in the strait between the island and the
mainland.
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| Rare native parera pair at Raumati Beach dune lake (now destroyed) |
This is an extraordinary record, but a troubling one because this
flocking in May was linked to the shooting season.
“On
May 2 1926 coming back from the mainland we passed within easy distance of a
huge flock about a mile from the beach, and another mob of about equal numbers
in the middle of the channel. Although astonished at the numbers an even bigger
surprise was in store; for when we had nearly reached the island we passed
another flock that made these two look small. There were thousands and thousands of them in that flock the
like of which we have never seen since, nor are likely to. Although the grey
duck –parera comes over every shooting season in great numbers these numbers
are certainly diminishing. In some years we may see a few hundred sitting on
the sea but more often this bird is conspicuous by its absence.”
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| View from the top of Kapiti Island looking East -foto Ridgway Lythgoe |
The birds were trying to avoid the shotguns
of the hunters, but were failing year by year to do so. So rapacious was the onslaught that by the end of the 1930’s the
Government gave in to intense pressure and allowed the restocking of New Zealand with mallard eggs
from the US. History has been defined as 'the view of our past as compiled by the victors', and the history of
extinction in this country is no exception. The blame is usually placed on introduced
pests, the necessary draining of wetlands, not the rapacious human appetite in
killing for sport. And it is this sport that continues to carry the prime
responsibility for the annihilation of our native duck.
This has been and continues to be a
worldwide phenomena over many many species; though if more account were taken of this kind of delightful observation, made by Amy Wilkinson on Kapiti Island, perhaps they’d be a little less
quick on the trigger.
One
morning we were endeavouring to get a photograph of a family that were
resting in the garden after a meal. The female was standing on a stone keeping
guard. We were using a half plate camera and the ducklings paid no attention
while the necessary arrangements were made. Turning our eyes to adjust the
aperture we were ready but where were the ducklings. They had vanished! During
that fraction of time a warning had apparently been conveyed to them in some
mysterious manner. We never heard a sound yet here were the little fellows all
crouching under the different rock plants and the old duck with her head cocked
to one side, watching a harrier sailing lazily overhead. It was really
wonderful how those ducklings had hidden themselves so completely, and so
quickly, for the plants didn’t provide much effective cover.
Track we were listening to while posting
this…
We had been prevaricating for some time between Patti Smith and Van Morrison on this track, but eventually went with Them and Gloria…
Wanna tell about my baby
Lord, you know she comes around
About five feet four
From her head to the ground
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