Welcome to the Midnight Collective Broadsheet 149
Actively
supporting NZ’s endangered wetland birds
This post is for Jean - who passed away Wednesday night...
 |
| Waikanae Estuary endangered Northern NZ Dotterel Dom Post -foto Roger Smith |
We
are sweltering through our driest and hottest spring ever, with late summer
(February) arriving in November. The blue skies are never ending, with not a
sign of rain for at least another week (which is about as far as forecasters
can see ahead).
 |
| Raumati Beach Blue |
This is the exact opposite of last year where rain drenched the
region and wrecked the summer entirely.
So
is this big dry affecting bird migration patterns?
For
the first time the endangered NZ dotterel has not only been sighted just north
of here at the Waikanae estuary reserve, but also nesting. In fact the nest,
discovered by local conservationists, has 6 eggs which indicates there may be
two females sharing maternal duties.
 |
| 6 egg nest in sand Dom-Post Roger Smith |
There
is a colony of the more common banded dotterels at this reserve, but these NZ
dotterels are usually only found on the East Coast north of Auckland, then the
Chatham Islands; so this is exciting news for local conservation, especially if
a colony forms from here.
Like many endangered NZ birds these animals do not have
an innate fear of mammals, so this is a difficult environment to bring up the
youngsters.
 |
| Seriously at risk - a NZ dotterel chick |
 |
| DoC sign Dom-Post |
The nest is set in open sand, and vulnerable to dogs and DoC has
been quick to secure the site with signs. The reserve borders an urban area however and
there are many other predators, including rats, stoats, cats and then spur-winged
plover and kahu (Australasian harrier); so the odds are stacked against survival.
Much better if they had settled on predator free Kapiti or Mana Islands. (On Mana there is a colony of even rarer shore plover).
What is fascinating however, is to see two females sharing the nest, yet it is difficult to establish exactly what is going on. Pukeko share
nesting duties, and in a whanau (wider pukeko family), headed by an alpha
female it is often a male who is sitting on the nest.
 |
| Laysan Albatross |
There
is a wonderful story about the Laysan albatross colony on Hawaii. These are Northern Pacific migrants but sometimes they stray down here. For years the birds had
been studied by male ornithologists who built a mythology around the monogamy
of pairs who appeared to mate for life. Then one of the first women to study the birds (in the 1980’s) discovered that (whoops) ,
around 30% of the pairs (on Oahu Island) were female/female pairs sharing custody of the nest.
The females wander off for insemination, then back to their life
partner. Why this is remains mysterious, though perhaps a female partner makes a more reliable nurturing mate - or perhaps again (like us) some are just gay by nature.
The story makes clear just how little we know about the animals we share the
planet with.
Finally
some more news about the M2PP expressway. Our early post has been confirmed with the
NZTA now digging up, not 3 km of brand new roadway but 14 km, half of which
apparently the taxpayer has to stump up the cash for. Though we have little
information about what is causing this problem, and if indeed, resealing will
fix it. It’s become clear since the election, (as we suspected) - that the
previous Government has been championing the cause of private over public
transport and sitting on information that doesn’t support their view.
Patronage of local trains is growing rapidly and new figures out from the
Regional Council reveal that rush hour traffic has actually slowed since the
opening of the expressway. What we need now are more frequent services during
peak times, and larger ‘park and ride’ areas to cope with growing demand…
Track
we were listening to while posting this – Well, the bee’s are in the lavender, the puawhanaga (native clematis) is climbing our
kowhai, the red currants are dripping with fruit (3 weeks early), potatoes dug
for Xmas (4 weeks early) and now sitting back here as the sun refuses to give way
to the evening and Susie just brought me a beer. So the music has got really
sloppy – it’s The Springfields from 1962 – Dusty leading all the way out to the
Island of Dreams. And there it is 5km across our Strait (Kapiti Island). Wish you were here...
I wander the streets
And the gay crowded places
Trying to forget you
But somehow it seems
That my thoughts ever stray
To our last sweet embraces
Over the sea on the island of dreams
