Welcome to the Midnight Collective Broadsheet 135
Actively
supporting NZ’s endangered wetland birds
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| Paradise duck and Grey Teal flocking over the recently opened M2PP expressway |
The expressway was
opened in a fanfare of self-congratulation but after an initial outbreak of universal
happiness… (families, we can here reveal, have been traveling from Wellington
(60km), to try out the new highway, whilst fighting over who is going to
drive!!!)… reality is beginning to sink in.
Instead of
clearing the traffic jam into Wellington each morning the expressway has
doubled commuting time to an hour and a half, with jams recorded as far back as
Porirua (23km). This follows the experience of all major motorway initiatives
that simply shift jams to other areas as our roads fill with more and more and
more traffic. (Most of our neighbours run two cars, with one having four parked
up on the lawn).
In the meantime retail
shops are recording significant drops in their monthly takings as the bypass
takes effect.
The wetland
areas opened up however, continue to provide a very positive story. This
area had been designed to drain dry, and this fueled our initial pessimism about
the future of the area, but though the area has been completely remade, we are
continually surprised by what is going on down here.
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| Dunelake prior to expressway excavation |
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| Dunelake from google, prior to excavation |
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| Excavations underway showing greatly enlarged areas. The green paddocks on the upper right are now a metre or more above the brown areas in the centre. |
This area is
usually dry between late January and early April but we now have water all year
round. Because of the very wet summer (and now autumn), it is too early to
predict this will be permanent, but in talking to one of the managers on site,
it is clear the NZTA is also surprised by the permanence of the wetland area opened up. Their theory is that the area has been excavated below the local
water table and if so, then this is likely to be permanent. The settling of the rear areas also appears to be aiding this with back flow occurring (outside the floods).
The birdlife is
showing its appreciation and appears not to be affected by the traffic flows
close by. We now have wetland either side of the new road and while the original
dune lake could host up to seventy birds, we have been sighting double this number,
though their species variety has changed.
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| Paradise duck roosting- Western side of x/way |
Paradise duck
(up to 40) have settled permanently here since January, then mallard and
parera-cross ducks (50). Another
prominent waterbird is the introduced Canadian goose, but what we are most delighted with is the colony of grey
teal which were previously rare visitors.
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| Grey Teal roosting - west side |
Around twenty teal seemed to have found a base
here and they flock at times,
mixed in with the paradise ducks (Putangitangi). Up to four pairs of pied stilt have also been resident over this summer. They have bred well this year
and all going well, we should see more pairs of these elegant waders next
year.
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| anxious pied stilt parent investigates the photographer - x/way to left |
One royal
spoonbill seems to visit regularly but we still haven’t seen the rarer birds –
scaup, shoveller, white faced heron and then the dabchick, while the local frog
population has completely disappeared; though perhaps these will also return
over time.
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| Plantings on the east - mid December |
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| Same view a month later |
The area has been replanted with local native species and
here major problems are developing with weeds. This dune area provides
extreme conditions with a swampy winter/spring and then drought-prone summers.
We remain sceptical about the success of these plantings though they are off to
a great start with the wet weather. However the weeds are making an even better
start and here’s the evidence, above and below.
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| Dunelake west - rear mid December |
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| Same spot a month later - weeded up |
The NZTA are committed to a four year programme of weed
control, when the natives should have developed a canopy to inhibit weed growth.
We have experience in managing weed control programmes however and the moment
you stop consistent work on them is the moment all your hard work slides into reverse. There are signs
of weeding and spraying going on but it isn’t making much impact on the weeds in the lower reaches, although in this photo (below), the native rushes can be seen making a comeback and helping
out. They should grow to dominate this area.
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| This channel appears to be draining the wrong way with wildling native rushes back taking over |
Meantime, here is another sign that the seasons are out of
joint – a wary black swan female with her cygnets in mid-March (autumn over here), at Ratanui wetland.
The father is out of the picture.
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| black swan family - Ratanui |
Track we’ve been listening too while posting this? Well,
we’ve been falling for Little Richard, all over again, because isn’t he
adorable…
Well, I saw Uncle John with long tall Sally
He saw Aunt Mary comin' and he ducked back in the alley
oh baby
Yeah baby, woo baby
Havin' me some fun tonight, yeah,
Havin' some fun
tonite.
