The photo shows the largest flock of kuaka/bar-tailed godwit I’ve ever seen at Weiti – an estimated 320 birds. Most of the newcomers were juveniles, this years youngsters fresh from Alaska in their bright, spangly plumage. They probably won’t stay long but will disperse to places like the Kaipara or Manukau harbours or the Firth of Thames. You can see…
Urban Widlife Areas
Despite our strong rural roots, Aotearoa/New Zealand is one of the most urbanised countries in the world, and Auckland is (on a local scale) a mega-city with close to a third of all kiwis living here or hereabouts. Research is clear that urban peoples’ mental wellbeing is much improved when they have access to open spaces where nature flourishes, but…
The godwits are back
Sometime in the last two weeks our kuaka have started to return to us after breeding in Alaska and their long return journey over the Pacific Ocean. I recently counted 134 of them at Karepiro and, if things go as they usually do, will continue to increase in the coming week or two to something over 200. The adults return…
Change of Seasons
It seems a bit strange to talk about a change in seasons having just visited the Weiti chéniers and Karepiro during a howling easterly gale with the waves crashing up onto the dunes and with a decided chill to the air, but the birds definitely think spring has arrived. The pied oystercatchers/tōrea have largely dispersed southwards to their breeding grounds,…
Refurbishment of chénier fencing
The storms this year had taken their toll on the fencing at Weiti chénier (and Karepiro for that matter too) so the Stillwater Stalwarts decided to combine a working bee with the community planting day that FOOB ran on July 2nd. Linda Gates, Irene Sanders, John Marais and myself formed the work party who were ably provisioned by Lezette on…
Ngā Kōrero: Public discussion on the incoming Weed Tsunami – Sunday 20th August 2023 4pm
When: 4 pm Sunday 20 August 2023 (AGM from 3 pm) Where: Okura Hall, 81 Okura River Road, Okura Guest speaker: Geoff Reid, environmental change agent, restoration consultant Topic Facing the Tsunami – Environmental Weeds Our Biggest Threat Come and hear about our biggest threat and the solutions. Geoff is well known as a force for environmental change, with a focus on…
Winter Update
Winter is definitely here even if we didn’t seem to have had a summer in Auckland. The effects of the frequent strong northeasterly blows can be seen everywhere with beach erosion and piles of debris washed high up the beaches. The Weiti chenier was particularly hard hit with a breach formed at the northern end of the lagoon, which has…
Raffle supporting FOOB
Want to cook smarter, not harder? Want to be a part of protecting rare coastal old-growth forest? Enter in the Friends of Okura Bush raffle to secure your chance to win a Thermomix! These cooking appliances give you freedom in the kitchen using step-by-step instructions to chop, blend, whip, weigh, mill, knead, mince, sear your way to becoming a kitchen…
Baby Bird Boom
What a summer! Despite the weather, this season has been a very successful one for both tuturiwhatu/NZ dotterel and tōrea pango/variable oystercatcher. Here’s a summary of successes and failures at each of the sites. Weiti chénier tōrea pango: One pair fledged two chicks tuturiwhatu: One pair fledged one chick Two other tuturiwhatu pairs nested on the chénier but the weather…
Trapping Cats article by Pat Baskett
FIRST PUBLISHED at Newsroom on FEB 2, 2023 COMMENT by Pat Baskett, an Auckland writer and climate activist. We must protect what the cats drag in ‘Where once the Karepiro chenier hosted dotterel and oystercatcher nests there could soon be sandcastles, and how many cats?’ Pat Baskett looks at our ongoing contribution to the Sixth Extinction.
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