Barrie sadly passed away last month, and we wanted to do him honour as he has been a real local legend protecting our natives. When Barrie moved to the area and teamed up with another local resident Danny back in 2020 they were unstoppable! They installed over 150 traps at the boundaries of the Weiti Bay Village development which border…
Bird news for the 2023/24 Season
I’ve been meaning to report on the birds this year for some weeks, but the buggers keep breeding so this is an interim report. Summer Migrants The kuaka arrived from their Alaskan breeding grounds in mid-September and reached maximum numbers – about 320 birds – on 1/11/23. Many of these birds were juveniles who leave Alaska later than most of…
Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year
Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to all our Volunteers and Supporters Here is a special picture of one of the 4 dotteral chicks at the Weiti River mouth. Thank you to all of our volunteers and supporters, without you the incredible work that is being done couldn’t happen. Special thanks to Jo Crawford for tirelessly heading the team…
Spring News
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…
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