Nikau berries potted up

To support our “Planting for Kereru” programme 644 Nikau berries / seeds were sown into individual ¾ PB bags and another 300 in seed trays. According to a search on google they take about three months to start germinating so we should know our success, or otherwise, shortly.

Planting for native pigeon – Kereru

Photo taken in Hamilton by Kemble Pudney 

This long-term programme is underway. It is based around the Miro tree because of its berries being so palatable to the Kereru.  First we identified existing Miro in the gully and GPS plotted them onto a map. Now we are following up by selectively planting Miro so that we fill in the gaps. This is being done over the entire thirty hectares of Mangaiti Gully. With the sum of what is already in the ground and what plants we have to go in will total more than forty.

In addition, around each Miro we are planting Tawa, Pigeon Wood and Nikau. The theory is that we will develop forty attractive feeding stations for Kereru within Mangaiti Gully. We do stress that this is a long-term project in that these trees take a considerable number of years to mature. 

Long tail bats in Mangaiti Gully

Tim Newton from Green Footprint Tree Care
 installing a bat home

The bat home programme is well under way with twelve homes made and four installed to date. We are waiting for funding (an application has been made) to complete the installation of the other eight. The cost is in the purchase of the aluminium sheeting that goes around the trunk of the tree above and below the bat home to prevent the bats being predated on by rats and the hiring of an arborist. It requires serious tree climbing!  

If you wish to view a bat home that’s been installed go to the end of Odering Place (a new street off Sexton Road). It can be seen from the roadside up in a pine tree.

The good news is that the 2018 city-wide bat census recorded one bat in Mangaiti Gully and in the 2019 census two were recorded. The twelve homes are being installed along 1.6km of gully from Thomas road in the north down to Wairere Drive in the south. This gives a good spread and plenty of options for bats to occupy. 

This You Tube clip is a great bit of footage of bats exiting a bat home in Sanford Park, Melville, Hamilton:  https://youtu.be/ScIITzi1cDY

More about eels

Long finned eel in Mangaiti Stream need protection

The Long Finned eel is really heading towards extinction. It is just a pity that bureaucracy could not move a little faster to prevent this from happening.

To quote a letter to the editor “The Sunday Star Times July 14, 2019”

What a fascinating and eye opening article by Charlie Mitchell on the sad state of the New Zealand long finned eel (Focus July 7). Why has the moratorium on commercially fishing these as recommended by Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright in 2013 not happened? And, as highlighted in the piece, why does killing a kereru merit a $100,000 fine or a year in prison, yet the much more endangered eel is allowed to be minced in dam turbines or caught and exported live?

It’s madness.

Fiona McAllister, Mt Maunganui

Here is the link to Charlie Mitchell’s article: www.stuff.co.nz/environment/113450351/managed-to-extinction-are-we-at-risk-of-losing-our-creature-of-mystery It is a really good read.

Giant Kokopu caught out in flood waters

A giant kokopu picked up off the ground dead,
 metres from the stream edge

Hamilton gullies over the years have been utilised as part of the storm water infrastructure for the city.  The result is that, during a rain event the water rises quickly flooding the gully flats adjacent to the stream but equally, when rain ceases the water level drops rapidly. This giant kokopu was caught out by the receding water a couple of metres from the stream bank after such a recent weather event. 

The purchase of a digital game camera

A very military looking camera 

Trying to get a handle on what the rat activity is at any one time of the season has been a guessing game up to now. So that we can better manage our rat eradication programme, we have purchased a motion detect camera. This records night and day, only switches on when motion is detected and can be set to video or time lapsed photos. It will be moved around to different bait stations from time to time to try and accumulate an overall picture of what is happening. The things we are looking for are; how frequently a rat visits a station, the number of rats (is it one or many?), the size (are they young or older?), the mouse activity (can mice clear out three baits in a two-week period?). The camera will help us to build a better picture over time of what is actually happening in the field. 

Monarch being eaten by Praying Mantis

South African praying mantis eating a monarch butterfly

Although the monarch butterfly is not an endemic species in New Zealand they do give a lot of pleasure to many of us and it is an excellent way of introducing children to nature. We hear a lot about the paper wasp praying on the eggs and caterpillars but did you know that the South African praying mantis is also a major threat.  It was observed this last season feeding on the caterpillars and even sitting on the swan plant flowers and catching the butterflies when they landed to feed on the nectar. So if you are growing swan plants this coming summer, search and destroy any praying mantis you see. If you are in Hamilton it is a good bet it will be of the South African species. The New Zealand native praying mantis is surviving in some areas of New Zealand so it may pay to know the difference (google it).