All weather track completed 26th Sept 2012

North meets south

It is with great pride that the team can announce the joining of the tracks from each end to have an all weather foot track running the full length of our gully. You can now go for a walk in your ordinary walking shoes and not get any mud on them (well almost).

There is still a bit of finishing to do. We are waiting for a delivery of millings (shingle) to put on top of the pit sand and we would like to wire some of the board walk, that we feel could be under pressure from flooding, to waratahs or trees. This is a great public asset. Go for a walk and enjoy it. 

NZ Pigeon (Kereru) in Hamilton

This photo was taken by a local at Lowry Bay, Wellington

Wouldn't it be great to have Kereru back in our city? Many cities in New Zealand have healthy populations so let’s try and get them to sit on OUR power lines. If you have an open space like a gully at the back of your place why not plant a Tawa and a Miro. If space is a bit more limited perhaps a Nikau, Cabbage Tree or Pigeonwood may be more suitable.

We are planting for Kereru in Mangaiti Gully.  We have successfully encouraged the Tui to reside once more in Hamilton. Now it is time to target the Kereru.

Astelia in flower

We had to add this photo of an Astelia grandis in full flower. It can be viewed just off the foot track that drops down the steps beside the St James side of the foot bridge and winds its way through the tree ferns. It is on the right just before the track turns left and heads to the little bridge over the creek. Check it out. 

Pests under control

We feel the rats and possums are well under control and we are expecting a good breeding season for the birds. The birds of particular interest are Fantail, Warbler and Morepork. If those of you that back onto the gully see or hear either a rat or possum please drop us an email on gullyrestoration@gmail.com . Thanks. 

Perry Aggregate donated pit sand

We ran a bit short of pit sand while completing the tracks that are within the boardwalk system. We approached Perry Aggregate and they kindly donated three large trailer loads which we picked up from their deposit in Te Rapa.  

AGM minutes, financials and chairman report 2012

These have been posted onto “Trust AGM Minutes” page listed on the left hand side of this home page. Trying to get the formatting right drove me crazy so what you see is what you get. The blog does not like it when I try and cut and paste anything that has formatting in it. 

Infrastructure Projects

By the time we publish our next news letter we will have completed a number of projects that have been on the go for some time. The biggest, without doubt, is the board walk / track. This is very close to completion. Another two or three working bees and you will be able to walk from the foot bridge in the south to Sexton Road in the north without getting your shoes muddy! It has been a very satisfying project and all the team are very proud of our achievement. 

Banksia for Tui project

This was very well supported with 56 orders coming in. However when I placed the order with HCC Nursery and they passed the order on to the commercial nursery that was supplying them, HCC was advised that they had all sold out.

As some of you might have noticed there was a very good article in the Hamilton Press about Mangaiti Restoration Group and about the Banksia Project. This appeared five weeks after the interview so we were fielding calls from other people wanting the order Banksia. Although we could not supply we made a lot more contacts and a number of them would be interested if we did it again next season.

For those in Auckland, Banksia are not invasive in the Waikato and for the native purist, we are not planting Banksia in our gully, as it is a native flora reserve and yes there are natives that feed Tui but this is about attracting Tui into the city not just feeding them and Tui find Banksia very attractive during the winter period. 

Invercargill, Kahikatea and Pigeons

On a recent trip to Invercargill to attend the Wetland Symposium this photo of Kahikatea was taken in an area just south of the city, about Hamilton to Gordonton in distance. A close inspection had to be made to be satisfied that they were actually Kahikatea. The area is interesting in that it has a high population of Kereru, Native Pigeon. There are so many that there are road signs warning traffic of “Low Flying Kereru” and there is a person in the area that specializes in nursing them back to health if they survive a hit. There was no information as to whether the Kereru population is level, declining or increasing but it was obvious that there was a health population.

It has to be asked, if they are successfully surviving in that ecosystem why not in Hamilton.