Northward

 Exploring the coastline north of Auckland once more. It isn't essential to travel to the Bay of Islands to see some beautiful coastal scenery.

We have just spent a week staying off grid near the DOC (Department of Conservation)  Motutara Reserve. It's a stunning area with two ocean beaches and a calmer estuary side too. There are also smaller hidden beaches and rocky inlets too. The infamous Elizabeth reef is just offshore recently claiming another sailing yacht who's crew a renown sailor and wildlife photographer and his dog fortunately survived. The dog complete with life jacket making it ashore by itself. Unfortunately, the yacht ended up on Sandy Bay beach further down the Tutukaka coast and had to be totally written off.

The reserve area was previously grazed by sheep from the nearby family-owned farm. It's mainly Kikuya grass but there is a steep area of bush along the estuary side.

More to follow............................

New Year Catchup

 A belated Happy New Year to all.

Its summer in New Zealand and although the weather has been rather changeable with some tropical heavy rain that's caused some tragic earth slips and flooding there have still been sunny & warm (mid 20's) days at the beach.

Our little band of loyal volunteers completed the January bait pulse around the Shoal and Ngataringa estuaries in Auckland. It's our tenth year having started in 2016. It was not surprising that the predator control boxes revealed an active rodent month. Until residential trapping takes place our coastal lines to protect terrestrial and coastal shorebirds will keep seeing reinvasion.

Our early intervention to protect an NZ dotterel nest with one egg was successful with one juvenile now fledged. The design of the nest cover with modifications certainly protected the nest from Australasian hawks (Kahu) and Southern black backed gulls. High westerly and south-westerly winds between 50 and 90 kilometers per hour did not dislodge the shelter following modifications to the legs of the shelter.

Our bar -tailed godwit flock of just under two hundred birds has settled down following a rather unpredictable season as far as their roosting habits. They are coloring up especially the males ahead of their 10'000 km flight to China in March on route to Alaska to breed.

I would like to thank those people that contacted me concerned that the godwit had been absent from their familiar roosting sites. Now they appear to be back to moving between the two estuaries as in previous years.

Old Year Out

 Well, that's 2025 nearly done and dusted. A difficult year for many people across the World and in New Zealand too

It's sad to see the continued assault on human rights, democracy, and the environment. In many cases the very people voted in to protect and nurture these issues have turned their back on them and continue to pander to the few who can easily look after themselves without assistance...I'm optimistic that people will gather together and forge ahead without those people.

 For those of us that care about the Environment it's hard to understand what those that don't may not understand about a simple truth. - If we look after our Natural Environment then it will look after us.. 

With All Good Wishes for a Happy New Year ahead

Clever camouflage or see through wings?

 While cleaning the pond pump and tidying up the vegetation around my garden pond I noticed this small moth on a green taro plant stem' I was rather intrigued that the small green patches on its wings seemed to so accurately mimic the colour of the stem of the taro plant. I have yest to ID this moth.

Godwit numbers have recovered.

Concern through our local estuary godwit season was that the godwit numbers had not reached previous yearly totals. However counting this morning, the numbers are on a par with those counted last February of the previous season.

 Also visible was one of our Chinese flagged birds enjoying its sixth visit to spend the summer with us before returning to Alaska via China to breed.

It's a good sign !

 Great to see that after requesting that our Forest and Bird signs be reskinned. Some action has occurred. Today I checked after meeting Graham a local on the Bayswater side while I was counting godwit and he passed on that one of the signs had been unskinned apparently waiting for a new covering. I then checked the one at Charles Street that was really in poor shape and was pleased to see that it has been completely reskinned with a fresh sign. (see photo). 

Two of our four signs around the estuary were becoming very shabby due to weather, UV and kids' bikes being leaned on them.

I would like to thank the Auckland staff who have pushed this through and Richard at North Shore Forest and Bird who also had a hand in progressing this.

The signs were originally installed in 2014 to help inform locals about the interesting shorebirds that visit the estuary and the designation of Shoal estuary as a Site of Significant Wildlife Interest. 

A worrying Time ahead.

 With the discovery that we have probably just one dotterel chick first seen on day 33 after the egg in the nest was first observed we now have maybe 5 weeks ahead until this bird is fully fledged (able to fly and care for itself). ... Although young dotterel are not fed by their parents they are guided to food and shown the ropes of feeding themselves. While the adult birds keep a sharp lookout for any dangers around such as patrolling hawks and other predators.

On Day 38 while watching the adult dotterel keeping an eye on its chick two kayakers approached the shell bank and were first mobbed by a pair of pied stilts as they appeared to want to land their kayaks right by the pied stilts nest with one chick in it. Not feeling comfortable with the divebombing stilts the kayakers moved along to land exactly where the dotterels were feeding.

I have not perfected the art of walking on water so had to resort to intervening by shouting and waving my arms in the air to direct the people to move away and to my surprise they did.

Morepork couldn't give Two Hoots !

 However, the Morepork ( Ruru) did during the early hours of yesterday morning (3.45am) after an initial craw sound followed by a piercing hunting screech then give 16 repetitive familiar hoots. It then fell silent. Once again it was in the Northboro Reserve area a favourite haunt at night.

These are all three of the moreporks range of calls that I am familiar with. Hoots are the calls most commonly heard. 

Ruakaka Estuary

 Just back from a few days exploring the Ruakaka estuary. With a wildlife refuge adjacent to the estuary this is a great area to watch wildlife particularly shorebird roosting, nesting, feeding and caring for their young.

It's also interesting to observe people and how they interact with wildlife. It's a wide-open space but why some people have to disturb the birds is I think their perception of enjoying nature in New Zealand.

Godwit Roosting at High Tide

The flock begins to lift as people approach

The entire flock is disturbed

More to follow....

33 Days Yesterday and Success!

 With a worrying 3.5 metre high tide and at 33 days from the first sighting of an egg in a dotterel nest I was concerned that maybe the egg was infertile or had been cooked in the sun. The adults were seen frequently leaving the nest to chase off nearby birds. However, on one of those occasions yesterday morning at high tide when the adult left the nest a tiny chick emerged for a minute or two to have a few quick steps and a look around at its new world before heading back into the nest sheltered by the returning adult to the nest.

Dotterels usually egg usually hatch at day 28 - day 32 so I think this chick probably emerged the day before (Day 32). Fortunately, the estuary was calm, so the 3.5 tides were just below the nest location.

A circling large juvenile Southern black backed gull did pass by but the nest shelter seemed to avoid its attention to the nest site.

So far so good! I will check again this morning for more activity. Then it's a five to six week wait until the young fledge. Now I am hoping that the adults will direct any chicks to the nearby little tent shaped chick shelter to continue their protection.

 

32 days and counting !

Its 32 days since I observed a dotterel nest with one egg on a shell bank in the estuary. The giveaway was that a pair of dotterels had been rather agitated with a two Caspian tern one an adult and the other a juvenile resting up on the shell bank at high tide. When I checked at low tide, I discovered a dotterel nest with just one egg so presumed that his a had recently been laid as dotterel usually lay three eggs. I quickly added an anti-hawk shelter to give the dotterel a chance as hawks are very active at predating eggs or chicks.

 I started counting the days to hatching. 28-32 is the usual so concern now is that maybe the eggs are not fertile, or some other issue has occurred.

Matuku Link Reserve with Bot Soc.

 Beautiful day at the wonderful Matuku Link Reserve in the Waitakere Ranges yesterday for a Christmas gathering with the Auckland Botanical Society (Bot Soc).

A few photos taken on the day.

Bee Friendly

 Staying with the Bee theme it seems that I have inadvertently created a small native bee habitat in the front garden. A couple of days ago I noticed a couple of native bees trapped in our front glass porchway.  I am constantly rescuing praying mantis, other small critters and butterflies including a migratory Meadow Argus butterfly from Australia. 

Yesterday after finding a dead native bee, I began wondering where they were coming from and remembering finding bee habitats that I had photographed in Northland wondered if the clay bank in our front garden could have attracted them.

Native bee at nest - Northland beach (Whale Bay 3.12.2020)

This is a small patch of clay and scoria that some time back I had tucked under the front hedge following digging a small garden drainage ditch. Months later I regretted this during trimming the hedge and realizing that like local building developments on sloping sites during heavy rain the sediment was sliding down the front bank. I set out to tidy this up. I couldn't clear it completely as the clay had dried solid like concrete as this bank gets long hours of sunshine..

Live native bee on porch glass

Dead native bee in porch

.Standing on the front berm (grass verge) I soon spotted a few black native bees entering crevasses in the clay. Apparently, their nests can be some 20cms deep where the females lay their egg. Later young emerging females do the same. Native bees feed on Pohutukawa, manuka and some non-native introduced species gathering pollen. They do not sting and generally their nests can be found within 100metres of their feeding areas. Although sometimes many bees can be attracted to the same nesting bank of clay or sand, they are not colony nesters with no hive or production of honey. They are however important pollinators.

Busy Bees

November has been a busy month with bait pulse activity by our local group of keen volunteers. And Surprise Surprise the rats have been very active across all lines that protect the bush reserves and shell bank environment around our local estuaries off Shoal and Ngataringa.

Vulnerable nests in at risk tidal loculation's have so far survived. A pied stilt nest and a dotterel nest with one egg on the 8th of November not revisited to check for additional eggs to avoid disturbance. Hatching will be in approximately 28 days.

The Godwit are back with Spoonbill this morning.

 Timing is everything with watching Nature and the morning after our local godwit event when for the first year the godwits disappointed by not appearing on a nearby shell bank at high tide they were back.

And again, this morning they were roosting (resting) on the shell bank with four Spoonbill.

Where are our Godwits ?

This year our small visiting flock of bar-tailed godwit decided not to show up on the high tide roost (resting) site for our planned event at Shoal estuary. The birds’ movements locally have certainly been less predictable with strong Westerly winds and some very high tides so far this spring season.

However, it was a great afternoon gathering at the edge of the estuary. Once again organized by the local environment group Restoring Takarunga Hauraki (RTH)

 Our usual Druid friend Chris introduced my talk about our local godwit arrivals and behaviors, and Zane provided a Māori perspective and some important points regarding avoiding disturbing the bird's habitat.

The birds may not have played their part but during the event a lone Spoonbill did flyby which everyone got to see.

 We also had two Auckland Councilors attend, Richard Hills and newly elected John Gillan and trust they will both represent and support protection of our local environment.

Myself with Chris (the Druid) and Zane

Myself and Councilor's John Gillan & Richard Hills

Motuihe Island Return

 Heading to Motuihe Island today. I haven't landed on the Island for a few years since my camping trip days staying in my two-man tent.They were happy days exploring the island and searching for interesting wildlife.

Today i am with the Auckland Botanical Society and Bella and Ben who have been working on the many Conservation projects to restore the island.

More to follow.........................

Nature is Shy.

 "Nature is shy and noncommittal in a crowd. To learn her secrets, visit her alone or with a single friend, at most. Everything evades you, everything hides, even your thoughts escape you, when you walk in a crowd."

Edwin Way Teale. Circle of seasons. The Journal of a Naturalist Year.

 However today I have visited the Pukorokoro/Miranda Shorebird Centre to attend what was an excellent talk by Dan Ruthrauff who lives in Anchorage and is a researcher of shorebirds in Western Alaska. The Shorebird Centre was filled to the doorway with birders keen to hear Dans talk. 

Today Dan along with an excellent presentation including some amazing photographs and video was sharing his experience and the challenges involved in studying Bar-tailed godwit in the tundra landscape of Alaska. This shorebird breeds in Alaska and at this time of the year (October) has returned to New Zealand its non-breeding habitat to share our summer in estuaries across the country. In Alaska some 80-90,000 godwit attempt to breed and following this they form huge flocks waiting for the opportunity to fly South.

After Dans talk we descended to the bird hides at the nearby Robert Findlay reserve to see the newly arrived bar-tailed godwit and other waders.  At Pukorokoro/ Miranda today there were several thousand godwits along with other birds.

 At my local estuary we have our share at present a smaller flock of a round 200 but the birds are site faithful, and one Chinese flagged godwit has returned for the sixth-year running. At Pukorokoro there will be many flagged research birds to monitor and record for scientific purposes. Come March 2026 our share of the godwit flocks will return to Alaska to breed via China as a stopping place to refuel. Once again, they hopefully will achieve their near 30,000-kilometer round trip. 

 

They're Back !

 Concern was growing that the usual arrival of the bar-tailed godwit to our local estuaries had somehow been disrupted. Eleven had been counted at the beginning of the month but this them reduced to a second sighting of just four a few days later. Then no further sightings at their usual high tide roost sites.

However, on Saturday 39 were recorded in Ngataringa Bay and then this morning I counted 68. It was a very windy and fairly cool count this morning and that's how the weather has been this month, I suspect that this is the reason for the rather inconsistent early arrivals from their flight nearly 12000 km flight from Alaska to spend the summer with us before returning to Alaska to breed via China next March.

So too are a pair of mallard ducks back visiting our pond this morning. I guess they too were seeking shelter from the strong winds across the nearby estuary.

Photos to follow...................

Fossil Forest

 Some 250,00 years ago there was a forest area at the Northern end of Takapuna beach when the sea level was far lower. Rangitoto island erupted, and molten lava surrounded the larger trees and as it solidified formed deep cones. The timber continued to burn as the molten lava cooled forming a fossil forest that is still visible particularly at low tide.

Just recently probably due to some recent storms and rough seas gooey sandstone has appeared in a greater amount than I can remember observed as the tide recedes about halfway along the kilometer long Takapuna beach. Sticking out of this mix of sand and mud are many pieces of blackened wood appearing like small tree stumps. 

These are probably branches and trees that have floated out from rivers and have been captured by the sand and mud. I will try and find out more about this strange phenomenon. 

The Firth Tower.

 During a recent visit to the Cambridge Matamata area in the Waikato it was interesting to visit the Firth Tower near Matamata township. I had read about this tower some years back but didn't appreciate the undertaking, location and the present site as a museum including some very interesting old buildings.

Tara iti hui.

 It was great to attend another annual Department of Conservation (DOC) Tara iti (NZ Fairy Tern) hui in Wellsford today and hear more about the ongoing work and planned projects to protect this endangered endemic species.

One of the projects that captured my imagination was by Cara who plans to trial this motorised falcon to drive Australasian hawks (kahu) away from Tara iti nesting habitats.

Another idea that Cara is researching is to supplementary feed Kahu and their young to discourage them from taking other species. This research could be a game changer for our shell bank areas that are often patrolled by Kahu looking for easy prey. That easy prey is our nesting dotterel including their eggs and chicks. 

I will be following Caras projects closely.

Dripping with Rails !

 I do remember in the early days when I first set out to watch banded rail, I was always unlucky. Following a search at a wetland reserve and still no success someone commented that I should have seen them as the place was 'dripping with rails'.

Gradually my luck changed, or I became more observant, and I began to see them more often in coastal wetland habitats.

 I regularly watch them at Wenderhom Regional Park providing the tide in the estuary is just right to enable them to feed. Today was ideal and these photos show one rail busy feed as the tide recedes.

This banded rail launches itself at a crab

Another tasty crab is caught

The crab is dipped in a pool probably to remove sand

The crab still alive is swallowed whole.

Keeping the Shell Banks safe for Birds

Hauraki School students have once again volunteered to help keep an important shell bank in Shoal estuary safe for birds by searching for and removing rubbish.

It was great to be asked again by Hauraki school to attend and talk to their students ahead of their shell bank clean up. I also brought along my scope in the hope that we might see some of the birds that visit the area. That would prove difficult as due to a low tide to enable access to the shell bank the birds would be a long way out today. 

170 students and their parent helpers and teachers arrived ready to search for rubbish on the shell bank.  Due to recent high tides there was not much large rubbish to be found but the student with their very keen eyes still found plenty of small pieces that could be dangerous to birds that feed in the estuary.

The student from Hauraki school searching for rubbish on the shell bank.

These are just a few of the shorebirds that live and visit Shoal Bay estuary

A Big Thankyou to the students at Hauraki School that took part today including their teachers and many parent helpers. Thanks also to Theo our local Community Ranger for supplying gloves and rubbish bags. 

Another excellent team effort to Keep the Shell Banks Safe for Birds

Northward

Dawn and Dusk at Waitangi.

They are back again. This time just one Cape Barren goose near the Ruakaka estuary campsite.

Last May there were three. The seem quite confiding flying in to feed on the grassy slopes above the estuary edge.