Forgotten Highway & New Plymouth

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All lit up like a Christmas Tree!

Mingimingi berries

It was a hot summers day and the coast was quiet but suddenly we were aware of a juvenile oystercatcher being bullied by another bird. We intervened and hoped the young VOC would recover, it seemed that it couldn't yet fly and its parents had gone.

 Later we watched  7 Fairy Tern below the forest beach that last Monday was just sand blown with wave driven surges of sea water into the river. Last week it was too dangerous to cross but today was fine. The terns were a mix of adult and juvenile but they did not appear to be laying down nests or eggs or fishing today but just preening themselves looking diminutive alongside three white-fronted terns.

Before dusk we had dinner on the little deck overlooking the  stream and a fern bird flitted from muehlenbeckia to muehlenbeckia bush. The sunset was vivid red and so we went for a walk through the dunes to the beach for high tide. The sand-dunes and sand plants were tinged with a pink/ orange glow and looked beautiful.

We returned to the cottage and then in the darkness I wrapped myself in small solar fairly lights and surprised my friend with my arms outstretched by switching them on and saying "I'm all lit up like a Christmas tree - Merry Christmas". She cracked up laughing and asked where my power pack was. I proclaimed that I had gone Solar!  The flashing lights are now decorating a flax bush

A fun day to follow  a fun year as we toasted the many days out and adventures that we had shared during 2014.

 

 

 Wishing you all a really Happy Christmas

Catch up in 2015

Shoal Bay-Interpretive sign

A good result to see our signage is in place at two sites around Shoal Bay.

When we met with the council at the Charles street shell bank I cheekily suggested maybe two signs and took Paul, Richard and Julian to another location near the Bayswater bridge.

Fortunately  they were enthusiastic about the idea and later the Council agreed to fund both signs so saving our precious Forest and  Bird funds.

 This is a very good result and the signs look great (just checked today).



 Thanks to Kate for putting together my photos of the birds and shell bank environment into a rather special sign.

 Thanks to Neil Fitsgerald who supplied the one bird photo, a banded dotterel, that I didn't have a decent high res shot of.

 Thanks to Paul and Julian too for their part in achieving this for the birds.

Next project -signs for Tuff Crater.

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Gale Force Easterlies - I'm not crossing that!.

Today we were sandblasted and windblown like pingao grass amongst the dunes and the nesting birds have suffered badly. Some nests have been washed away and other birds have abandoned their nests.

I was referring to the river when I muttered  'I'm not crossing that'. It looked dangerous as the tide surged in carrying large logs upstream which then flowed back at some speed. The Northern side of the river would have to wait.

 

Same river mouth at the end of November

Photos and more to follow.

Umbrella Man/Michelin Man

Well I'm back early as work demands but had a good day watching the terns on the East coast.
My job today was maneuvering the large umbrella as the wind got up without loosing it to the sea.

I also delivered two old car tyres that I had persuaded my local garage to part with to be used to raise some nests to protect against some high Christmas tides coming soon.

Photos to follow.

Good to see signs.

 

 

I have been concerned for some time that there is inadequate signage to protect nesting birds on the  barrier shell bank at Charles street access to Shoal Bay.

 On Saturday I was pleased to see not just one sign but three DOC and Council signs at the causeway leading to the shell bank.

 This sends out a clear message to people who do not have their dogs on leash as requested by the main sign.

We are also waiting for the installation of our recently designed interpretive sign about the bird life to be found in Shoal bay

First Day of Summer!

 It was sunny with some intermittent cold showers which were accompanied by a persistent breeze. These surfers in wet suits didn't stay in the water long. There was a chill in the air with that south westerly wind. I watched a VOC settle down behind a log for some shelter.  So we hunkered down behind a sand-dune to watch the birds.

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