Heading South

 Heading South after viewing the beautiful gardens at Hamilton. Then to Cambridge staying in a well laid out campsite where the trees mostly nonnative look magnificent. So good to see tall, large trees. In Auckland our trees are being cut down due to rampant uncontrolled development. Trees in Cambridge town appear well cared for and those in the surrounding countryside too.

 Volunteers desperately plant new trees in public reserves around Auckland but it's the loss on private properties that is the real worry. Development rules and trees have no protection in Auckland as they get in the way of intensive development. This is a third World approach to trees that should be saved as mitigation for increasing issues with climate disruption. Trees should be part of development projects. We have lost so many large trees in the city.

Then to Waitomo and an afternoon drive out to the wild coast to visit Marokopa a small Maori settlement that I last visited maybe 15 years ago. It hasn't changed but I had forgotten what a windy road it was to get there. This time we didn't cut through to New Plymouth but stayed the night at Waitomo before heading there the following day.

More to follow.

The Godwits are back

 Fresh from their 11000-kilometer direct flight from Alaska the godwit numbers have built up during the last few weeks to 183. On the 15th of October during 2020 we counted 181 so that's a very consistent number to have returned.

 We also have a special research bird that was tagged up with coloured flags in China in April 2020 on route North via Chinea to Alaska to breed. This will be the third yearly visit I have watched this godwit. in Shoal and Ngataringa estuary.

Today the conditions were good this morning for an 8.24 am 3.3 metre  High Tide and so the birds were roosting on a small shell bank with variable oystercatchers, South Island pied oystercatcher's, NZ dotterel and pied stilt.