Jeeps its hot here!

I'm enjoying the heatwave in the UK with most days around a very humid 34C  and catching up with Mum, its her 90th birthday this year and friends and family.

 Its great to meet up with my sister and family and good to see that everyone is well and enjoying the sunshine.

It is extremely hot and by the afternoon its quite an effort to get about with the high humidity but walks under the shade of some beautiful trees remind me of what England is all about.

The English countryside and perfectly groomed villages look beautiful at this time of the year.


 
 







I'm again staying at the Squirrel pub at Hurtmore in Surrey which is a great location. That's my little room in the 16C cottages.













 I have enjoyed some walks on my beloved Horsell Common, its the season for the heathers, Erica tetralix (cross leaved  heather) is in flower and Calluna vulgaris will be later in the year, giving a carpet of purple to this heathland.

Bog asphodel is also found on this piece of diminished habitat which is the home of some rare birds including the stonechat, Dartford Warbler and Nightjar. No sign of sundew yet but the heat may have shrivelled it up or I may be not quite looking in the right place. This is my old stomping ground and It feels good to be back.

It was on Horsell Common that the HG Wells landed his Martian machines for the War of the Worlds story. Wells lived in the local town for some years. More recently this splendid stainless steel replica to the martians has been added to the town. Many years ago I was on Horsell common at nightfall watching badgers and I saw a huge comet cross the sky and wondered if Wells story was coming true.










Winchester has always been a popular place for me with many memories. The Youth Hostel as it was then in the old mill was the first I ever went to so I jumped at a chance to go there for a walk around and the water meadows with the crystal clear chalk streams of the river Itchen are just so special and soon I was fish spotting as I had done many years ago. One trip by train allowed us to catch up with conversations safely and in comfort as those fast trains whizz along on continually welded track. No clackity clack here.

Thanks Steve for a great day out and  taking the time off before your trip to Menton in France,










I have also ventured  into the Surrey Hills on several visits for about 8 mile walks with a good friend and we have seen roe deer, many butterflies and an interesting number of plant species growing on the calcareous soils. This included Giant Hogweed (the sap is a nasty irritant)  and yes on that day we did have a shower or two of rain but it was short lived. The walks happily coincided with finding a little pub on route with great food and ale of course. The footpath network is extensive and the county of Surrey is the most wooded county in England. Its beautiful woodland of oak ,ash rowan and hawthorn with sweet chestnut and sycamore.  Thanks John and Debbie for feeding me and guiding  the great walks too.



 Back to the chalk downs at Newlands corner to see the many species of wildflowers and those butterflies attracted to them including the beautiful Brimstone, Red Admiral and a skipper. I watched a kestrel hunting at Newlands corner on several occasions. There are little patches of woodland and bramble and stinging nettles everywhere in the county of Surrey. These all add to the rich biodiversity found here

I wanted to re-visit Selbourne in Hampshire to visit Gilbert White, the early English Naturalists house again. I had never crossed the field to the 'Hangers' and the zig zag path up through the beech forest that had been made by White. On this occasion the weather was perfect and so the long grass was dry to cross.

 Problem was that some people were erecting  a marquee tent and although I was giving it a wide birth someone decided that I should be advised to keep even further away as the Health and Safety people were getting twitchy about me.

 I suggested that it was unlikely that it could kill or injure me at that distance but he wasn't very amused. I continued to cross the field I wasn't going to miss this opportunity to get to the 'Hangers'.

Afternoon T at Harrods was on the suggestion of another  friend who thought it would be fun to do and so it was. Here I am with my pot of Earl Grey and little fancy cakes.

 Just noticed that I have forgotten to use the tea strainer so I  wont be asked back.

 

Tree Signs Mount Tamahunga

A revisit to the top of Mount Tamahunga to geo-tag the location of some good specimen trees for interpretive signage.

Gone North

Enjoying being along this great coastline on a bird survey. I had heaps of spare warm clothes expecting it to be really cold but the day was fantastic and it was certainly warmer than the predicted 5C-12C.

 "One out of the box" as Gwen remarked and we all enjoyed our day with lots of interesting birds including NZ dotterel, pied stilt, including a hybrid (a smudgie). Also an  egret and a black shag colony with about 7 winter nests in the top of a huge Macrocarpa tree. I learned heaps from the experts and enjoyed photographing the dotterel and black shags.

 The egret was a long way off . Eliane had spotted it flying over us as we tried to count the nests in the black shag colony. Then it landed and joined  three spoonbill on the other side of the river.

Enjoyed the evening too  as it was time to dust of some vinyl 45's that I have not heard for a lifetime. So took advantage of the record player and a tasty Indian meal.

Tuff Crater F&B Planting

On Friday the plants were delivered to Tuff from the Kaipatiki project  by a few  hardy volunteers with a couple of trailers ready for the Forest and Bird North Shore branch planting today.

 It was a cold start at 8am but gradually more people arrived until we counted around 50 and then the  sun came out and many hands made light work of planting down from the ridge in fairly difficult terrain particularly amongst the previously  treated dying pampas grass clumps.

Hopefully these native plants will take over from that invasive plant and transform this side  of the crater.

It's a Sign

Well it's a big step in the right direction for the Council to have now erected a sign at the Charles Street access point to the Shoal Bay shell bank and spit. This sign shows the area as a Wildlife area and also points out that dogs should be on a leash.

Shoal Bay is DOC designated as a Site of Special Wildlife Interest (SSWI)

It has been an issue for me and the Forest and Bird Team when we see dogs running lose and chasing birds that are trying to feed on the foreshore at different states of the tide.

I have photographed each of the 17 access points to the foreshore of  the Shoal Bay estuary  and look forward to seeing more wildlife signs helping to  protect this excellent and important wildlife area.

Well done Auckland Council for getting on with this and thanks to all involved..

Hunua Ranges

I had been looking forward to a walk to the highest point in Auckland, the Kohukohunui trig point summit in the Hunua ranges. A friend had beautifully described the walk and views from here when she had stayed in the hut at the summit while I was camping on Motuihe Island during 2012.

Today I was with the Auckland Botanic Society (Bot Soc) and the quest was to reach the summit then botanise at a slow pace during our decent. 

Mud Glorious Mud

It had rained heavily the  night before and so it was expected that this naturally wet area below Arahia street at Tuff Crater would be wetter than usual. Sunday the 9th was a North Shore Forest & Bird and Auckland Council Arbour Community planting day.

More photos and more to follow...................   

32 traps and a fizzy drink.

Back to Mount Tamahunga for a check of three trap lines of a total of 32 traps across this beautiful mountain. The bush is lush and varied and much of this walk was along an unformed track along ridges and into valleys with several streams to cross. . We also did some track clearance which helps keep the tracks open and usable. The traps had to be re baited and reset where necessary.

 Today was also the trial of some very sugary fizzy drink to temp particularly rats. This was to be trialled at every third trap and it will be interesting to see how it goes. We walked out around five after over a five hour walk and it made me appreciate once again the dedication that is going into trying to rid our native bush areas of a range of predators.

It also made me realise how hungry I had become and so the BBQ was really welcome and thanks for organising the comedy show later in the evening at the Sawmill cafe, a few more laughs to round off the day.

Waitakeres-Gone Bush

I have been asked to supply some photos of indigenous forest for  a website and although I have many photos of bush species I needed some vistas for this project. I had found some on the North Shore but needed more and so headed to the Waitakere Ranges on Queens birthday Monday.

My first stop was the Arataki visitor centre just beyond Titirangi to enjoy the wonderful view and get some advice from the duty rangers. They suggested the Waitakere dam area and so that was my next stop. It an easy walk down a service road to the dam. The views are stunning especially with the reflections on the absolutely still surface of the reservoir today.

However these were not quite the photos I was looking for. I walked back up the hill to the car park and then onto Cascade park which is a delightful area with some great walks through kauri, nikau and puriri forest. A tomtit came close and then a North Island robin virtually at my feet. It reminded me of a friend who just loves robins although her speciality is the rare black robin of the Chatham Isles.

Miranda

Miranda to me is not just a beautiful place but more a state of the mind and I have been fortunate to have shared visits with others who also appreciate that. Today was no exception and calling into the Shorebird Centre I was greeted by Delight a lovely lady who was manning the shop while the Miranda team were at the conference in the South Island. Delight reminded me that it was a year ago on the same holiday weekend that I had stayed at the Centre with a birder friend and we had all ended up at the 'new hide'  to watch the birds and witness a wonderful rainbow. That was a year ago and today I was alone but that didnt matter because the the birds put on a show and I knew that I would be calling in to see a friend near Thames after the high tide.

Horseshoe Island

sWith access to our planned site difficult on this day we headed first to the Whangateau harbour looking for potential nesting sites for endangered birds. It was low tide and so we were able to explore the estuary and check out the small sand Islands.

Unfortunately we found these two Variable Oystercatchers just recently snagged by discarded nylon fishing line on another Island that is favoured by Caspian Terns.  They became snagged, one by its feet and the other by its wings and then were unable to escape. You can see by the length of this line that the two birds had little chance to avoid being caught.This  had happened quite recently by the state of the birds.

After removing the line it was time to head further North to check out some trapping sites that protect other coastal nesting sites. Two rats a mouse and a hedgehog were caught. By now the day had deteriorated and we were wet and cold. The North Easter had cooled things down so it was time to head for home, tea and hot soup to warm up. An enjoyable day just being outside in these wonderful landscapes.

Nature Space Launch at the Cloud

This was a great gathering of people last evening held at the Cloud on the waterfront at Auckland. Those present were all involved in conservation and there to  attend the launch of the Nature Space website. This is a collaboration between Auckland Council and the Department of Conservation.

 The site is a one stop shop for conservation projects throughout New Zealand. There were guest speakers of people engaged in inspiring projects to restore areas of forest and wetlands to their pristine native states.

It was great to meet up with friends from different projects and I thank the group from North for my birthday present that led to the bow-tie incident which caused tears of laughter amongst us.

My thanks to Sally too for the invite to join her next visit to Little Barrier, I will try and forget the comments about the sickness on the boat during the last visit. A great evening and one to remember for a very long time.

Its my Birthday

So just like when I was a child I decided to spend a chunk of the day at a  zoo. And Auckland zoo is a great place to be. The highlight for me was touching a kereru, it pecked me back. We are now friends for life. It was a fun time and good to be in the sunshine in the Autumn with so many beautiful trees surrounding the enclosures. Its a botanical delight.

Mount Tamahunga

It was a fun afternoon with Fiona, Josh and  Eliane carrying up the new informative stoat signs that Eliane had made to be positioned on a trap line on the mountain. These were hammered into the ground mainly by Josh who's is eight and had just come from a rugby game in the morning. Well done Josh.

 The eight signs were positioned individually  near  each trap to help explain to walkers what their purpose is. Three dead rats were found in the egg baited traps on our climb up the mountain. We met Richard and his wife complete with fresh free range eggs as they came down resetting the traps and  baiting with fresh eggs. There is an amazing commitment to seriously reducing the pest population in this forest of beautiful native bush so allowing the native species of lizards, frogs and birds to thrive.

Later Eliane showed me all her Excel stats for the trapping lines , it was very impressive. So too was the beautiful bush including some striking Nikau palms. We rather disturbed the bird life with our hammering but saw many kereru and also  heard then later saw, a kaka fly by.

Motuora Island

Track clearing and cleaning up the newly created  Gannet colony were the tasks for this working party as we headed out on the first water taxi from Sandspit heading to Motuora at 8am. The crossing was calm with little wind and we arrived to a welcome from Sian and Toby on the Island. Soon we were heading off in small groups for our allotted tasks. I was with Shelley and Wolfgang and we were track clearing at the Southern tip of the Island.  More  to follow........................

Duvaucel's Geckos

It was an exciting time to see up close a female translocated Duvaucel's gecko living free in the bush of  Tiritiri Matangi Island. With many thanks to Alaine a researcher from Massey University for sharing her knowledge  to monitor the progress of our largest native geckos.

Using a radio receiver to reach the small transmitter back packs, complete with aerials on the geckos, Alaine could then observe and record where these nocturnal creatures prefer to be.

I added a rifleman to my sightings, its my first up close in fact so close I could not photograph it with the lens I had attached to my camera. Its a diminutive bird that moves extremely fast and although I have heard them on the kawarau track this was my first sighting.
 We also saw little spotted kiwi and heard them too after dark on the Ridge track on our way to search for the geckos.  A large tuatara was in its usual place and I was pleased to be able to get a photo this time as on my last visit he was not visible.

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

Kaipara in a kayak

With a steady downpour as we arrived after setting out  before 7am to meet the high tide, it wasn't looking good to launch the kayak. As  we struggled to put the waterproof gear on in the rain this seemed to transform the day and by the time we were on the water the sun was shining. The mission was to search for good locations for potential nesting sites for some rare birds. Then returning from an island while there was some water left in the kaipara so we didn't have to trudge through deep mud, we then explored for seed regeneration. This was in  in the recent fire damaged forests along the Kaipara edge and also in the Dome valley on our way home.

On the beach of one of the islands we found an interesting plant Tauhinu which is a native weed. I remember seeing this along the wharf road on Tiri.

Motuora Island - Pycroft's Petrel feeding

Ignoring the weather reports of moderate rain, 14 supporters of the Motuora project set out from Sandspit  by water taxi on a busy Easter Sunday. This was a Pycroft's Petrel information day. Well more than that we were able to watch these beautiful birds being artificially fed by a keen group of dedicated volunteers. It was wonderful to be up close to see the real character of these birds that have been trans located from the Mercury Islands to form a new colony on Motuora Island.

The birds are taken before fledging from their source Island and are moved to  their new home to imprint that locality before flying off for three years and then hopefully returning to Motuora as their new permanent home. Special burrows with inspection boxes had been previously prepared by volunteers as the new home for 70 birds.

I then  walked to the Northern headland and in the afternoon to the Southern headland where I found long-tailed blue butterflies, a self introduced species that arrived in New Zealand in the 1960s.
My thanks to the team for a great day out and a very tasty BBQ at the potting sheds.

This is a great ongoing project to support, the restoration of this open sanctuary reserve with a friendly group of interesting volunteers and many thanks to Sian and Toby the two Island Managers for their help and knowledge making this an enjoyable day.

More photos  http://creativemomentsimages.co.nz/library/motuoraisland31032013/

Puhoi River Kingfisher

I watched this kingfisher for sometime as it skillfully hunted for crabs from this boat jetty at low tide on the Puhoi river.
 When it flew back to its perch with its catch it would furiously smash the crabs on the hard surface of the rails to stun them before it was satisfied that it could swallow it whole. It appeared today that the kingfishers  preferred being on the shady side of posts or rails.
At times it became quite feisty as other birds approached.

Awaruku Reserve

Rain rain rain. Shouldn't complain. Its the first rain since Christmas and I seem to remember that the last time I joined Margi and  Discovery walks for a walk around this reserve, a year or so back, it was raining then too. There is a real advantage to visiting this reserve after heavy rain as it has a couple of small waterfalls in the small disused quarry that bring the surrounding bush to life. Today although the stream near the entrance was gushing I suspect that interference with piping water for subdivisions and housing in the area have reduced the waterfalls to only perform after sustained heavy rain and when the water table has risen sufficiently in the area during the winter.

We had a small group of keen walkers who by the end of the walk were all thoroughly soaked but I think all enjoyed what I believe is the best time to see the bush at its best, after or during rain.

This was part of Margi's series of 'big trees on the Shore walks' co-ordinated with the Kaipatiki Project, the highlight being the huge Kahikatea thought to be over 700 years old. Another gem for me was seeing houhera (lacebark) in flower.

Mangawhai NZ Dotterel count.

My thanks to Gwenda for a great day at the Mangawhai wildlife reserve taking part in  a post breeding NZ dotterel count.  High tide was at 11.36am. The birds show less movement in the hour following high tide.

 We worked in three groups and I was in the purple team that had the scenic walk through the dunes to the southern limit of the reserve. This included some great dune-scapes which Gwen thought I would enjoy. They were quite amazing and I hadnt realised quite the scale of this sandspit.We then arrived at the beach where we found a dead Bullers Sheerwater that had possibly been driven in by a storm. It was time to continue and head North to cross back into the dunes to eventually arrive at the Northern end of the lagoon. We saw  the NZ Fairy tern nesting site on this route.

We also counted banded dotterel and watched flocks of godwit all dressed up in their beautiful plumage soon to fly North to Alaska to mate.. Other birds seen included VOC's, SIPO's, Turnstone and  Caspian terns.

Ambury Regional Park

Although I arrived later than planned I was still rewarded by many godwit,wrybill and pied oystercatchers on the little island just below the reserve. There were also quite a few spoonbills too. It was quite fascinating to watch Caspian terns fishing and one bird in particular took a good 20 minutes to actually swallow a huge fish it had caught. Since the decommissioning of the freshwater filtration ponds at Mangere the birds have gradually returned to this area of estuary. The godwit are preparing for their Autumn migration to Alaska and are feeding up in preparation for an incredibly  long journey.