To sustain the environment of the Whangateau harbour and its catchment
30 volunteers planting at Big Omaha Valley Road John and Martha Williams property in Omaha Valley Road – Chrissy Henley
On Saturday 19th May about 30 volunteers from Whangateau Harbour Care, Sandspit SOS Inc, Forest and Bird, and Omaha Beach Community helped plant around 1980 native trees and grasses on John and Martha Williams property in Omaha Valley Road. This is the latest in a series of riparian plantings over the last few years on the property.
Footprints of a mustelid, probably a weasel or a stoat, were seen on Horseshoe Island on Saturday, barely five metres from the nest site of the endangered variable oystercatcher in recent years.
Oystercatcher eggs and chicks would have no hope against one of these aggressive predators of native birds, particularly ground-nesters. Before the next nesting season we should set stoat traps on the island in the hope of removing the risk and improving the chances of successful nesting of the birds.
Predator trapping should be considered on a longer term basis for the island, as re-invasion would be easy for mustelids which could cross the sand flats at low tide from the mainland with ease particularly at night.
A school of several hundred young kahawai was seen in the channel behind Horseshoe Island on Saturday. This was the largest number of kahawai I have seen in this area, and is a very encouraging sign. There were also large numbers of adult parore, and the usual school of around 200 trevally which have grown since last summer. There were no juvenile snapper, however, which were common in the summer but have departed for winter.
With 8 to 10 metres visibility, this is the clearest I have seen the harbour waters since the big cockle die-off in 2009. There had been no rain or wind for several days, however, and the water on the coast is very clear at the moment too, which all helps the harbour’s water clarity.
Part of a school of hundreds of young kahawai in the channel behind Horseshoe Island on Saturday.
Clearances could contribute to coastal erosion and prove a missed opportunity to prevent climate change
Vietnam’s Mangroves
Alisa Tang
Just five days out to our planting day on Saturday 19th the weather looks like it will end up good on the day. Before that we can expect some nasty squally showers which will soften up the ground nicely for our digging and planting on Saturday. By then the rain should have passed and we can look forward to light southerly winds and probably a sunny day!
As the Whangateau Harbourcare Society moves to its new networking site www.whangateauharbour.org or www.whangateauharbourcare.org - a combined blog and Facebook site, it would like to recognize the services of Ken HARCOMBE AND [mum ] Elizabeth for setting up and being webmaster of our original website. Giving time to the site’s construction and maintenance has kept the group in the public gaze and it’s hoped that Ken and Liz continue to post on the new blog.
Many thanks Ken and Liz for yet another generous donation of time, effort and gold – Whangateau Harbourcare
I am old,
old as the earth.
My bones have moved
overturned and violently shaken.
I have drowned
then risen again to feel
the rush of water from my side.
With fire in my hair
blazing over the harbour.
An age has passed
and my green cloak like birds’ feathers
hides the parasitic creatures that seek my blood.
I am old and proud
but my feet crumble to make roads for men.
I sleep and die.
Elizabeth Foster
