Welcome to our new members

Over the summer holidays the Oruawharo Medlands Ecovision (OME) group distributed our Summer Newsletter by hand to most properties in Oruawharo Bay, getting a chance to speak to most of you face to face. Welcome to the new people who signed up for our quarterly newsletters and a reminder, if you would like to continue to receive these newsletters, please consider becoming a friend of OME by donating a suggested minimum of $25 per annum in support of our work.

Bank details: ASB-GBIET 12-3110-0058231-00 Reference: OME membership. Code: your name. Please also send us a confirmation email so we can thank you: medlandsecovision@gmail.com

Joint efforts for success

In the February rat monitoring round, it became evident that, despite our best efforts, we need to do better in order to make a real difference with our pest management strategy. Mice numbers are sky high and rats are far too numerous to be proud of the hard work we have put in for the past two and a half years. OME have been checking and re-baiting all our 180 traps in the dunes and wetland every single week, with the exception of a couple of short Covid interruptions, since our project began. One of the biggest issues we have with our current set-up is the shape of our pest managed area. You might think geometry has nothing to do with pest control, but because we trap a long, thin and narrow area, we are constantly open to re-infestations. Basically the more rats and mice we remove, the more territory we are opening up to the next invaders. Whilst seasonal variations always trend upwards this time of year, we still feel there are improvements to be made.

The OME committee has been discussing various options and we feel the best idea we have come up with is to broaden our effectively managed area by including as many of the private properties in the area as possible. We know 69 property owners in Oruawharo Bay have been getting involved by receiving free traps from Aotea Trap Library, for which we are very grateful. However, these traps need to be checked regularly for effective control, so when people are not in residence, those traps are basically useless. We propose a more effective approach involving a paid person to come and check your traps on a regular basis, or alternatively a bait station if you would be okay with that. If enough people take us up on the challenge it won’t cost a lot and could be considered a good way to keep the critters out of your properties when you are not around.

Get in touch here if you would like to contribute to controlling pests effectively and would like to let OME organise a more cohesive strategy for a better coverage of control. If you already have a system in place, please let us know so we can put you on the map of pest controlled properties.

In Wellington’s Miramar Peninsula they have managed a very impressive near eradication project by joining forces, so perhaps we can too? https://predatorfreenz.org/stories/5-shocking-rat-facts/

We have come up with a few options for you to choose from:

• Ring Murray Staples to visit your property on 021 232 4483. His method is pulsing with diphacinone which will set you back $100 per annum.

• Get FREE traps from Aotea Trap Library and pay a person to check the traps regularly. Price will depend on how many properties are interested. Suggested $5 per property per week for 2 traps per property.

• Purchase self-setting traps. We recommend the AT220 from NZ Autotraps

• Install a bait-box or two and regularly refill the box with a toxin of your choice, or get someone in to do it for you.

OME can assist you with all of the above options. Contact us for more info or to tell us about current pest control on your own property.

medlandsecovision@gmail.com

Pateke counts

Members of Oruawharo Medlands Ecovision took part in the annual, Aotea wide pateke count, organised by DoC, for three weeks running during the month of February. We counted in the creeks at either end of Oruawharo Bay and thoroughly enjoyed taking part. The importance of having more than one count became obvious when we saw the difference in numbers from one week to the next. In Oruawharo Creek it went from an impressive 23 one week to not a single duck in sight the next. The counts had to be done at high tide, due to some spots being too shallow for paddle boarding otherwise, so it may not have been the optimum time for pateke spotting, but still a stark difference. How disappointing it would have been if the latter was our only count.

Bittern sightings and white-tailed tropicbird

Here in Oruawharo Bay we have had some very exciting visitors this late summer. A matuku hurepo/australasian bittern spent a few days relaxing in the wetland opposite the church and was spotted on quite a few occasions.

We also had a juvenile white-tailed tropicbird visit our shores. Unfortunately its soul had already departed by the time it got here, but this is still worth mentioning because these birds are very rarely reported on NZ shores. In fact there are only 18 records of these birds on NZ beaches according to The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. It was identified by John Ogden, local expert on all things avian, and received a ceremonial send-off, fitting for a very rare visitor.

https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/white-tailed-tropicbird

Weeding day

OME had a weeding day in the wetland in February, clearing kikuyu from around the plants we planted last year. Most of the plants are looking like they will survive, despite being planted a bit late in the season and being visited by pigs. Many hands really do make light work and what a difference it made!

Safe Swim

Sustainable Aotea carries out weekly water quality checks of 13 popular swimming spots across the motu. Medlands Lagoon is one of those spots and it frequently returns a high E. Coli count. In this case it comes from birds and ruminant animals and is worse after heavy rain flushes out the bacteria. To check the most recent results before you swim click here.