New Beginnings

Here’s to new beginnings!

Both for the kauri seeds and for our newest native tree planting recruit.

New beginnings for everything in and about the grow tunnel.

New beginnings also for getting under way with the inclusion of private properties in the OME Phase Two predator control area. Our first large property has signed up and is paying for the service. If you are interested in making use of this service too, please get in touch.

Unfortunately there were not many new beginnings for the local dotterel population this summer. They had a terrible breeding/nesting season and, as far as we know, only produced one fledgling between them this year. A brave OME member relocated a nest to keep it safe from the king tide, but ran out of room on the beach. One adult was found dead near a known nest, which was subsequently abandoned. Two chicks disappeared from another nesting area. Doom and gloom all round.

Grow tunnel

The Aotea Great Barrier Local Board has kindly funded OME’s newest piece of kit. We are the proud owners of a spacious shade tunnel, ideal for growing native plants destined for the Medlands Wildlife Management Reserve (the wetland).

We also had help from both Sealink and Great Barrier Cartage to get the tunnel to its new home free of charge. We feel very fortunate to have such support for this project and can’t wait to show you all what we are able to grow thanks to this generosity.

Being able to collect our own seed and grow the varieties and quantities of plants we would like to plant is a game changer for this restoration work. Not having to rely on sourcing funding for all the plants will be such a relief and will enable us to plan ahead more freely. We are still buying plants from the two native nurseries on the Island whenever funding is available so no-one is losing out.

In fact Island Aviation donated $2,000 to purchase plants from Okiwi Green and Aotea Community Native Plant Nursery for the upcoming season. A very generous donation that has also come with an offer of lending a hand to plant the plants in a few months. Chris Sattler, CEO of Island Aviation, has a keen conservation interest as well as great community spirit and does a lot to help out in various ways on Aotea. With this donation we will be able to put another 230 available, locally sourced plants in the wetland over the late autumn - winter of 2024, with some funds still remaining.

Adding another dimension to our volunteering repertoire means people with different skills and interests can be involved. Our weekly Wednesday working bees are now shared between wetland and grow tunnel work on a to-do list priority basis. If you would like to get involved please get in touch to find out where we will be on the day.

If you like collecting seeds and are knowledgable about your tree species we are looking for a variety of seeds to grow. Click here to see our wish list.

DOC has a really useful seed collection calendar to learn when to collect what.

Summer Events

In January we hosted a Pest Plant Amnesty. With support from Auckland Council OME made it possible for the local community to dispose of certain weeds safely and free of charge by providing a bin and weed bags for transport. There was even a tools library on the day, using Auckland Council’s community tools.

Together we managed to fill the bin with pest plants from dunes and private gardens. We expect to be able to make this an annual event and hope that even more people will take advantage of the opportunity next year. Perhaps labour weekend is a better time for garden duties?

Wetland Wander, Round Two took a small group of wetland enthusiasts through the southern end of the wetland, guided by John Ogden, who was sharing some of his plant wisdom with the group. We checked out one of OME’s planting sites and had a peek at the dried up pāteke ponds where 55 of these little duck were spotted last year. We gathered back at the OME Eco-Hub after the walk for afternoon tea and chat, showing off the Eco-Hub and the displays on offer.

Important Visit

Phil Wilson, new CE of Auckland Council, visited the OME Eco-Hub with the Aotea Great Barrier Local Board in January. We were very pleased they took the time to come and have a chat and get the guided tour.

Pāteke counts

Every year an OME volunteer team take part in the island wide series of pāteke flock counts the Department of Conservation organise. This is carried out to stay abreast of any developments in the local population of these Taonga birds. It is easy to take them a bit for granted when living on Aotea, like the banded rail or the kākā, but actually pāteke are not at all common elsewhere.

The average number of pāteke for this years counts is ever so slightly up on last years counts with the highest number of 665 island wide, counted in the first week.

Only a proportion of pāteke visit flock sites in late summer, whilst some stay on their territories year-round, so this isn’t a total population count, but it does give us an idea of how the population is doing and allows us to compare from year to year.

Tākoketai continued

In our last newsletter we reported of the latest petrel survey in late December 2023. An additional 8 active tākoketai/black petrel burrows were discovered, totalling 19 known active burrows in the OME Phase Two area. In April Jo Sim and her canine champion Miro will be back for another sniff. Can’t wait to see what they find this time.

Our February rat monitoring results, from the mature bush areas where the petrels live, showed a very high density of rats (85%), which is likely to bring in feral cats to the area. Tākoketai are not super susceptible to rat predation, only about a 3% loss is thought to occur, but feral cats are a big threat to these special birds.

Landowner Survey

Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill in the questionnaire/survey we distributed last year. The results were showing overwhelming support for this project and reflects a community who is fully aware of what Aotea has to offer that sets us apart from so many other places in New Zealand.

If you have not seen the report yet, head to our webpage to see the full report and summary.

We are still seeking funding for the fieldwork time, but are otherwise ready to get started. Autumn is already off to a good start for huge rat numbers, so the sooner we can get started the better.

Have you seen a bittern?

We would love to know about it.

Report a bittern sighting

We hope to see you at a planting or weeding day or over the seed trays in the grow tunnel.

Have a lovely autumn

The OME team