Levi and Riley

As locals, who love and care for Medlands Beach, we have felt the impact of the recent tragedy in the dunes here and seen the outpouring of empathy and compassion from the entire community. We would like to acknowledge the families and their loss of one boy and hope for the other’s recovery.

The Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea kaumatua has declared a four week Rāhui on the dunes at the southern end, making the place tapu as a sign of respect for the enormous loss. The area stretches from the high tide mark to the back of the dunes, and 50 metres either side of the place where the accident took place.

We will all forever remember that spot in the dunes and we hope something can be done to prevent the very loose sand and open dunes from causing more harm. This year’s various weather events have eaten away so much of the foredunes and left a very tall cliff, completely exposed. Please all be mindful; stay back from the edge both from above and below.

Winter nesters return

We have seen a few decent ground frosts this winter already. With the changing seasons comes the return of the winter nesting birds.

We really love seeing the funny little footprints of the kororā making a bee-line straight for the sea from their burrow every morning and returning home in exactly the same purposeful fashion after dusk after a day out on the open water, fishing for food. We set out a game camera to try and capture the smallest penguin in the world, but they have proved a bit elusive so far. Do keep an eye on our facebook page for updates.

Here in Medlands we have kororā (little penguins) and oī (grey faced petrels) that both lay their eggs over the winter months. They are also both ground nesting and susceptible to predation by cats.

Read Kim’s article on kororā here

Survey

OME has been in touch with most of you already to ask for your opinion on our pest control extension proposal. Thanks to everyone who has participated so far and we are really excited about all the positive responses we have received.

If you have not yet contributed to our property owners survey, here is your last chance to have your say before we get the replies analysed. Scan the QR code or click the button below to have your say.

Click here for the survey

Welcome Kim

Earlier this year we had to say farewell to Selina Ward, who has been our very reliable super trapper over the past couple of years, but a job opportunity came up that fitted better with her studies. Initially we were in a bit of a fluster (well, Lotte was) but the dust has settled on it and we have since welcomed Kim Schotel to the OME whanau. Kim is taking on a bigger job than just the traps and has already set us up with a proper instagram page, is working on upgrading our lizard motels, as well as proving a bit of a bird nerd (she will fit right in) and weed expert. We feel she is a very lucky find and we look forward to seeing what she will add to our project!

Weekend working bee

Over the Easter break OME had our first weekend working bee to try to attract a bigger crowd than we usually manage on a leisurely Wednesday morning, and boy did that work!! We managed a 17 strong planting crew which really made light work of planting a mixture of kowhai, karo, five finger and a few puriri as replacement for pampas, grapevine and Mexican devil weed. We can’t wait to see those plants thrive and create a beautiful bird feeding piece of forest.

We did bribe potential interested parties with a sausage sizzle after their hard work, which marked our first get together by the OME Eco-Hub.

The next weekend event is going to be helping Aotea Brewing to get their 1000 plants in the ground just the other side of the causeway from our project.

Check out the poster below if you would like to take part.

The OME Eco-Hub

We have finally settled on this name for our new space near the community garden. The Local Board funded this wee shed as well as a top-up to get it finished off, with display boards and a small solar system for a light and a socket to charge our data collection devices or a laptop. We have upcycled a few things from Anamata in true Aotea style and we look forward to sharing the space with all of you once it is finished.

Kim is working on a beautiful and informative display, that will keep changing with the seasons, for up to date information on anything from breeding birds to local eco-initiatives and events and everything in between. The OME volunteers are doing an unbelievable amount of hard yakka to get this place both beautiful and comfortable but also useful. They are a talented bunch!

OME Phase Two

Auckland Council has supported the progress of OME Phase Two for another year of facilitation. We are very grateful for this support and realise it is not to be taken for granted in these tough times for financial support. Working with Tū Mai Taonga , who are starting their island-wide pest control project in the north, is very likely a contributing factor as to why we have been successful in receiving this support. We really look forward to putting feet on the ground for this ambitious project.

Tākoketai

In case you missed it click here to read our recent Barrier Bulletin article about the tākoketai (black petrels) in Oruawharo and beyond.

Hopefully it will stop raining some day soon and we can pack our gumboots away for a while, but for now make sure you don’t have holes in yours before venturing out. Keep the fire cranking and remember we are on the home straight for lighter days with winter solstice behind us, or be like the kororā and make winter your time to shine.

Have a safe and warm winter

The OME team

OME webpage