Public Talk: Westland Petrels and their Influence on Forest Ecology and Biodiversity - Dr David Hawke
7:30pm – 9:00pm, Tuesday April 10
WEA, 59 Gloucester Street (opp. Art Gallery).
Petrels and shearwaters were abundant in the forested hill country of pre-human New Zealand, and they very likely contributed greatly to nutrient fluxes and ecology. Westland petrels are the only substantive remnant, and so give us a good window on the past. However, like other forested ecosystems, the Westland petrel system been subject to predatory and browsing mammals and biodiversity loss.
In this talk, Dr David Hawke will look at what the Westland petrel system can tell us, and bring in information from other New Zealand systems to try and fill in the gaps. For the most part, he will focus on the information that stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen can provide.
David's talk will be preceded by a 15-min presentation by Roland Eveleens who won a North Canterbury Forest and Bird Stocker Scholarship.
Supper and a chat afterwards.
Please make a Submission to Environment Canterbury’s Long Term Plan
Submissions close on Monday March 26 at 5pm
Recently every household in Canterbury should have been delivered an easy-to-read consultation document on the proposed ECan Long Term Plan (LTP) 2018-28.
Please read this document and make a submission on the LTP as this will significantly affect Canterbury’s environment for the next decade. This is your chance to have some input into a range of activities covering freshwater management, biodiversity, public transport changes, climate change and other topics.
We have collected together some material that may help you write your own submission here. Even a couple of sentences are better than nothing!
Submissions can be made on line: www.ecan.govt.nz/haveyoursay by following the online prompts. You can say whether or not you want to speak in support of your submission.
Alternatively email mailroom@ecan.govt.nz with ‘LTP Submission’ in the subject line. Include your name and address and state if you want to speak in support.
You can request a paper submission form from ECan: Tel. 365 3828
Please note the ChristchurchCity Council Long Term Plan is also out for submissions. We will have a piece in our next E-news on April 6th re this. Submissions close for that LTP on April 13th.
Kaikoura Weekend Field Trip
April 21 - 22 Kaikoura
The Kaikoura branch are hosting us for a weekend exploring the area and being introduced to the work the Kaikoura branch are involved with in and around Kaikoura. If you are interested in what looks to be a fascinating trip please email us. We definitely need to know numbers as some accommodation is being provided through billets and we are thinking of a group booking for the Albatross Encounter.
Numbers will be limited but if you can arrange your own accommodation that will help us so please let us know. Most people will be travelling up on the Friday. Car pooling is an option so include whether you will take a vehicle or would like a ride in your rsvp message.
Sea Week Cycle
Colleen leading about 30 cyclists from Ferrymead to Sumner beside the estuary. She and Professor Islay Marsden gave lots of information about the seabirds and what they eat.
The Sanctuary: Planting and Open Day
1:00pm onwards, Saturday April 28 Western end of Coutts Island Road
Join us down at the sanctuary as we help to restore a patch of riparian swamp forest on the south bank of the mighty Waimakariri. The plants will be a selection of Kahikatea swamp forest species eco-sourced, as local as possible. This is an opportunity for people to learn about this project with guided walks and talks as well as helping with the planting. All welcome! If you are not able to help with the planting you are still welcome to come and visit the area to see what we are achieving and join us in celebrating the transformation we are achieving.
Meet at 1pm at the end of Coutts Island north of Belfast (Main North Road -> left on Dickey's Road and follow to end) or google map. Once we've all arrived, the ranger will let vehicles through the gate and we will make our way down to the parking space together, walking the short distance to the planting space from there. There will be a porta-loo on site and ranger staff will run a BBQ and provide some hot drinks.
If you have queries contact the ranger on 0277020811 or greg.stanley@ecan.govt.nz. Late comers welcome - walk in independently or text for assistance.
KCC Children at Farewell to the Godwits
On February 25, Fiona Miller and Karen Goky-Curry (acting coordinators for North Canterbury's KCC) assisted by Sandra Wallace and Bev Alexander from Birds NZ met a group of KCC members and their caregivers out at the South Shore spit for a kids Farewell to the Godwits. As if on cue, the godwits performed to the delight of children and adults. Afterwards they read aloud Sandra Markel's book, The Long, Long Journey; The Godwit's Amazing Migration. Afterwards, they held a role-playing activity that followed the story line of the book.
March Working Bees
For more details of our working bees, please go to our website here
1:00 - 3:30pm: Sunday 25th March
332 Island Road, View Hill, Oxford
World Expert Panel Discussion: Land Use and Climate Change
7:00pm – 8:00pm, Wednesday March 28
Piano Centre, 156 Armagh Street
Christchurch is hosting the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). One hundred and twenty world leading climate researchers working on the issue of Land Use and Climate Change gather here at the end of March. There will be a panel discussion on this issue which will be free to the public but places are filling fast. For booking details see here.
Kotare Release
A short video of a release of kotare at Tuhaitara Coastal Park (Woodend, Christchurch) by Jackie Stevenson of the Bird Rescue Rehabilitation Centre can be viewed here.
Hoiho (Yellow-eyed Penguin) Sightings
Mel Young from the Zoology Department of Otago University is tracking twenty fledgling hoiho as they disperse from their natal areas in Otago and from Whenua Hou. They disperse up the Canterbury coast, and have been seen in Kaikoura, Marlborough Sounds, Golden Bay, and on the south and west coasts of Wellington. This research is a collaboration with DOC's Conservation Services Programme and has ethics approval from the University of Otago.
If you find live or dead hoiho with transmitters attached please contact your local DOC office immediately or Mel. Details of what to do are on the flyer here.
Mahoe-nui Working Bee
Get in touch!
If you have any questions, suggestions or just want to say hello then please drop us a line.
Chair - Rick Robinson (Ph: 021 251 8908) Secretary - Frances Wall Treasurer - Hugh Thorpe KCC - Karen Goky-Curry and Fiona Miller Mahoe-nui Bush - Helen Hills Website, eNews - Michael Godfrey Boyle Base - Branch Secretary Calder Green Reserve - Mick Ingram (Ph: 03 384 8080 / 021 816633)
