Please remind any summer visitors to keep their dogs on a lead!
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Summer holidays
December 22nd, 2019Local children investigate kiwi in their backyard
September 15th, 2015An article by Amanda Askew junior teacher At Parua Bay School
Backyard Kiwi – On Wednesday some of the Junior classes were very lucky to have a visit from Heather Hunt, the illustrator responsible for the wonderful Backyard Kiwi signs we have around Whangarei Heads. Heather spoke to us about the important role we can all take as environmental guardians of our thriving Kiwi population. The two most important ways we can help are: by watching out for Kiwi on the roads at night and keeping our dogs on leads, tied up or within a fenced property
Heather then taught us how to draw her scratchy kiwis and all the children produced their own special kiwi road sign. Some of these are on display in the office alongside some writing Room 14 children have done in response to their investigation into the Backyard Kiwi project.
We would like to thank Heather Hunt for coming in and sharing her special talent and knowledge with us.
Protecting our kauri
April 28th, 2015Locals working on the Manaia Pest control project in the winter of 2014 realised that the magnificent kauri on the mountain are vulnerable to the dreaded disease known as kauri dieback (Phytophthora taxon Agathis).
The fungus, which enters through the root system, is carried in soil, and so dirty boots are a likely vector of transmission.
Fortunately, so far KDB has not been identified on Manaia. However, with up to a thousand visitors each week using the Manaia track, the risk of introducing the fungus is high.
Locals have now installed a boot cleaning station at the entrance to the track – it is very important to clean all dirt off boots and shoes and then spray with the disinfectant.
Heather Hunt – Backyard Kiwi illustrator – has designed an arresting “Foot Traffic Light” for Northland Regional Council and NRC hope to install the Foot traffic lights at cleaning stations around the Northland.
Targeted Rate how to make an on line submission
April 10th, 2015How to make an on line submission supporting Whangarei Heads Pest Control through the NRC long Term Plan
Go to NRC website www.nrc.govt.nz/ltpfeedback “Have your say” LTP 2015-2025
Go to Login/Register (if not registered follow the registration process and then re enter through www.nrc.govt.nz/ltpfeedback
Once logged in select ‘read and submit on document’
Go to next page (2) – and at bottom ‘Have your say – Do it online: go to Have your say’
Go to Make Submission – (blue tab, top right)
A series of boxes will come up, Box 2 is Whangarei Heads pest management. Click on the circle “agree” is you agree with the proposed targeted rate.
Type in the comments boxes your reasons for supporting the proposal (see email for possible examples of reasons for support).
If you would like to speak at the public feedback sessions click the circle for this at the bottom of the document.
Click the submit button.
Possible points for inclusion in a submission to NRC regarding Targeted Rates for Whangarei Heads Pest Control
Most important point – be clear that you are in support of the proposal, and that you support Option 1 (set rate per of $50 rating unit).
Without the predator trapping programme carried out for the past 15 years the kiwi population at Whangarei Heads would be gone by now.
Without ongoing predator trapping the survival rate of kiwi chicks has been measured at 5%. Predator trapping has been shown to increase survival of kiwi chicks to 60%.
Without ongoing financial resourcing of this trapping programme the gains made in the past 15 years will be very quickly eroded – and our grandchildren will not be able to hear kiwi in their backyards.
We know that our predator control programme is working. The Kiwi call count for Whangarei Heads has risen from an average of 2.9 calls/hour/station in 2002 to 7.1 calls/hour/station in 2014. This increase in population from approximately 80 to over 500 adult kiwi is a result of the predator trapping and community engagement on dog control at the Heads. This is allowing the kiwi population to expand northwards and inland of the original managed area.
We are proud of the community driven kiwi recovery at the Whangarei Heads.
The Whangarei Heads community is to be congratulated on their dog control as over the past 10 years the number kiwi deaths due to uncontrolled dogs has dramatically reduced even with the big increase in the size of the kiwi population present.
Support of targeted weed control at Whangarei Heads is also acknowledged as crucial to maintain the special biodiversity values of the area.
A targeted rate means that those that benefit the most from work being funded pay for it.
Kiwi Call Counts Complete for 2010
August 2nd, 2010July saw the end of 2010 “Annual kiwi call count” – when volunteers brave the cold and listen at fixed locations for 8 hours over 4 nights to record the number of kiwi calls. We do this to monitor overall trends in the kiwi population at the Heads. This year our overall call count averaged 4.1 calls per hour over 17 listening stations – slightly up from 4.0 calls per hour in 2009 and well up from 2.4 in 2007. For more detail, click below.
How are our kiwi coping with drought?
April 25th, 2010Thanks to the ‘smart technology’ of the chick timers we have on eight of our adult kiwi in the Whangarei Heads, we know that they are ‘getting up’ at around 6.00pm, and are active for 11 to 12 hours at the moment. This is not all that unusual for this time of year.
We also know that they are tending to hang around in the gullies and damper areas, where insect numbers have held up. Not surprising.
And finally we know that it won’t be a good year for kiwi chick numbers, with most kiwi only having a single clutch of eggs, and none of the monitored birds having the possible 3 clutches. The young kiwi are probably being pushed out to the drier, tougher environments where they are more at risk from uncontrolled dogs and other predators.
But with the huge cricket population brought on by the drought conditions, some of those kiwi will be in lush ‘pasture’. In fact, results from kiwi chicks monitored by DOC in Northland show that one bird reached 1200g at a little under 6 months old – the only one to have done so out of hundreds of chicks over the years. Another reached 1kg at 139 days old (record to 1 kg has been 131 days, it wasn’t far behind).
So, as long as we keep on with the predator control, and people continue to keep their dogs under control, and we watch for kiwi on the roads at night – our kiwi populations will continue to grow despite a bit of a trough of kiwi recruitment this year due to the bad drought conditions.
Todd Hamilton
Project Manager, WHLF
021 1145 385