Signs of the Times South Featherston School designed some signs for the Wairarapa Moana Wetlands Project to help raise awareness of the threatened birds breeding around these areas. The signs were put in place and each has an attached map and some photos showing the locations. Anna Burrows, ranger and operation (Biodiversity) for DoC oversaw…
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Issue 170
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Flight will have space for three winners from each of three categories.So take your camera where ever you go these coming months. We are looking for photos of ducks and other water birds. Or good scenic shots of the wetlands where they live.
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One of our DUNZ directors featured recently in an issue of the National Farming Review. That person is Dan Steel of Blue Duck Station. The writer was none other than Lou Sanson, Director-General of the Department of Conservation. Dan was eager to point out that Blue Duck Station is 100 percent effective. Every square metre…
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Issue 170
Steve Playle of the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) was on the job in early January getting trapping work done around Boggy Pond in the Southern Wairarapa. “I started back at GW on the 9th and my first job was to get the trapping work done over 10/11 January. “Predators caught were 5 ferrets, 1…
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Issue 170
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NZ Members brave the weather. The weather was not wonderful, but Robin and Heather List are seasoned birders and the pair set off to Wairio to check on the birds and do a count. Robin said "The expedition consisted of Heather and me. We have the gear and do wetlands in squalls right cheerfully so…
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Issue 170
From New Zealand it was easy over the internet to book some days duck shooting and fishing. However the doubts begin to creep in when you travel all the way to the “Great Wetlands of the South” in this case Louisiana, USA. The Judge and I travelled to New Orleans by car starting from Dallas,…
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Issue 170
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On the trail It’s a beautiful morning on Lake Whatumā. As the last of the fog lifts and disperses, leaving the lake’s clear water exposed, Kimi and I float along the edge of the western shore quietly in our kayak. We’re looking for bittern nests and listening for the tell-tale bubbling call of chicks. Nearby,…
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Issue 170
Seasonal Change The onset of autumn sees not only the change in seasons, it also signals a hugely exciting time of the year with hunters and their canine companions excitedly make their plans for the annual ritual of spending time in the field hunting duck, quail & deer. Duck team - the home crowd: Chris…
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Wetlands are important features in the landscape that provide numerous beneficial services for people & for fish and wildlife. Some of these services, or functions, include protecting & improving water quality, providing fish & wildlife habitats, storing floodwaters and maintaining surface water flow during dry periods. These valuable functions are the result of the unique…
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If you have never heard of many of these birds, you are not alone. Waterbirds have been defined as “species of bird that are ecologically dependent on wetlands”. 1.This is the definition used by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. For the purposes of the International Waterbird Census, all species in the following families are considered…
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From around the mid-19th century, introduced species have often been considered an undesirable form of wildlife in many countries. Introduced ‘invasive’ species have been routinely identified for removal in the belief that they damage or otherwise compromise the natural purity or integrity of ecosystems.However, diverse literature within both the natural and social sciences over the…
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