The Whanganui AGM has come and gone and very successful it was, with the bus trip to Bushy Park being a highlight. My thanks go to William Abel and Adrienne Bushell for organising it for us. The Wairio Wetland is progressing well with the diversion of water from Matthews Lagoon having been completed late summer…
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This year’s Ducks Unlimited New Zealand’s 45th conference was held at the Collegiate Motor Inn in Whanganui, with just over 50 attendees. The weather was kind and, after a bitterly cold, wet and windy Friday, turned on the sunshine in time for the field trip on Saturday, 3 August. President Ross Cottle opened proceedings at…
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The guest speaker at this year’s conference, Murray Stevenson, spoke about gun dogs and the importance of training them to suit the terrain. The three main groups of gun dogs – retrievers, spaniels and pointers/setters – all have very different temperaments and purposes. He stressed the importance of letting puppies play and not putting too…
An abridged version of the president’s report at DU’S second AGM. PRESIDENT’S REPORT – I.H. PIRANI Presented at the second annual conference of Ducks Unlimited (NZ) Incorporated at the White Heron Lodge, Kilbirnie, Wellington on Saturday, 24 April 1976 This year has been one of rapid growth and progress for Ducks Unlimited. Waterfowl conditions in…
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One of this year’s auction items was a two-night fishing trip in the Hauraki Gulf for four people. Kees Weytmans has been there, done that, so here’s what this year’s winners can expect. At the 2018 conference auction in Hamilton, John and Diny Dermer and Kees and Kay Weytmans won the two-night fishing trip in…
On a parcel of land at Mangaone in Raetihi, in an area that was once an unproductive, narrow, boggy drain bound by strong ridges, co-owners Graeme Berry and Paddy Chambers saw a potential habitat for waterfowl. DU Patron Di Pritt says, “Since Graeme and Paddy Chambers have been involved at Mangaone, from 2004, they have…
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Ducks Unlimited wishes to record the passing of Jonathan Williams Preston, 90, of Raetihi, at the end of last year. Jon was generous with his support of DU and had enjoyed seeing the land that he previously owned being transformed by Graeme Berry and Paddy Chambers who bought it in 2004. Jon was also a…
In 2012 a wetland was created at DU Director Dan Steele’s property, Blue Duck Station in the Ruapehu district, but things haven’t gone exactly as planned. Water has tunnelled under the pumice layer – the hills are predominantly pumice – to the next hard layer, first creating an underground leak, which DU’s John and Gail…
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Dan Steele, the man with the gavel at the yearly DU auctions, headed to Wellington the week after the AGM to play to a different kind of crowd – at Homewood, the home of the British high commissioner, as part of Wellington on a Plate, the city’s month-long celebration of good food. Dan and UK…
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Most New Zealanders are unaware of the existence of this little known but special species of fish, let alone seen one. If you were to cross an eel with a whitebait – this is what the Canterbury mudfish looks like. Small, tubular and lacking scales, the adults are 10 to 12cm long, generally nocturnal and…
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When more than 900 brown mudfish in the Wairarapa were transferred to a new wetlands habitat to make way for wastewater storage reservoirs, the district council initially claimed it was a success, but it was later learnt that most of the fish did not survive. Fish & Game reported that the project in December and…
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The Department of Conservation has high hopes for the upcoming whio breeding season in Fiordland. About 64 breeding whio were found earlier this year in a survey of a security site for the blue ducks. Senior ranger Andrew (Max) Smart says this means the northern Fiordland site is the first in the South Island to…
Flight magazine has a copy of The Forest for the Trees, a book by Wayne Bennett, of Forest Flora, to give away. Wayne says his book explains the benefit of observing natural areas carefully and using this knowledge as a template for restoring forests and wetlands. He is the co-ordinator for Ecosourced Waikato, a project…
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A planting day for Victoria University students and Ducks Unlimited members at Wairio came with a few more mod cons than usual, thanks to DU President Ross Cottle. He arrived in his motorhome with Big Red, the side-by-side in tow, which meant hot cups of tea and sausages for lunch and the easy delivery via…
Ducks Unlimited recently received a substantial donation to put towards its restoration work at Wairio Wetland. Janet and Patrick Velvin, who live in South Wairarapa, are passionate about conservation, particularly water conservation, and contacted The Gift Trust, a philanthropic advisory service, to identify suitable causes they could support. Cheryl Spain, executive director of The Gift…
The brown teal (pāteke) is one of three endemic teal to New Zealand and the only one to fly. Both the Auckland Island and Campbell Island teal are flightless. Mainly nocturnal and half the size of a mallard, this shy, omnivorous duck spends time on land foraging for invertebrates, seeds, fruit, grass, and foliage. With…
Ian Jensen writes about the ‘necessity of continuance’ in the war against pests. For several years, no records were kept to show the numbers of predators dispatched on the property, though one Tims trap early on accounted for about 35 ferrets over three years. In February 2008 a comprehensive record was started, compiled mainly from…
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Interested in studying wetland birds or wetland restoration? – the Wetland Care Scholarship could be for you! Background/purpose Wetland Care Research Scholarships are Ducks Unlimited-sponsored scholarships applicable to any student currently enrolled or affiliated with a New Zealand university. Funds are aimed at encouraging and supporting students who wish to push the boundaries of what…
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