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 the AGM by saying it had been a reasonably quiet year, with only three members’ wetlands being developed, however work at Wairio Wetland was going well and good progress had been made.

He paid tribute to long-time DU supporter and Wairarapa Chapter Secretary/Treasurer Joyce Brooks who passed away shortly after the previous AGM.

Treasurer John Bishop, after his traditional warm-up joke, presented his report. He confirmed and reviewed the requirements of being a charitable trust, which include providing a mission statement, entity structure and a yearly report of income, expenditure, activities and volunteer support.

The information for the Charities Register notes DU is reliant on volunteers, with about 8000 volunteer hours a year spent on wetlands assessment and building, swan collection, and advice, education, field days, bittern project, supplying magazine content, Wairio planting and education, supporting schools, fundraising, auctions and dinners.

After running through the financials, which show a slight deficit for the year, John concluded:

“We are remain solvent, through support from membership subscriptions, auctions, grants from the Wetland Care Trust, and donations from Treadwells, Pharazyn Trust, Muter Trust, South Wairarapa Rotary and one-off grants.”

Election of Officers

The DU Board remained unchanged, with the two directors whose two-year terms were up, Jim Law and John Dermer, being re-elected unanimously.

Waterfowl and Wetland Trust

David Smith reported that the trust was in good shape thanks to the sharemarket, and despite paying out $40,000 to DU, was in a similar financial position as it was at the end of 2017.

He said the trust was doing exactly what it was set up to do: provide money to enable DU to carry on its work.

Wetland Care

Will Abel said that in line with the previous couple of years, there had been few applications for new projects, with most of the wetland creation activities centred on the Wairio Wetland.

A large wetland in Pahiatua that DU committed $5000 to three years ago had been completed, and in Masterton, DU had helped created another large wetland, to which it contributed $4000.

Royal Swan

Will Abel said it had been a disastrous year for the royal swan, with no cygnets available and even the wildlife centre at Peacock Springs, Canterbury, the usual source of swans, was looking for some new breeding stock.

“We have no idea why really, but anecdotally I suspect it is because it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing,” he said, tongue in cheek.

“If it improves next year, my supposition will be proved correct, and I will present a paper at the next conference on it.”

He said it was fortunate that there had not been many requests for swans.

Whio

Peter Russell reported that the breeding programme had had a good season, with 65 whio reared from captive pairs and 15 reared from wild clutches. A total of 72 were released.

In the North Island, 30 were released. Three older birds from last season were released on the Whakapapanui in December, and 12 birds, six males and six females, were released at Blue Duck Station in January.

The third release, on the Manganui a-te-Ao, was in early March, with eight males released at the Ruatiti Domain and four females released down the river where there was a surplus of males. Three male birds were released on Mangawhero stream on 20 March.

Peter said it was always a great thrill to take part in the releases out on the river. He has been doing them since 1997 and it has changed so much. In 2000 they released seven, compared with 72 in the past year.

In the South Island, 20 birds were released on the West Coast in January in the Wainihinihi, Arahura, Styx and Kawhake rivers; 12 birds were released on the Taipo River in March; in Tasman 10 birds were released.

Membership

Paul Mason reported that DU currently had 280 members, with 57 of those unpaid as at the AGM.

He said a second subs reminder would be sent out, following email and postal reminders subsequent to the initial subs mailout.

He noted that in the past three years, payment preferences were moving from cheque to internet banking. Credit card payments remained about the same and PayPal transactions were increasing.

More members were responding to the suggestion that DU communicated with them more by email, he said.

Website

Paul said new articles were added as events occur, with the most recent being the planting day at Wairio Wetland. Flight magazines, from No 155 to the current issue, have been loaded on to the site. Issue 29 has also been scanned and added as a PDF file.

Articles from more recent Flight magazines are being transcribed and loaded as searchable items – so far back to issue 159. Old issues are being scanned and loaded as PDFs.

He noted a drop-off in website visitors in the past three months and in response had upgraded the site-mapping software and re-registered the site with search engines.

The main files being downloaded were Flight magazines and people were also accessing the educational resources files (from Quack Club), he said.

Wairio Wetland

Jim Law reported that the wetland was in good heart, benefiting from continued restoration work, albeit at a more modest cost to DU ($4455 versus $9500 in the prior year). Work focused on more bund wall improvements ($1700), tree planting ($2000) and noxious plant control ($755).

At last, significant progress was made by the Greater Wellington Regional Council to reticulate water from Matthews Lagoon and Boggy Pond to Wairio. Earthworks have been completed but after a “weather event”, remedial work is required. This will be done this summer.

“We had provisionally budgeted to fund a portion of this work but GWRC assumed full responsibility,” he said.

Total expenditure by the Wairio Restoration Committee, not counting volunteer time, since inception 14 years ago, now stands at $220,000.

The Victoria University of Wellington School for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology remain focused on their research at Stage 3.

The Restoration Committee is still holding funds (lodged with DU) from fundraising efforts totalling $10,807. A further $15,000 grant was recently received by local donors. These funds are also being held by DU on behalf of the project committee.

As mentioned last year, Wairarapa Moana, which includes the Wairio Wetland (administered by DOC on behalf of the Crown), has been included in a Treaty of Waitangi settlement with Wairarapa iwi. “Whilst the settlement has been delayed, the local iwi has assured us that they want us to continue our good work restoring the Wairio Wetland.

“We remain of the view, though perhaps slightly biased, that DU members should be proud of this project,” Jim said.

Scholarships

Jim Law reported on DU’s new initiative offering scholarships to students doing research in a relevant area. A trial offering a total of $25,000 over three years in grants of $5000 per student so far had had little response to date.

Four universities had been approached and it was likely the first recipient of one of the $5000 grants would come from Victoria University working on the Wairio site.

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 much pressure on them too early, saying to fully train a gun dog takes two years or more.

Experience has taught him that eight dogs equals eight times more work. It was important for owners of multiple dogs to give each dog one-on-one time and make sure none were left out.

He brought along some of his $3000 worth of dog training equipment with him and explained some basic techniques such as teaching pups to respond to a whistle rather than a human voice, and as a first step for them to learn “yes” and “no”.

Through a series of anecdotes, Murray described his experiences with different breeds. Labradors, he said, were easy to train as they were one-dimensional: they liked peanut butter sandwiches and retrieving ducks.

He said the two true bird dogs were the English pointer and English setter. Murray’s not-so-successful experience with owning an English setter taught him that they are good in long-range conditions but not suited to bush-covered, short-range conditions, and can be a challenge to train.

His advice for teaching a dog to run in a straight line is to train it along a fenceline, using incremental steps, so the dog can only deviate left or right, not both ways, making it easier to control.

He concluded by saying, “We hurry our training too much. Make sure your dog is 100 per cent right before you move on.”

This year has been one of rapid growth and progress for Ducks Unlimited. Waterfowl conditions in most parts of New Zealand improved considerably and most regions experienced an excellent breeding season. Prospects for 1976/77 appear most encouraging for the ducks – however, these favourable circumstances must not lull us into a false sense of security or complacency. Our work is just as urgent – the need is still as great.

Your group’s financial situation has continued to improve and the financial statement to 31 March 1976 is enclosed for your perusal. Membership has almost doubled and continues to grow at a steady pace. We have welcomed our fifth life member, our third trade member and our fifth acclimatisation society member. We also have a growing membership from persons overseas – in Australia, Canada and the United States. In 1976/77 we aim to double membership.

‘Operation Gretel’ is now well under way and results are encouraging. ‘Operation Pateke’ has attracted much attention and we are delighted with our progress – 1976/77 promises to be a great year for the Brown Teal.

As a fundraising project, our T-shirt promotion produced excellent results and the gift card subscription scheme similarly was most successful and resulted in many new members.

At the end of the financial year, we announced our plans for project number 3 – ‘Operation HQ’. The objectives of project 3 are the establishment of a national headquarters comprising a research centre and display area, the latter designed to be a fundraising activity. Already several members have promised their entire waterfowl collections to the centre. We look forward with much enthusiasm to our third project which must, of necessity, be staged over several years.

In 1975/76 Ducks Unlimited has not been entirely inward looking and has interested itself in other related conservation projects. One such project is the Westshore plan in Napier and our director, Henry Lickers, participated in meetings concerning this matter.

We have enjoyed visits from a director of Ducks Unlimited (Canada), Mr Gerry Malaher, and from the National President of Ducks Unlimited Inc USA, Mr Gaylord Donnelley – such visits lead to a closer understanding and liaison between the international groups. In the same ways, the visit of director, Dudley Bell, to the northern hemisphere was another valuable opportunity – he has now returned with many exciting possibilities for us in New Zealand.

One of the unique attractions of membership in Ducks Unlimited is the opportunity for all to positively participate in field work – in fundraising – and in contributing ideas, knowledge, expertise etc – financial memberships means so much more than just writing a cheque for $10.

In the short time since we began, with a few hundred dollars to support the dream, significant progress has been made. However, we are still very much in the establishment period. Hard work and enthusiastic support have helped to make the dream materialise and DU is contributing in a positive way to the preservation of New Zealand’s waterfowl heritage – but there is a long road to travel.

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 the Hauraki Gulf on Brian and Wendy Simmons’ 40-foot launch.

It was an all expenses paid trip; food (breakfast, lunch and dinner), private cabins, wine, beer and all the fishing gear.

Late February 2019 was the date that suited everyone and so on a Friday afternoon, we were welcomed on to the launch.

Now, I have done many things in my life (some of which have not been done by many others...) but I never been on a “boat” this size – just MARVELLOUS!

Brian and Wendy were the most hospitable hosts you could have wished for. The conversation was lively, always interesting. We came well prepared with Sea-Legs tablets but we didn’t need them. The beer and wine flowed freely and the Drambuie was on tap. Wendy can make really nice meals in a reasonably small place and we ate well.

Brian, with his all encompassing knowledge about the landscape, scenery, history and who owns which boat and which bach was an ever-entertaining host.

We visited Governor George Grey’s mansion as well as an old copper mine.

The fishing was excellent in that we caught many, many fish. And that’s what’s it about – the thrill of the catch. Unfortunately we had put most of them back due to size. But there was plenty for the next morning’s breakfast.

We like to thank Brian and Wendy for them being most generous. We had a wonderful time with them.

And Kay and I would like to express our best wishes for a speedy recovery for Brian after his fall. Only at the last conference, did we hear about his accident. We wish him well.

This year the Weytmans and the Dermers won an auction for a night at Blue Duck Lodge.

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 chef Jack Cashmore teamed up to offer guests a 10-course degustation menu, finishing the meal with a discussion by Dan on conservation, sustainability and a better New Zealand.

Dan said in an interview after the event: “New Zealand could be the biggest conservation project on Earth.

 

“For me, the big picture is that New Zealand could lead the world in producing quality products which world-class chefs, like Jack Cashmore, want to use in the best restaurants in the world. We can also lead in the realm of biodiversity management and conservation.

“It’s a big ask to get the primary industries on board to work closely together, but if we can pull it off and be recognised as the biggest conservation project on Earth at the same time as continuing to farm, then every product in New Zealand will become more valuable,” he said.

Sharing in his philosophy is Jack, who has worked in two Michelin-starred restaurants and was head chef at Anglo in London. Since meeting almost 10 years ago, Jack and Dan have shared a vision for both the farm and New Zealand.

Their goal is for Blue Duck Station and its pop-up restaurant, The Chef’s Table at Blue Duck Station, which was open last summer, to be the best overnight and fine-dining experience in New Zealand – based on the philosophy of nature conservation and sustainability.

Jack said it was New Zealand’s array of biodiversity, open culture, and sense of community that kept him coming back. Now his second home, Blue Duck Station offers him the chance to build a small restaurant from scratch.

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 are restricted to small isolated freshwater locations, so are seldom seen. The juveniles feed during the day, hiding at night to avoid being eaten by their adult counterparts.

Mudfish may appear unspectacular, but they have some very special characteristics and they are part of our treasured taonga.

To allow them to survive in periods of drought, mudfish bury themselves in damp surroundings such as under logs, tree roots or vegetation to wait for surface water to return. By slowing down their metabolic rate and breathing oxygen through their skin, mudfish can survive up to two months out of water!

 

There are five species of mudfish and all are classified as either threatened or at risk under the New Zealand Threat Classification with the most threatened being the Canterbury mudfish.

At the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust in Christchurch, a focus to increase numbers of Canterbury mudfish is being achieved by optimising their pond environment to promote their establishment, removing predator fish species such as eels, trout and salmon and working closely with DOC to monitor and study this endangered species.

A threat to all species of mudfish across New Zealand is the depletion of habitat by the draining of swamps, wetlands and the modification of waterways and drains through mechanical clearance.

Simple mudfish habitat protection can be achieved through:

• Fencing off the wetland from stock to prevent wetland plants being grazed and trampled.
• Plant a native vegetation buffer and DOC can recommend suitable plants for riparian planting.
• Prevent invasive fish species establishing by finding out which species are in your catchment and taking care not to accidentally introduce them.
• Maintain drains and waterways using mudfish friendly methods. Create shade on the margins to minimise growth of freshwater weeds. If physical weed removal is required, clear short sections at a time.

The benefits of wetland protection and expansion are advantageous also for native bird and invertebrate species, allowing them to flourish and multiply for future generations.

 

Catherine Ott is the administration manager for the Isaac Conservation Land Wildlife Trust.