Horizons Regional Council are trying to find where freshwater mussels live. Let them know if you've found them in the Waikawa River or other spots around here. Help wanted in the hunt for hidden kākahi: Horizons Regional Council is on the hunt for kākahi and wants help finding where the important freshwater species lives. Horizons checks sites across the region each summer for kākahi (freshwater mussels), looking at a mixture of known habitats and places where kākahi may live.
Matuku-hūrepo | Australasian bittern are severely threatened, facing an immediate high risk of extinction, and yet today [30 January 2023] one was strolling around in the vicinity of 171 Strathnaver Drive, a breeding area. These birds stay hidden so it was a real treat to actually see it. 🐦 Update, 07 February 2023, I've recently been informed that an expert on Bitterns visited this area and said the foliage in this spot isn't right for it to be a breeding area.
The invasive pest plant Acacia longifolia, more commonly called Sydney golden wattle, is a problem on our coastline. Back in December 2021 Horowhenua District Council advised that they would remove various of these trees from around the village and also asked:
if people have wattle on their properties, if they would consider removing it to help stop the acacia from spreading in the community and coastal reserves.
The work in the village went ahead, but the plant is also in the dunes.
As at 08 August 2022 we’ve had about the same amount of rain as in all of 2021, and it shows. Paddocks have new ponds, the lakes on Reay Mackay Grove are starting to consume the trees and bushes around them, and the good old Strathnaver puddle has again stretched across the road. What’s new though is that the lake that develops in rainy weather in the Miratana block has actually overflowed nearly across the road, rather than just teetering on the edge of the grass verge.
Map, naming the lakes on Reay Mackay Grove. Most people know there are two small lakes at the corner of Strathnaver Drive and Reay Mackay Grove. The lakes are a haven for birdlife (and anyone who wants a quiet few moments for reflection) and attract a rich diversity of frogs, insects and many birds, including some that regularly take refuge from a busy beach.
Birds regularly include white-faced heron, spoonbills, Australasian coots, ducks, pukeko, swallows, shovelers, dabchicks, as well as sometimes pied stilts, spur-winged plover, the critically endangered bittern, the rare and elusive white heron and others.
Book cover: Life in the Shallows The wetlands of Aotearoa New Zealand. I recently became aware of a new publication — Life in the Shallows The wetlands of Aotearoa New Zealand by Karen Denyer and Monica Peters:
Featuring wetlands to visit all around the country, descriptions of the rich bird, insect and plant life that can be found there, and some of the innovative ways we can protect and restore them, Life in the Shallows is a key resource for those who want to explore, understand and care for these precious places.
Like most or all properties at Waikawa Beach we have a septic tank. Waste water disappears into it and that’s that (except for getting it regularly serviced, and triggering the pump manually if it gets stuck). In sand: a bunch of black domes, and a white box with a red light on it. Hmmm, a bunch of black domes, and a white box with a red light on it… But what’s actually going on down there?
In 2015 Horizons Regional Council produced a report on water quality in the Waikawa Stream: "Waikawa Stream and Manakau Stream Faecal Source Tracking Report”, August 2015, Horizons Report 2015/EXT/1460, authored by Michael Patterson, Research Associate and Logan Brown, Senior Scientist. The data was gathered during the period December 2014 to April 2015 but since then a lot of work such as fencing and riparian planting has been carried on that could influence the water quality in this area.
Horizons Regional Council is offering the Kanorau Koiora Taketake - Indigenous Biodiversity Community Grant for community groups who are helping to make this region a healthy environment where people are thriving. Applications for 2022 open 11 April and close 9 May 1pm. Grant applications are sought annually from community led projects that: * Support connections between nature and people * Are non-profit making * Work to restore and protect indigenous biodiversity including those that support the regeneration and continuation of mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) * Provide opportunities for public to learn about their natural environment or encourage greater use of our natural facilities and amenities (please note that beautification planting, edible forest and community vegetable gardens do not fall into this category) Unfortunately Waikawa Beach doesn’t have a community organisation that supports the environment — the Waikawa Beach Ratepayers Association’s purpose is to support the people rather than the environment.
Information today from Horizons Regional Council, who presumably should have written 2022 not 2021 for the closing dates:
Pūtea Hapori Urupare Āhuarangi - Community Climate Response Fund - Horizons Regional Council
Note that in their email about the fund they mentioned: Need some inspiration? Just some ideas that you could think about include: Investing in technology to help with predator control
Our new contestable fund for climate related projects aims to support and encourage community efforts to build resilience to the effects of climate change, or support the transition to a sustainable carbon neutral regional economy by 2050.
Graphs showing this month's rainfall and the forecast. It’s only 10 February 2022 and we’ve already had more than 150mm rain this month — great for the garden and water tanks! Now the forecast suggests another 200mm or so over 3 days this weekend, as tropical air is drawn down to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Last week’s forecast looked like this:
Graph showing forecast and map showing water being drawn down from the tropics.
You see this delicate white lattice on the grass, often after warmer and wetter weather. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Tūtae Kēhua | Basket Fungus:
Not everything in nature lends itself easily to describing and understanding. What could tangata whenua make of the grotesque and smelly structure that seems to emerge spontaneously from the earth? Its common and prosaic Pākehā name is basket fungus.
Aerial photos of Waikawa Beach, apparently from 15 September 2007. Waikawa River mouth and estuary from a small plane, looking northeast. Includes the Strathnaver lakes, Waimarie and Te Puna a te Ora (Tranquil Waters and The Wellspring of Good Health). Waikawa River and village from a plane, looking south. Includes Lake Waiorongomai and the Strathnaver lakes, Waimarie and Te Puna a te Ora (Tranquil Waters and The Wellspring of Good Health).