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Marked areas are roughly where, 5 years on from the photo date, new dunes are growing and birds nest in season. Motorbike and quad bike racing; ripping up the dunes — bad behaviour by a few over the Easter holidays was damaging and dangerous. Between the sea and the settlement of Waikawa Beach lie the sand dunes. Grasses such as Spinifex, Pīngao and Marram help hold the sand, binding it in place. -
Game Bird Season starts 06 May 2023
Shooting always starts around dawn, so if you have nervous animals be alert early on 06 May 2023 for the sounds of gunfire. Information from Fish & Game NZ — Game Bird Season: Saturday 6th May is Opening day. We always hear gunfire from Lake Huritini at the south end of Walkers Lane. -
Waikawa in the old days
Aerial view of Waikawa in 1962. Note: Manga Pirau Street is only half as long as it is now and the river turned toward the sea at that point too. Photo: from the Archive of the Waikawa Beach Ratepayers Association, aerial photo from 1962, showing Drake, Arthur and the northern part of Manga Pirau Streets. First published 17 April 2020. This Covid–19 version of Waikawa Beach, with roads empty of cars, vans and trucks, is how some longtime locals remember the good old days: “Waikawa the way it used to be”, as one said on Facebook. -
Caspian and White-fronted Terns on the beach
Part of the flock of terns, with sea as backdrop. It’s autumn so we’re seeing different birds on the beach now. On the beach this morning was a sizeable flock of the fairly sleek black-capped Tara | White-fronted Tern. The photo shows about 1/3 of the flock. Nearby was a pair of the much chunkier Taranui | Caspian Tern with their distinctive orange beaks — I suspect an adult and a youngster. -
Tāringi | Common starling
Another very common bird everywhere is the Tāringi | Common starling: Length: 21 cm; Weight: 85 g Similar species: Common myna | Maina, Song thrush | Manu-kai-hua-rakau A medium-sized glossy iridescent black songbird with tiny white spots, a tapering pointed yellow bill (black in winter and in juveniles), and a short tail and orange-red legs. Males have dark eyes and females have a pale brown edge to the iris; juveniles leaving the nest are pale greyish brown and lack white spots. -
Additional HDC LTPA Consultation Event, 18 April 2023
Horowhenua District Councillor Rogan Boyle emailed to ask me to advise the community of an Additional Long Term Plan Amendment Consultation Event: Just wanted to reach out and let you know we’re putting on an additional LTPA consultation event further South at Manakau Hall on 18th April [2023] at 7PM. It’ll likely focus heavily on the Rates Review, with a little more detail on the rural side of things. If you could let your community know … so that they’re aware if they would like to come along that would be great. -
Tiu | House Sparrow
Sparrow flanked by waxeyes at the feeder. This is one bird that surely everyone know — Tiu | House sparrow: Length: 15 cm; Weight: 28 g Similar species: Dunnock, Chaffinch | Pahirini, European greenfinch A small songbird species in which breeding adult males have chestnut-brown, white and grey plumage with a distinctive black bib, grey underparts, variegated brown and white backs and wings, a robust black conical bill, dark brown eyes and dull pink legs. -
Tītī wainui | Fairy prion
This bird was found in distress on the beach in May 2018. a Tītī wainui | Fairy prion: Length: 25 cm; Weight: 120 g Similar species: Fulmar prion A small prion, blue-grey above and white below, with a blackish ‘M’ across the back from wingtip to wingtip, a black tip to the upper tail, and blue bill, legs and feet. In the hand, it has a relatively chunky bill lacking comb-like lamellae along the margins of the upper mandible, and a broader black tip to the upper tail and more ill-defined facial markings than the other prion species. -
Makipai | Australian Magpie
Such a common bird, the Makipai | Australian Magpie: Length: 41 cm; Weight: 350 g Similar species: Magpie-lark A large black-and-white songbird in which the adult male has a white hind-neck, rump and shoulder patches, upper tail and under-tail coverts. The female is similar, but the mantle may be grey, and the black parts of the plumage are less iridescent; both sexes have a blue-grey bill with a dark tip, and red eyes. -
Progress report, Waikawa Beach Community Committee April 2023
I received this report prepared by: Debra Betts Date 5/04/2023: When the Waikawa Beach Community Committee first met on the 17th of July 2022, one of the aims was to keep the community informed of issues relating to beach access. One of the action points from the first meeting of this committee was to follow through on the Horowhenua council plans to prepare a report on vehicle beach access options for Waikawa beach. -
Kororā | Little Blue Penguin
Penguin on the beach. In April 2021 John Hewitson, Chair of the Waikawa Beach Ratepayers Association, was walking along the beach north of the river when he spotted a suspicious looking black lump on the sand. A closer look revealed a penguin totally entangled in black fishing net, unable to swim or feed. Kororā | Little penguin: Length: 33 cm; Weight: 1 kg Similar species: Fiordland crested penguin | Tawaki A small, stocky, dark blue and white penguin with a long, robust, dark hooked bill, blue-grey eyes, relatively short flipper-like wings, and pinkish-white legs and feet. -
Pārera | Grey duck
Mallard ducks on left and grey duck on the right. When you look closely at the Strathnaver lakes, Waimarie and Te Puna a te Ora, you discover that not all the birds splashing around there are Mallards. A close look at some of my photos revealed Pārera | Grey duck (maybe hybrid) as well: Length: 50 - 60 cm; Weight: 900 - 1200 g Similar species: Mallard | Rakiraki A large darkish brown duck with a grey bill, khaki legs, dark brown eyes, and pale buff-edged body feathers. -
Traffic counters on Waikawa Beach Road, April 2023
Cars stopped across an intersection. Traffic jam at the intersection, SH1 and Waikawa Beach Road, 05 February 2018. Recently a couple of traffic counting cables have appeared on Waikawa Beach Road just outside the blueberry farm. I asked Horowhenua District Council what the count was for: Request Number: 222919/2023 Description of Request: in the last couple of weeks a pair of traffic counter cables has been laid across Waikawa Beach Road not far from State Highway 1. -
1950-1980 Waikawa Beach history bits
Aerial photo August 1965. Identifier: HDC 00365:2:16. Dated: 07 August 1965. Scale: 3 Chains to 1 inch. Company: Aero Surveys. Negative: 121020. Shows the following features: Waikawa Beach Road, Drake Street, Arthur Street, Manga-Pirau Street. I recently came across some snippets of Waikawa Beach recent history in History of Waikawa Beach by Ron Averes Horowhenua, Pages 75 to 81, Otaki Historical Journal, Vol 5, 1982. Available from Levin library. Did you know? -
Tōrea | South Island Pied Oystercatcher
We have two kinds of Oystercatcher at Waikawa Beach. The Variable and the Tōrea | South Island pied oystercatcher whose conservation status is Declining: Length: 46 cm; Weight: 550 g Similar species: Variable oystercatcher | Tōrea pango, Chatham Island oystercatcher | Tōrea tai A large solidly-built black-and-white wader with a long straight bright orange bill and stout pink legs. The sharply delineated border on the lower breast between the black upperparts and white underparts is diagnostic. -
Spur-winged Plover
The Spur-winged plover is a fairly common sight around the beach, the Strathnaver lakes, Waimarie and Te Puna a te Ora, and in paddocks: Length: 38 cm; Weight: 350 - 370 g A large stocky wader with yellow bill, facial wattles, eye rings and 'spurs' at the carpal joints of each wing, black on the crown and hind neck extending to the breast, and long reddish-brown legs. The rest of the head, neck and under parts are white, the mantle, back and coverts are uniform light grey-brown contrasting with a white rump, and the black tail has a white base and thin white tip. -
Tips about trapping wildlife such as cats
Unknown ginger cat with caught rabbit. Beverley Dowling recently posted some very useful info about trapping problem animals such as cats. Beverley used to live at Waikawa Beach but is now Cat Education and Bylaw Compliance Officer in Whangarei. She advises: To folks wanting to trap animals eg cats. Please Plan first Trap second Before trapping please have a plan in place. Consider How will you ascertain cat is truly wild or a cat that's been lost for a while in survival mode? -
Tarāpuka | Black-billed gull
Down in the estuary recently was a seemingly lone Tarāpuka | Black-billed gull just standing around in the shallow water. It's extremely similar to the Tarapunga, Red-billed gull: The black-billed gull is more slender than the red-billed gull, with a longer bill. Tarāpuka | Black-billed gull: Length: 35 - 38 cm; Weight: 230 g Similar species: Red-billed Gull | Tarāpunga A medium-sized white gull with pale grey wings and back, white-tipped black margins to the main flight feathers, white iris, red eye-ring, black legs and a relatively long straight black bill. -
Tīrairaka | New Zealand fantail
This little Tīrairaka | New Zealand fantail (Pīwakawaka) was flitting about down by lake Te Puna a te Ora (The Wellspring of Good Health) at the corner of Strathnaver Drive and Reay Mackay Grove. Length: 16 cm; Weight: 8 g Similar species: Willie wagtail A small songbird with greyish head, white eyebrows, brown back and rump, cinnamon breast and belly, white and black bands across the upper breast, and a long black and white tail. -
In Waipū the community is talking about vehicles on beaches
Up in Waipū in Northland the community is talking about vehicles on beaches. They have issues like those at Waikawa Beach: on the one hand a desire to protect bird life and concern about damage to the reserves and sand dunes – needed as a protection against sea level rise and climate change. On the other the vehicle access is important for people with disabilities and mobility issues, who can have improved mental health just by driving along the beach, and also the vehicle access is often used by people fishing – who would struggle to carry all their fishing gear down the beach. -
Groundwater, seawater, septic tanks and saline ingress
Black-billed Gull on the sand in the sea. Some days I stroll down to the beach and look out at the sea. It’s pretty clear really: beach here, sea there. Or so you’d think. It’s not actually that simple — for one thing, the sea doesn’t just exist above the solid surface. It saturates the ground below it and beside it so salt water can reach underground far into the landscape. -
Stormwater discharge into the Waikawa River
It was interesting to find in a LGOIMA request document (4.7 MB PDF) dated 03 February 2021 the information that at Waikawa Beach: There is one stormwater discharge outfall in Waikawa Beach, which discharges into the Waikawa River (shown in Figure 4.) It goes out through that drain in Hank Edwards Reserve. It would be interesting to know how that behaves at times of high rainfall, high river flow, high tide. -
Toilet block cost per an LGOIMA request
It's interesting what you stumble across while looking for something completely unrelated. This is the Response - Official Information Request to a query about the toilet block at Hank Edwards Reserve: The public toilet facility at Hank Edwards Reserve is the only public toilet facility available in a perimeter of approximately 10km. The next available public toilets are in either Otaki or Levin. The total cost of the project is $369,687 plus GST. -
Recreation and the Wilderness.
Recreation and the Wilderness. Little dots: the Dotterels, Ngutuparore | Wrybill spotted 06 March 2023, Ngutuparore | Wrybill. -
Pohuehue and stinging nettle help native butterflies
The Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust is concerned most people do not know about the country's native butterflies. Jacqui Knight said Kiwis loved the monarch butterfly, and grew swan plants to encourage them, but our New Zealand butterflies needed support too. "Every butterfly species has its own family of plants. We have a gorgeous red admiral butterfly and its host plant is stinging nettle," she said. The problem was most people saw stinging nettle and thought: 'Let's get rid of it.
