I think this is the worlds first photo of a freshly planted mussel bed. Altho I have been to most of Revive our Gulf’s deployments (including the first one in 2013) we have’t dived on them straight away. After taking this photo I deployed three time-lapse cameras to record suspected predation (I was happy to discover none). I also photographed a nearby bed that was laid a week ago where the mussels are standing up and had knitted together. It would be interesting to know how long it takes them to jostle into position.
Volunteers shoveling musselsMussel bed one hour old
I tried 3D printing this stencil for a penguin box so I didn’t have to cut out the letters. 5 layers at .2mm PLA. It worked great and the thin lines come out really well, but you can’t leave the stencil in the sun or it warps!
I have been counting a lot of birds lately trying to build a solid picture of how the shorebirds use the Tāmaki Estuary. In addition to regular wader counts I decided to try and also count them at night as they might use the roosting areas differently. After testing various devices including long exposure photography Pieter and I decided on expensive gear to do the survey, I bought a Luna Optics LN-DM50-HRSD Digital Night Vision Monocular (example image above) and Pieter purchased a Pulsar Helion Thermal Imaging Handheld XP38. Using these devices helped us count the birds without disturbing them which was quite important to us. Details of the trial here Tamaki Estuary shorebird survey – Wildlands.
The feeding observations were really interesting. Tho in regards to extra light – it was disappointing not to find shorebirds at Mt Wellington War Memorial Reserve where I found banded dotterel and flocks of SIPO at night last year. The reserve now has large lights for playing sports in the dark.
I think the trial study has given us enough data to understand how the shorebirds use the estuary at night. More detail would be interesting but is unlikely to affect future management decisions. Here is the Raw data. I plan to keep a better eye on the Pakuranga Sailing Club and include the data in a report to Council on roosting in the Tāmaki Estuary.
== SUPLEMENTRY NOTES ==
Access to viewing points was limited because we wanted to do the survey without disturbing the birds. All the waders identified were more easily scared at night with the exception of the mixed flock at the Pakuranga Sailing Club that was unusually calm in our presence (both day and night). Day counts followed the limited routes of the night counts for consistency, however a few birds were often seen during the day that would have been hard to see at night from the same vantage point.
No variations in flock shape were observed between day and night. The main thing that correlated with flock shape was if the SIPO were feeding. The SIPO flock spread out over 100m in diameter when feeding at Point England both on the sportsfeilds (at night) and the paddocks (during the day). The pied stilts were always grouped closely together.
I think the roosting patterns look like waders are primarily avoiding disturbance. Wide open spaces with no obstructions or light were preferred… maybe close to the water too – especially for the smaller waders? Seaside park a good example – I was surprised to see SIPO there at night. The lack of birds at Mt Wellington both Day and Night in 2018 vs 2017 is odd. Maybe the addition of the lights has also reduced the sites daytime roosting function.
I totalled the counts for SIPO and Stilts to see if there are variations in the total day vs night numbers. We are short 22.5% on SIPO, I feel like we would not have been that far off and some birds are heading elsewhere to roost, it’s not a huge number tho. I am sure we missed some birds tho, for example during the day the NNZD at Point England are so much easier to spot than at night.
After talking about my New Zealand fairy tern decoys I was approached by Australian conservationists about making decoys to attract Australian fairy tern. Although they are the same species they have brighter beaks and shorter eye patches so I modified the paint job a bit. The biggest difference between the sub-species seems to be that they flock together to nest. I imagine this will make the decoys more effective for this subspecies.
I lowered the design so it looks more like they are incubating, hopefully they will still turn into the wind ok. Photos below of the birds without spikes above and below.
PLA coated with two part epoxy resin then blasted with heat gun.
We’ve had some problems with these decoys, the black painted parts get so hot in Western Australia that the plastic melts leaving the decoys with flat hair cuts! The glass transition temperature for PLA is around 60° C. I tried covering some PLA with two part epoxy resin then warmed it up to try and simulate the issue. The epoxy worked well holding the form in shape even when I got it so hot the surface burned. However it did deform a little with bubbles and spilts, this might work as a patch up job but its not ideal, other ideas:
1. Changing the plumage to be less black (juvenile) 2. Printing with more infill (thicker heavier decoy) 3. Printing with another plastic 4. Creating moulds and using resins
I really like using PLA because it’s biodegradable and from a renewable resource but in this situation it just might not be up to the challenge. Common filament options are: ABS (won’t print with as good detail), PET (not glue-able) or Nylon (which has a lower glass temperature). I could print with plastic that has better thermal resistance like Polycarbonate, or print using dissolvable supports and no glue with something like PET but I would need a much more expensive printer. Unfortunately I think heat resistant decoys are going to be less environmentally friendly and either expensive or labour intensive 🙁
Update May 2019
Re-designed test decoys
I have made three new decoys to test, all are glued using two part epoxy.
40% infill and two coats of epoxy resin
20% infill and two coats of epoxy resin
40% infill
The numbers 1,2 & 3 are carved into the newly designed peg which is shorter but more heavy duty. The increased infill makes all of them heavier, this should help keep them down when the sand moves, if that does not work the painted legs should look more natural. The overall design of this decoy is a little more robust, it has it’s head ‘terned’ a little to help distinguish it from the other decoys I have made.
Update Dec 2019 These decoys were deployed from 3 Nov-20 December on Garden Island. They did not attract the target flock which nested elsewhere. With three of the days being in excess of 37 degrees the decoys got tested pretty well and show no signs of melting or splitting. They have been deployed in the researchers garden for further testing 😀
Photo by Claire Greenwell
Update April 2020
Decoy 2 developed a minor crack in the join, it was the weakest decoy with half as much infill for internal strength. No changes to the other two.
Here is a one page instructional guide on how to read coloured bird bands. Band observations should be sent to bandingoffice@doc.govt.nz. Many birds now have ELFs (Engraved Leg Flags) sightings of ELFs on New Zealand dotterel (even if you can not read the letters on the flag) should also be sent to the Department of Conservation banding office.
Additional notes for Tara iti / NZ Fairy tern (2024):
B = Blue (blue can fade to gray)
K = Black
M = Metal
pG = Pale green
L = Lime green
I have been helping Forest & Bird campaign for the Sea Change – Tai Timu Tai Pari marine spatial plan. I talk about some of the work I am doing in the Gulf here.
I have been working with Northern New Zealand dotterel (NNZD) for nearly five years now. I know this bird really well but I had to look a lot closer when I decided to try and make a decoy. Southern New Zealand dotterel (SNZD) are in big trouble with a small and declining population. I decided to see if a decoy would work to help capture SNZD which have been difficult to catch outside of breeding season. A well placed decoy could help position one or more birds near a leg-hold noose-mat trap or in position for a canon net.
I put the decoy about 20m away from some NNZD at Point England and on both occasions each NNZD walked over to the decoy (with head bobs) in less than two minutes. They stayed just less than 1M away for two minutes before I removed the decoy.
I need to fix the beak, refine the plumage and add spikes to the removable legs but so far it looks promising.
UPDATE: I have made a small flock of them. They are not quite right but should do the job.
I have been 3d printing New Zealand fairy tern decoys. It’s been a great challenge and a very worthwhile project. With help I have documented the why’s and hows on the Gulf Journal.
The population of any given species needs to be strong enough to handle destructive natural and made made events. Without this resilience one event can wipe a species of the face of the planet forever. In New Zealand our rarest endemic breeding bird is the New Zealand fairy tern. With a population of only 40 birds this is the breakdown for the 2017-18 season.
3-4 of last seasons surviving chicks which are too young to breed
1 menopausal female
1-2 ‘engaged’ couples who behave like they are breeding but do not lay eggs
11-14 unpartnered males (the population is short on females)
20 breeding birds (10 pairs)
It’s a fragile population with too many males (1:2 ratio). The other major concern is that during breeding season 80% of the population is on the same 40km stretch of coast. Here is where the breeding happened in 2017-18:
East coast:
Waipu 2
Mangawhai 5
Pakiri 1
West coast:
Papakanui 2
The fragility is particularly exposed when we think about the threat of an oil spill from the RMS Niagara. This wreck is a time bomb just off the coast from this critical breeding habitat. Even a small amount of the submerged oil could easily cover the fairy terns breeding grounds for weeks, starving the birds to death in a matter of days.
Book recommendation: This book by a NZ adventurer and herpetologist is awesome. It’s a refreshingly honest collection of great adventures and scientific discoveries. I throughly enjoyed Tony’s detailed descriptions of New Zealand’s treasures, his passion is inspirational. I really appreciated him sharing the highs & lows of what has been an outstanding career… so far. Get it here.
