Posts

Posted on

Decoy (failed)

After a great start at Point England I have ended the season with nothing fledged. The Dots have now left the paddock as the grass has grown too long, the farmer says he was understocked.

EGGS 10
CHICKS 8
FLEDGED 0

So what happened to the chicks? I have never seen any cats and I have looked for them at night and with the camera trap. I got to the point where dog owners are policing other dog owners about staying out of the paddock so pretty safe there. When an OSNZ member came by the paddock to do the count she saw Pukeko attack and kill a Dotterel chick. In an effort to record this behaviour I tried making a decoy.

Decoy Dotterel

A Black Back Seagull circled it but it did not land.

UPDATE: Second attempt with crouching dot and upgraded makeup… also failed. Maybe they are less aggressive when not breeding.
Decoy Two

Disinterested Pukeko

Posted on

Revive our Gulf

Pretty proud to be helping with this project. A little bit of coms strategy and photography but mostly branding, visualisation and web work so far.

Revive our Gulf
Without the filtering power of mussel reefs the waters of the Hauraki Gulf have become murkier and more vulnerable to the effects of inappropriate/poorly managed land.

 

 

Posted on

Invisible Nests

It took me so long to find this one. So far none of the chicks have survived. All signs point to Pukekeko killing them. An OSNZ member even saw it happen when they did the census in the paddock.
It took me so long to find this one. So far none of the chicks have survived. All signs point to Pukekeko killing them. An OSNZ member even saw it happen when they did the census in the paddock.
Posted on

Dead Chick

Yay a new nest
Yay a new nest
(2 days later) 1 Dead :(
(2 days later) 1 Dead 🙁
Sibbling
Sibbling
Off to the museum
Off to Auckland Museum
Wow look at the variety in coloration and size of these dotterel eggs
Wow look at the variety in coloration and size of these dotterel eggs
Posted on

Beans

I roughly sewed abou 200 beans along the first 100 meters of Omaru creek (from Taniwha St). Will be interesting to see how many take, if so how many will the school kids eat?
I roughly sewed abou 200 beans along the first 100 meters of Omaru creek (from Taniwha St). Will be interesting to see how many take, if so how many will the school kids eat?
1% will grow and school will finish before it gets big enough! You can't really plant beans in a forest.
1% will grow and school will finish before it gets big enough! You can’t really plant beans in a forest.