A long-term planning process for the Hauraki Gulf called Sea Change is under way. It is intended to secure a healthy, productive and sustainable future for the Hauraki Gulf.
The first stage involves finding out which places people visit – sea, coast, and islands – and why they value these locations, and you can give your input with this online survey. If you value the Gulf please fill it in and encourage your friends to have their say as well.
Now that whiteheads have been successfully re-introduced to Shakespear the next step is to bring back the North Island robin (toutouwai). These are very sociable little fellows, often to be seen foraging just a few meters away. They are also known to sing loud and long so we expect they will be a popular attraction….
A forest gecko was recently discovered in the Open Sanctuary. Whilst this species is not uncommon throughout the north of the North Island, this is a first record of one at Shakespear so we now know that we have seven of the nine species of lizards known to live in the Auckland area. This picture shows him on…
This month’s pest plant is boneseed, also known as salt bush. Originally brought in as an ornamental from South Africa, it proved to be a pest (surprise!) because it readily colonises dry areas and soon prevents anything else from growing. This poses a threat to our coastal vegetation. Young plants have soft pale green leaves,…
STOP PRESS: one more day to go, 17th August Thanks to the hard work of the teams at the SOSSI nursery and Botanic Gardens, we have about 19,000 plants to go in this year. This is about twice as many as last year so we need lots more volunteers to help to plant them….
So far we’ve done well at keeping pest animals out of the sanctuary, but unfortunately the pest weeds are not so easily deterred. So this year we’re asking you to help manage the most invasive weeds along the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. With the assistance of Hibiscus Matters and Auckland Council Biosecurity we’ll be highlighting a different…
While dotterel are known to breed at Shakespear, prior to this year none have managed to raise their chicks to fledglings. This year four pairs have had chicks, three of them surrounded by crowds of holiday-makers on Te Haruhi beach, with about two fledgings per pair. This is well ahead of the average of half…
