By Michell Roper Massey University researchers (including Prof. Dianne Brunton and PhD student Michelle Roper) are monitoring the New Zealand bellbird (Anthornis melanura) population at Shakespear Regional Park to look at their natural dispersal back into the park and as part of a wider study on song development and dialects. Bellbirds occur on various islands…
This serious fungal disease is well established in Australia and affects plants of the myrtle family. Unfortunately this includes some common natives like rata, pohutukawa and manuka, and since the spores could be carried here by wind a biosecurity alert has been issued to watch out for it. It can also attack fruit like feijoas…
Pampas grass is our featured pest plant this month, because right now its seed heads are evident everywhere in our district. The plants form large grassy clumps with a dead leaf base. Its erect and bushy flower heads are quite attractive and easily recognised, emerging January to March, but unfortunately they are prolific producers of seeds which then blow…
This month’s pest plant is Woolly Nightshade, also known as tobacco plant or flannel plant because its leaves have a velvety texture . It has dense clusters of purple flowers, green or yellow berries about 1cm in size and oval, grey-green leaves. It is a major problem because its seeds are spread by birds, it colonises readily and it…
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….
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…
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,…
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…
The sanctuary is back to its pest-free state and DNA testing has been completed on the 26 Norway rats caught a few months back. With the aid of some earlier profiling of the genetics of rats in the Auckland region it was then possible to work out where our invaders had come from. Luckily the…
There has been a significant incursion of Norway rats inside the Sanctuary in the last few months. Following the capture of an adult rat near the campground at the end of May, a series of juveniles was caught there and in the swampy gully nearby and toward Pink Beach. A standard pest incursion response was…
