Planting dates, 2016
Since the formation of the Park in 1975, annual planting has greatly extended the original areas of native bush. Steeper gully areas have been fenced off and the current planting plan aims to fill gradually these.
Since the formation of the Park in 1975, annual planting has greatly extended the original areas of native bush. Steeper gully areas have been fenced off and the current planting plan aims to fill gradually these.
We now have North Island Robins at Shakespear Open Sanctuary. Many happy volunteers and Sossi members watched 20 robins released on Friday 8th April. This represented the end of the first stage of the translocation of North Island Robins to Shakespear Open Sanctuary. These robins were translocated from Mangatutu in the central North Island. This …
Shakespear Sanctuary is fortunate in having at least two mature patches of bush in Waterfall Gully and Kowhai Glen. However the intention has always been to increase the natural vegetation areas by planting more trees and shrubs. Apart from the initial amenity planting carried out in the 1970’s before the opening of the park, planting…
In a recent visit members of the Auckland Botanical Society identified a native orchid growing in the Park. Corunastylis pumila is a tiny orchid which is described as being naturally uncommon and easily overlooked because of its small size and autumn flowering.It is most often recorded from Northern North Island south to about Kawhia, East…
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….
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…
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…