Well Christmas and the New Year are past and it was time to check the traps which had been left for almost a month this time.
4 Hedgehogs and a Rat were a good result but slipping in the Mason and getting the camera wet was not! Fairly serious damage I think but won't know for a few days.
Anyway we re-baited the traps and will leave it another month before we go out again.
We have had trouble with someone throwing the traps into the river but managed to salvage 2 of them but this morning one could not be found - bored kids on School Holidays I think.
We have Banded Dotterel Chicks but I will be very surprised if any manage to grow up as the Black-backed Gulls and Australasian Harriers are busy patrolling the river bed looking for lunch.
Jane and Nick from BRaid went back up to the Conway a couple of times to check on the Black-billed Gull colony there and at the last visit counted 400 full fledged chicks. This sounds like a good result but there were a lot of dead chicks in all stages of growth and no signs of predation. Nick thinks that the main problems were lack of food and the weather.
Hopefully next year the weather settles down and they can come back and nest with us.
Unfortunately the Jet boat ride up the Waiau hasn't happened (mainly because the weather has been so bad) and it is to late now to see the Wrybills but I am still hoping that I can get someone to take me out to try and find the Black-fronted Terns.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
18-12-2013
A beautiful day in Waiau and finally some time to go down to the river and just sit.
Nothing caught in the traps last week when they were checked except another young rabbit.
Sitting by the river today made all the trap checking worth while as I spotted a pair of Banded Dotterels with their very young chick. Mum was busy pretending she had a broken wing so I knew something was nearby.
I just hope we have caught enough predators to keep it safe while it grows up! Mind you there were some very interested Black backed Gulls and an Australasian Harrier slowly flying over head all of which were seen off by Mum and Dad.
The Black fronted Terns were sweeping up and down the river fishing but I still haven't found out where they are nesting.
Finally as I was coming home I spotted an area alive with Damselflies. Now I love Damselflies and couldn't resist the opportunity to stop and get a few photos.
The other really good thing I noticed was the amount of small fish every where. Despite the early heavy flows the rivers are certainly full of life.
Nothing caught in the traps last week when they were checked except another young rabbit.
Sitting by the river today made all the trap checking worth while as I spotted a pair of Banded Dotterels with their very young chick. Mum was busy pretending she had a broken wing so I knew something was nearby.
I just hope we have caught enough predators to keep it safe while it grows up! Mind you there were some very interested Black backed Gulls and an Australasian Harrier slowly flying over head all of which were seen off by Mum and Dad.
The Black fronted Terns were sweeping up and down the river fishing but I still haven't found out where they are nesting.
Finally as I was coming home I spotted an area alive with Damselflies. Now I love Damselflies and couldn't resist the opportunity to stop and get a few photos.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
04-12-2013
On Monday this week, 2 BRaid members and I took a walk down the Conway River to see what success the Black-billed Gull colony had had there this year. It took us 21/2hours walk and 30 river crossings to get there (and the same back!) but it was worth it. Without any protection and minimal human interference these birds had done really well.
It is a big colony probably 2000 plus birds and it appeared that each pair had a least 1 chick making 3000 plus birds. Now that is what I call success. Click on the picture and see just how many birds were there and this was only half the colony.
This is what we are trying to achieve on the Waiau, the next time they chose to nest with us.
We also saw plenty of Banded Dotterels, Pied Stilts, South Island Oystercatchers as well as some Black winged Gulls (and 4 chicks), Paradise Ducks and Canadian Geese (there were about 10 geese with 5 nests).
The walk down was high cliffs surrounded by a lot of native bush and coming back we were accompanied by the calls of the Bell birds. The Manuka was in flower and a lot of native plants were showing there best colours. A truly memorable day - not least the aching body when we finally got back and the next day. Painful but so worth it.
It is a big colony probably 2000 plus birds and it appeared that each pair had a least 1 chick making 3000 plus birds. Now that is what I call success. Click on the picture and see just how many birds were there and this was only half the colony.
This is what we are trying to achieve on the Waiau, the next time they chose to nest with us.
We also saw plenty of Banded Dotterels, Pied Stilts, South Island Oystercatchers as well as some Black winged Gulls (and 4 chicks), Paradise Ducks and Canadian Geese (there were about 10 geese with 5 nests).
The walk down was high cliffs surrounded by a lot of native bush and coming back we were accompanied by the calls of the Bell birds. The Manuka was in flower and a lot of native plants were showing there best colours. A truly memorable day - not least the aching body when we finally got back and the next day. Painful but so worth it.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
01-12-2013
Just a quick post to say that one side of the Mason River traps were checked today and we got another Stoat, quite large and badly decomposed but we were pretty sure it was a Stoat not a Ferret.
I am waiting to hear if we got anything from the other side of the river as some of the others were checking that side. Will keep you informed.
The Waiau River is running high again, so I am still waiting to get up there on a Jet Boat.
Tomorrow we are off up the Conway to see how the Black-billed Gulls have made out. The Chicks should be in nursery groups by now. Watch this space.
04-12-2013
The traps on the township side of the Mason river were also checked but nothing caught. The bait was changed out so we now wait and see. I can't believe we have caught everything, so I will go down at the weekend and a try adding some nice smelly fish meal to every other trap ( we are trying this on the other side as well) and see if that makes a difference.
I am waiting to hear if we got anything from the other side of the river as some of the others were checking that side. Will keep you informed.
The Waiau River is running high again, so I am still waiting to get up there on a Jet Boat.
Tomorrow we are off up the Conway to see how the Black-billed Gulls have made out. The Chicks should be in nursery groups by now. Watch this space.
04-12-2013
The traps on the township side of the Mason river were also checked but nothing caught. The bait was changed out so we now wait and see. I can't believe we have caught everything, so I will go down at the weekend and a try adding some nice smelly fish meal to every other trap ( we are trying this on the other side as well) and see if that makes a difference.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
15-11-2013
We have just got back from checking the traps on the far side of the Mason.
We have our first Stoat, as well as a hedgehog and a rat. So we are quite pleased.
We saw a lot of Banded Dotterels and Pied Stilts and one lone Black-fronted Tern fishing.
The Banded Dotterels appeared to be mating!
We have our first Stoat, as well as a hedgehog and a rat. So we are quite pleased.
We saw a lot of Banded Dotterels and Pied Stilts and one lone Black-fronted Tern fishing.
The Banded Dotterels appeared to be mating!
Friday, November 8, 2013
09-11-2013
We checked the first lot of Mason river traps today and had a very surprising find - a young rabbit! Not sure what he was doing in there. With the remaining traps we had one which was sprung but nothing in there, 2 where the bait had completely gone and one Hedgehog.
It all helps.
It all helps.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
07-11-2013
Well what a hectic time we are having here in Waiau.
We finally got out last Friday and put traps out on the other bank of the Mason River.
This time we had rabbit, which was kindly donated by the Waiau Pig Shoot, to use as bait and as usual I am finding it very difficult to not go and see what if anything we have in the traps. The weather and time constraints have delayed us getting back to check the other traps but some are visible from the track and I know they have occupants. So it is now becoming urgent to get out and check them.
We took time this week and to take a walk down the lower section of the Waiau that we are looking after this year and were very disappointed not to see anything except 2 South Island Oystercatchers. There were a lot of Californian Quails about and a couple of Canada Geese flying over head. I had hoped to find the Black-fronted Terns nesting but apart from 5 fishing nothing. It was however an eyeopening experience seeing just how much of the river bed is silted up and the amount of growth in the form of Broom, Willows and Lupin that is there. The main channel of the Waiau is running along the town side and the rest of the riverbed shows signs of recent running water but nothing much is there now. The silt left behind by the river is so thick in places that it was more like walking on a Cobbled road than a riverbed. I am not sure who is supposed to take care of things that grow in the riverbed but I'm sure it must be someones responsibility. Any suggestions gratefully received.
The good news this week came from a group of BRaid members who took a walk down the Conway river to check out a report of a colony of blackbilled Gulls nesting there. What they found was a strong colony of about 2000 birds nesting with some chicks hatching. Some of the Waiau group will go back in about 3 weeks to check on their success. The good thing was that the local farmer was thrilled to find out that he had endangered birds nesting on his bit of the river and tells me that they come either to the Conway or the Charwell every year but not normally in those sort of numbers.
I was thrilled with this news as the Waiau has been so fulll that the chances of them nesting here this year were remote to say the least. At least they have stayed in North Canterbury and with luck will check us out next year.
So all that remains is for us to find out where the Black-fronted Terns have gone to nest and look after the Banded Dotterels nesting on the Mason.
The other thing I attempted today was to see if it was possible to get down to the area of the Waiau River behind Spotswood/Parnassus where the Wrybill nests were seen in the past. It is certainly possible to get to the river but unfortunately the deep channel was running along the bank there and there is still to much water there to get down to investigate. Roll on the dryer weather.
We finally got out last Friday and put traps out on the other bank of the Mason River.
This time we had rabbit, which was kindly donated by the Waiau Pig Shoot, to use as bait and as usual I am finding it very difficult to not go and see what if anything we have in the traps. The weather and time constraints have delayed us getting back to check the other traps but some are visible from the track and I know they have occupants. So it is now becoming urgent to get out and check them.
We took time this week and to take a walk down the lower section of the Waiau that we are looking after this year and were very disappointed not to see anything except 2 South Island Oystercatchers. There were a lot of Californian Quails about and a couple of Canada Geese flying over head. I had hoped to find the Black-fronted Terns nesting but apart from 5 fishing nothing. It was however an eyeopening experience seeing just how much of the river bed is silted up and the amount of growth in the form of Broom, Willows and Lupin that is there. The main channel of the Waiau is running along the town side and the rest of the riverbed shows signs of recent running water but nothing much is there now. The silt left behind by the river is so thick in places that it was more like walking on a Cobbled road than a riverbed. I am not sure who is supposed to take care of things that grow in the riverbed but I'm sure it must be someones responsibility. Any suggestions gratefully received.
The good news this week came from a group of BRaid members who took a walk down the Conway river to check out a report of a colony of blackbilled Gulls nesting there. What they found was a strong colony of about 2000 birds nesting with some chicks hatching. Some of the Waiau group will go back in about 3 weeks to check on their success. The good thing was that the local farmer was thrilled to find out that he had endangered birds nesting on his bit of the river and tells me that they come either to the Conway or the Charwell every year but not normally in those sort of numbers.
I was thrilled with this news as the Waiau has been so fulll that the chances of them nesting here this year were remote to say the least. At least they have stayed in North Canterbury and with luck will check us out next year.
So all that remains is for us to find out where the Black-fronted Terns have gone to nest and look after the Banded Dotterels nesting on the Mason.
The other thing I attempted today was to see if it was possible to get down to the area of the Waiau River behind Spotswood/Parnassus where the Wrybill nests were seen in the past. It is certainly possible to get to the river but unfortunately the deep channel was running along the bank there and there is still to much water there to get down to investigate. Roll on the dryer weather.
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