Call for Blenheim to get behind dawn chorus
Blenheim could enjoy its own ‘dawn chorus’ if a volunteer predator trapping programme gets underway in the town and its surrounds.
Captain Cook’s botanist John Banks described the chorus of early morning bird calls awakening him at Queen Charlotte Sound in 1770 as the most melodious wild music he had ever heard ‘‘almost imitating small bells ... .’’
Rats, mice, weasels, stoats, ferrets and possums have dulled the bird call significantly since their introduction, and Dawn Chorus groups around the country are battling the foe to our feathered friends.
Picton Dawn Chorus coordinator Siobain Browning told members of the Marlborough District Council environment committee last week there was strong interest in a similar group being set up in Blenheim.
‘‘We’re getting inquiries from Blenheim. It just needs someone to take ownership, to drive it like we did here [in Picton] and it would be successful.’’
Browning said most of the support at Picton came from older people. In a tip to any Blenheim group that might start up, she said it was important to diversify membership.
‘‘We need more young people and families,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s a great activity for children, getting out in nature, taking a walk with a purpose. It can be like a treasure hunt, searching for the traps.
‘‘At Rarangi they have a system where they calculate how many birds they’ve saved based on what they catch.’’
Support for the Picton group had been strong from the outset. Marlborough District Council stepped in with $17,000 in 2016 and a further $23,000 this year, and the group also raised $5000 off its own bat in 2016, $50,000 this year and was aiming for $100,000 in 2018.
Browning enjoys the support of 70 volunteers, 120 members and almost 280 other supporters in the Picton and Waikawa community.
The volunteers had given 4000 hours in the past year and trapped 700 rats, 400 mice, 361 possums, two hedgehogs, two weasels and one stoat.
A recent ‘pop-up shop’ had seen 200 traps sold for placement in local gardens, and garden trappers were asked to submit their catch data on the Picton Dawn Chorus website. Volunteer sign-up and rosters were also available on the website. More people were needed to check traps on the Victoria Domain each week, and volunteers only needed to be available for a couple of hours once a month.