Rūrū boxes for The Blade
Throughout the New Zealand bush, from late March through April is the period called the Roar; the busiest time for deer hunters because the stags are competing for hinds. The deer hunters are happy but the predator hunter volunteers looking after The
Blade, in the Kaimai-Mamaku Conservation Park, will take a break from going in to clear their traps to avoid any risk to their safety.
However, the reprieve for predators is short-lived. Data from our trapping results show that the number of predators caught in May, when volunteers go back to the bush after the Roar, rebounds dramatically. Autumn and winter is the time to work towards our goal of a secure breeding season in the coming spring.
Regular bird monitoring along the Pā Kererū track over the last five years is showing an encouraging increase in native bird numbers, particularly in the spring. Bird counts take place four times a year and, since 2016, spring each year has shown a jump in numbers and variety of species heard and seen. The hero is the chatty little robin, seen and heard in increasing numbers at every bird count, but spring and summer are their peak times.
This year the volunteers are stepping up their support for the cavity-nesting birds that are too easily killed by treeclimbing predators.
Six rūrū nesting boxes have been built, to a DoC blueprint, and are now ready to be installed in March. Rūrū can be tempted to investigate by having a solarpowered light installed nearby to attract insects, thus making a desirable neighbourhood for raising hungry chicks.
We also believe we may have a new addition to the existing bird population around The Blade; an experienced bird monitor is sure she has seen some rifleman but as yet there are no photos to confirm the sighting. As these tiniest of birds are able to cover four kilometres distance, they could migrate from Aongatete Forest Project where they have been seen for nearly ten years and are now breeding happily in nest boxes installed there.
Volunteers are building rifleman nesting boxes to offer a safer home for the even tinier chicks and these will be installed around The Blade later in autumn.
These projects are among several planned for the year by the leadership group of Friends of the Blade to make our work more effective. However, we were sad to accept the resignation of our chair, Craig Bettjeman, at the beginning of 2022. We remain indebted to Craig for all his hard work. Meanwhile, we are without a chair and have been trying hard to recruit new members not just to the group, but to our leadership group in hopes of finding a replacement for Craig.
Anyone who is interested in joining a small and enthusiastic management group or our larger pool of equally enthusiastic predator control volunteers is very welcome to contact us for more information by emailing friendsoftheblade@gmail.com