An AED has now been installed outside the woolshed. There is another unit at the toilet block at the wharf end of the island. Hopefully, we will never need either, but it's good to know one is close in case we ever do.

New Weeding Software

We are trialling the new CAMS software to help control our invasive weeds on Motuihe.



HOW YOU CAN HELP!

You can register any sightings of large moth plant vines (in particular with pods) and
areas of woolly nightshade (tobacco weed) through iNaturalist.nz

If you need any help with setting this up and logging weeds, get in touch at operations@motuihe.org.nz
 

Female wētāpunga at 2020 release (Jackie Rutherford)

 

On a beautiful sunny day which has become the norm for our midweek weeding trips (hope this doesn't jinx us!), a small dedicated crew dealt with moth plant vines off Lois's new Biodiversity track. We were joined by 2 delightful ex-pats from Switzerland, who have promised to return next time they are visiting family in Auckland.

At times we found ourselves waist deep in destroyed moth plant vines, which was a great feeling!  A productive day with many pods added to our rapidly filling pod pit.
 

Sunday 11th May - General Volunteer Day
 

A full water taxi with several teams on board with tasks to cross off their project lists.

Three new penguin homes were installed in a secluded bay at the southern end of the island.  This is a perfect kororā habitat for some lucky birds, the nest boxes will allow them to come ashore and raise their chicks undisturbed by visitors to the island. You can learn more about the plight of kororā, and what the NZ Penguin Initiative are doing to help: https://www.nzpi.nz/.  We are very grateful to the NZPI for the ongoing support they provide while we get our penguin monitoring programme up and running.

A grand effort from the 4 track clearers with 100m cleared - a tough but rewarding day at the outdoor office! Another 100m to go before the Snapper Bay to Billy Goat Coastal Track is completed.

Bird calls were heard from Billy Goat Point, as the fluttering shearwater team got their sound system working, the remotely accessible camera was also installed and activated. Initial signs are that our fluttering shearwaters have started to investigate nest boxes, getting ready for the upcoming breeding season.
 

The shearwater team then joined the track-clearing team for a bit of clearing before both teams finished for the day and headed back to Ocean Beach for a well-deserved swim.

A full water taxi headed over to Motuihe on a day perfect for planting - not too hot, with rain in the forecast.  

It was wonderful to be putting kakabeak (Clianthus puniceus) into the ground after several months of dedicated work in the nursery - propagating, pricking out and potting on. It was also good to be able to plant them early in the season, giving the young plants plenty of time to settle into their homes before the next summer. The team planted kakabeak into 3 sites - on the cliff tops above the wharf road, on the southern side of Disaster Gully, and on the cliff edge west of the Woolshed.
 

Planting at Disaster Gully (Ajay Yadiki)

A total of 159 kakabeak were planted across these sites. The Wharf road site proved particularly challenging to plant as access involved clambering through dense bracken and Gahnia lacera - not so easy when carrying spades and buckets full of plants!
 

Planting at Wharf Bay (Ben Goodwin)

Meanwhile, back in the nursery, Monica worked with the volunteers to prick out our rapidly growing koheriki (Scandia rosifolia) seedlings, which hopefully will be ready for planting later in the season.

To top off a brilliant day, we are starting to see early flowering of our kakabeak plants in the nursery and at the South Beach site - hoping for a large number of seeds this year to boost our plantings next winter.
 

Flowering kakabeak at South Beach (John Laurence)