"Nature has been for me, as long as I

remember, a source of solace, inspiration, July 2008 Newsletter

adventure, and delight; a home, a teacher, a
companion."

— Lorraine Anderson
50th Anniversary Edition

Horowhenua Branch Beginnings

Prior to the Horowhenua Section local Forest
and Bird members were under the auspices of
the Manawatu Section.
In 1964 I received a letter, dated 11 August,
from Pam Lewis Hon Secretary for the
Manawatu Section informing me that on 19
August 1964 there would be a meeting in
Otaki to form a Horowhenua Section. The
letter pointed out that a Horowhenua Section
would better serve local members.
At this meeting, held in the supper room Otaki
Memorial Hall, the Horowhenua Section was
formed. Despite appointing interim office
holders (Chair J. Hill-Motion and Secretary
R.J. Hay) it was nearly 12 months before
permanent office holders were elected. The
first chairman was Eric Johns, long time
Waitohu Valley resident and the Hon
Secretary his eldest daughter Pat.
It didn’t take long for the section to get
attention as a notice sent to Horowhenua
I wish the branch all the best for the future.
members calling a meeting for 2 December
1964 contained information that caused
disquiet at Forest and Bird Head Office. Roy
Nelson, Forest and Bird President at the time,
attended the December meeting and from my
recollection gave an eloquent talk on the
virtues of the Society and its executive.
Trips I remember going on were to the
Mangaone Valley (prior to it becoming a
walkway) and to Bushy Park.
The section lost its Chair and Secretary in
1967 and the section seems to have eventually
languished. (I had left the area, in January
1968, and hence lost touch with the section.)
In July 1969 the section was “resurrected”
when N.E. Dalmer (Norman) convened a
meeting in Levin. I had several discussions
with Norm over the years but, bless him, he
never really accepted the section (later to be
a branch in 1974) started at Otaki in 1964.
For many years an annual meeting was held in
Otaki possibly a reflection of the branches
many Otaki members. I believe it originally
reflected that the Branch had its beginnings
in Otaki but can’t substantiate that.
Ian Cooksley: Manakau.
WAIKANAE RIVER WALK
Winter showed its face on May 3, with a brisk southerly and
a sprinkling of snow on Kapakapanui and Mount Hector. Nev-
ertheless, a dozen walkers gathered at the Waikane River
Estuary for an amble round the lagoons and up the river as
far as the impressive new foot bridge. There we crossed to
admire planting by the Waikanae River group on the south-
ern side, then stopped in the picnic area to enjoy our lunch
and a short burst of sunlight, before heading back the way
we came.
A highlight in the early part of the walk was the sight of
the old macrocarpa by the northern-most lagoon, festooned
with black and pied shags, some nesting, with a few royal
spoonbills sitting on very the top of the tree. We also saw
spoonbills feeding both in the estuary and the lagoons, and
plenty more shags keeping a look-out from rocks and
branches. We heard tuis in the pohutukawas near the la-
goons
Among the many waterbirds on the lagoon were New Zea-
land shovelers (keeping as far away from us as they could),
scaup and dabchicks. We sighted Henry, Henrietta and
Thomas, the famous trio of two swans and a goose, swim-
ming in the northern pond with some of their offspring. As
we returned we had a good view of a white-fronted heron Grace Hunt’s granddaughter Lauren
and two spoonbills feeding on the edge of the river.
It was a treat to see so much bird-life and to see the great
effort that has gone into planting the area. The consensus
of our group seemed to be that it was a very enjoyable and
informative walk. Belinda McLean

AN IMPORTANT EVENT FOR OTAKI

One Saturday afternoon, late in May, 150 interested people assembled at
Chrystall’s Bend to participate in the official opening of the Walkway to
Chrystall’s Bend and the stopbank. This stopbank will give protection to
Otaki township from flooding.
Hira Royal, from Rangiatea Church, led us in a blessing and a song of praise
and then after the official speeches we were able to cross the new Waimana
Bridge to view the lagoon and the picnic area.
1000 plants were laid out, holes already dug, and the people present got
these planted in record time and were then able to enjoy a sausage or two
provided by the Otaki Fishing Club.
Many Forest & Bird members were present at this celebration and some of
these people are part of FOTOR ( Friends of the Otaki River) group that has
been very active over the last few years growing and planting in this area.
Nearly 5000 plants have been put in already and 4000 more are to be
planted before the end of the year. Congratulations to these people
for their achievements so far and I know we will be hearing more on this
project in the future.
I would recommend this walkway to our members. It is only 2 Kms of level
The Royal Spoonbill
walking East alongside the Otaki River and it is open to walkers and cyclists
on weekends—after 12.00 on a Saturday—and after 5.00PM on weekdays.
Parking is available at the entrance to the Highway to the Sea walkway on
Highway One just before Otaki Bridge. Margarette
 Just a sample of what we saw on this enjoyable outing to Bushy Park

BUSHY PARK RE-VISITED

14 of us set off from Levin on Saturday 14th of June and when we arrived we were fortunate to
find that Allan Anderson, chairman of the Bushy Park Trust, was there and he was able to tell us
the homestead history, the latest developments and what to look out for along the tracks.
After Devonshire tea/coffee we set off along the Ratanui track listening to the birdlife, identi-
fying the lush plant life and finding an abundance of fungi. Our photographers had great fun en-
ticing Robin onto the track so that they could get good shots of them.
Back in front of the homestead for lunch and then off towards the wetland area. In front of the
homestead a great number of tree Lucerne have been planted and to our delight there were
flocks of up to 50 pigeons feeding on them and then taking off towards a stand of native trees
in the distance. What an amazing and inspiring sight! Lots of saddleback on the trees to the side
of the wetland and once again our photographers attempted to get shots of them. Finally along
the Twin Punga track and back to our cars to return home after a very pleasant day
Margarette

Lovely Stained Glass window at the back of the The happy group
grand homestead.
 Forest & Bird AGM-2008
Remits that passed at the AGM were: # 1-that F &
What a great experience! It was a real buzz to B send communications via e-mail rather than send
meet so many like-minded people who are passionate paper (those not on e-mail can request paper
about caring for our natural environment-yes! copies), # 3 (re-worded remit carried) that the
Meeting so many enthusiastic people has given me Society survey youth and target specific F & B
even more motivation to pursue our causes. I would memberships for the 13-20 and 20-40 age group, #
recommend these meetings to all members of 4 Vehicles off Beaches, # 5 that DOC and
Forest & Bird. appropriate authorities stringently monitor the
numbers of introduced browsing animals and other
After Fridays evening meal we listened to four of pest species in our indigenous forests…, and # 6
our politicians speak about what new membership prices.
their party will do for us and the A highlight of the weekend would I will report the exact wording
interests of our causes. Of course have to be our own conservation of these remits at our next
Trevor Mallard (Labour, Minister advocate Joan Leckie being meeting.
for the Environment) told us of all elected to the Forest and Bird
Hot topics at the weekend
the wonderful things HIS Executive
meeting were pest destruction,
government did for us such as the
clean rivers and waterways, ban
move to save Hectors and Maui’s dolphins, DOC
on set nets for fishing, marine reserves,
partnerships with councils, pest control in
greenhouse gases, carbon credits, DOC funding,
Whanganui Regional Park, Te Papanui tussock land
sustainable fishing, damming of rivers and
north of Dunedin becoming a conservation area and
specifically the Mohikinui River, wind-generated
many more. The four politicians spoke convincingly
power and the location of wind farms. There were
of all the things their party will do if elected, but
some lively debates and some well informed people
Dr. Russel Norman of the Green party got the
who were interesting to hear! I hope to be able to
strongest applause from the audience with his
attend many more of these meetings.
uncompromising passion for conservation and in his
Debbie Waldin
words “ I refuse to let this country use our
waterways as drainage ditches!”. Everyone agreed!

A highlight of the weekend would have to be our

own conservation advocate Joan Leckie being
elected to the Forest and Bird Executive. Well
done Joan! She is one of only 13 members of the
executive who make decisions for our society, so we
are lucky to have her expertise in our branch.

Another highlight was the 20th anniversary of Kiwi

Conservation Club which was celebrated with a cake
and singing by some of the children. Several long- The newly elected executive of Forest &
serving KCC teachers were also awarded "Old Blue" Bird with our Joan Leckie in the front second
awards for their service to Forest and Bird. from left.

COMMITTEE NEWS
The recent AGM saw the addition of two new members
to our existing team.
Julie Curran re-joined us after taking time out to build
and move into her new house. We are pleased to have
her back with us because of her knowledge of the local
area and her extensive experience in the outdoors.
Lena Berger is another addition. For some time now she
has been assisting Margarette with formatting the
newsletter and the printing as well. You will have noticed
the colour in our photos recently. This makes the news-
letter a very attractive publication to receive. Lena’s
willingness to help and her expert skills are very wel-
come.
In addition and from the beginning of June, Belinda
McLean has taken over the duties of correspondence
secretary. This will free Joan up to concentrate on the
demands of local Resource Applications and hearings
which are extremely time consuming. Belinda will deal
with correspondence, communications from head office
and communications of all types.
A big welcome to these new people and if anyone else
would like to join us we would be pleased to have them
as well. Barbara
 Rare fish thriving near Lake Awapuni Recycling Centre
Horowhenua On Monday 7 July 12 of us visited the Awapuni
Mon 23 Jun 08 Recycling Centre in Palmerston North.
When we arrived in Palmerston we started by
having an enjoyable lunch in the Esplanade
where there were a lot of Tuis in a big gum tree.
The sparrows enjoyed our crumbs too.

Once at the Recycling Plant Xxxxxx who

Giant kokopu. a type of rare and threatened native fish,
have been found in good numbers near Lake Horow-
henua where Horizons Regional Council has been
working with landowners to improve streambank vege-
tation. Horizons Research Associate Carol Nicholson
said 27 giant kokopu were found during a recent survey
of fish in a small section of the stream near Levin be-
tween Kawiu Road and Lake Horowhenua, which is
part of a Horizons restoration project.
"We were astounded to count so many of these fish,
which are listed as rare and threatened nationally, in
such a short section of the Lake Horowhenua tributary
stream," said Ms Nicholson.
A similar survey two years ago revealed only a couple
of the fish, so we were delighted to see that they seem
to be thriving now. It’s great news for landowners, who
with Horizons' assistance, have fenced and planted the
stream banks between Kawiu Road and Lake Horow-
henua," said Ms Nicholson. "We cannot be sure that
the increase in numbers is directly due to the revegeta-
tion work on the stream, but it certainly helps provide a
much better habitat for the fish."
worked for the Strategic Planning Unit of the
PN City Council gave us a very informative talk,
describing where all the different type of
containers were sent once they had been baled.
She also described how we should treat the
plastic bottles and things before recycling
them, reminding us to clean and squash
everything. We were also told that all the glass
was ground and used as a base course for
roading. Methane gas was harvested from the
old landfill and turned into electricity via a
cogeneration plant.
We were then taken out into the factory where
we saw the masses of paper being baled, and
preparation being done to sort recyclables. The
paper and cardboard part of the recycling is
handled by Full Circle whose majority
shareholder is Carter Holt.
Lena Berger

The giant kokopu was among several species of native

fish found by Horizons and Department of Conservation
staff during recent surveys of fish communities in
streams and wetland areas in Horowhenua district.
Ms Nicholson said individual giant kokopu recorded in
the survey ranged in length from about 70mm 200mm,
indicating the population was sustaining itself. Because
only a small section of the stream was surveyed, she
couldn’t rule out the possibility of larger fish living and
breeding in other areas.

Horizons Policy Monitoring Officer Barry Gilliland said

giant kokopu were "like very chubby torpedoes".
"They are pretty special fish," said Mr Gilliland. "Their
scientific name is Galaxias argenteus because the
markings are reminiscent of a galaxy. They can live as
long as 20 years, grow as big as 580mm, weigh as
much as 2.8kg and live in streams so small they can
hardly turn around."

He said giant kokopu were as shy as they were spec-

tacular. "They hide under overhanging vegetation,
woody debris and undercut stream banks, and only
come out to feed at night. It is one reason people often
have no idea they are in a stream."
 DID YOU KNOW?
New Zealand Shoveller
This endemic duck has a broad flattened bill, which is specialised for filtering food
from surface water and ooze

The shoveller drake is brightly

coloured in the breeding
season with chestnut
underparts and pale blue wing
flashes. They are rather
smaller than the mallard and
quite secretive during
breeding. Found in our local
streams and waterways they
often return to the same
nesting site.

Return Address
Horowhenua Forest & Bird
C/- J. Leckie
Makahika Rd RD 1
LEVIN

HERE IS A THOUGHT…

How long do you think rubbish remains in the marine environment?

Orange peel - 2 years

Cigarette butts – 1-5 year
Plastic Bags 20-50 years
Tin cans - 50 years
Aluminium cans – 80 – 100 years
Plastic Bottles – 250 years
Glass – 1 million years

Well, we know that Forest & Birders do not drop rubbish – but please try and persuade
others to do the same.