The first of our Banded Dotterel chicks have hatched along the shoreline of Lake Dunstan, Cromwell. These tiny but quick chicks will be protected by their parents for the next 42-56 days until they are big enough to fly and defend themselves.
To learn more about these birds, visit: It was great exploring the Feehly Hill planting site out in Arrowtown this weekend and imagining what Central Otago would have looked like before humans.
Many of us believe that the semi-arid landscape we see all around us is what it should be, but surprisingly that's not the case. Kowhai rich Dry woodlands/ grey shrublands would of been common in Cromwell, Bannockburn, Clyde, etc before humans started clearing and modifying the land. It is vital for us humans to reintroduce these species and ecosystems to the region to prevent further extinction of endemic species and for us to gain more from our time in the outdoors. To learn more about Wakatipu Reforestation Trust and their planting sites, visit: Today, Nita & Megan spotted a pair of incredibly camouflaged Banded Dotterels (Charadrius bicinctus) protecting a nest and Crested Grebes (Podiceps cristatus) taking a romantic paddle across the lake
New Zealand’s longfin eels have been classified as “at-risk declining” by the New Zealand Threat Classification System and faced pressures from ongoing habitat loss, commercial fishing, migration barriers and mortality at hydro-structures.
The eel trapping and transfer programme catches and measure eels before releasing the migrants downstream of Roxburgh Dam. From there, the fish still have another 120km to swim to the sea. |
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