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February 2004 - Margaret Suman
Well, we've hit the ground running and have realised after volunteering at the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust nursery for over one year now there are no slow times.
There's always something to do from pricking out seedlings and potting on plants, to repairing plumbing and moving plants (always moving plants), basically it's never ending.
DOC Conservation Corps
Early in February we had a very successful meeting with the DOC Conservation
Corps. They're a great group of young adults who are learning new skills
to either find a job in conservation or become more involved with conservation
issues. We’re going to help them build their own nursery to grow
native plants for their own habitats.
Their main priority, Boulder Beach, is one of the more successful breeding spots for the yellow-eyed penguins on the Otago Peninsula. Planting started there over 10 years ago and now they want to increase the variety of plants grown. By increasing the biodiversity of plant species they are hoping to attract other native wildlife to recolonise the area.
DCC Track Week Walk at the YEPT Okia Reserve
We also joined forces with the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust Ranger, David
McFarlane, to develop and produce an information sheet for a track walk
at one of our habitats. This involved writing the copy, taking the photos,
marking the track and tidying up the planted areas. A wonderful group
effort enjoyed by all, one of the Trustees liked it so much she wants
to incorporate it with another walk on the same reserve.
We found that the more time we spent at the reserve, the more we want to share our discoveries with others – from rare orchids and broadleaf seedlings to a host of wildlife like sea lions and butterflies.
Sinclair Wetlands
Last week we took a group of volunteers over to Sinclair Wetlands to help
with weed eradication on a lovely reserve. Mike Hazel (the part time care
taker at the wetlands) has been a volunteer with the Trust for many years
and has helped us in so many ways that we wanted to give him a helping
hand back. He also has a nursery where we enjoyed comparing notes on our
successful and not so successful horticultural endeavours.
Finally, this month we basked in the technology provided by the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation. The new camera takes some wonderful close-ups of flowering plants, the laptop comes in handy at the nursery (especially the GPRS since we don’t have a phone line), and the mobile phone has all the gadgets we need and then some.
Loving it!
Anita and Margaret
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