July 2004 - Margaret Suman

June was such a busy month for both of us that we took some time off in July to recover! The winter months are supposed to be our slow time as the plants have gone from the Nursery into the habitats, and it is too early to sow seeds.

Work activities ranged from preparing plants for more planting days, creating another guided walk on one of our reserves, assisting a predator trapping workshop run by the Trust, writing reports and being involved with the Yellow-eyed Penguin Symposium being held on July 31st. We even managed to sow some seeds!

Planting Days
There are 4 more planting days planned for our habitats (Tavora, Otekiho, North Head and Okia). When these plants leave our Nursery under the guidance of the Trust’s Ranger, Dave McFarlane, over 3500 of our plants will have been planted on coastal areas in Otago and Southland.

Our Nursery site is currently very cold, and sometimes the plants remain frozen in their bags all day. It is better for the plants to be on the habitats where the conditions are generally milder and they are less likely to suffer frost damage.

Working conditions are not very pleasant. We wear lots and lots of thermal underclothes and cheer when the sun finally peeps over the hill. We are very fortunate that despite the cold conditions we still have a large band of very cheerful volunteers to help out with winter maintenance.

We have started to sow some seeds even though it is still cold, as we are experimenting with germination times to test what we know about our plant raising techniques. We can’t wait to get on with the task of raising next year’s plants.

Tavora track walk
A guided walk was designed for one of the Trust Reserves, Tavora. This was similar to one we created for another reserve, Okia, earlier in the year for track week. The idea was to provide information on the Trust re-vegetation programme and future plans for the Reserve, information on the wildlife as well as how to behave around penguins. We also covered rare plants, scenic vantage points and ways to enjoy the Reserve. This was all put into an information guide for walkers to use around the Reserve and then return to a box when leaving. The Otago Botanical Society trialed the walk last weekend and the guide was well received by the group. Their suggestions will be used to produce the final copy for public use. They were a fun bunch of people and we enjoyed walking the Reserve with them.

Predator Trapping Workshop
This year the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust is running predator-trapping workshops to train local landowners to trap mustelids (stoats and ferrets) that are endangering native wildlife on their land. Margaret attended this to learn more about this area of conservation and to meet some of the landowners who may be thinking about re-vegetation projects on their land. Over 65 people attended the workshop from the Otago area, Department of Conservation, landowners, University students and industry experts. The day was most informative about the latest trapping techniques, studies and included practical field trials.

Yellow-eyed penguin Annual Symposium
Every year the Trust, in association with the Yellow-eyed Penguin Consultative Group, holds a Symposium for all people involved with the yellow-eyed penguins – conservationists, landowners with penguins on their land, Department of Conservation staff, scientists, tourism operators and just anyone interested. It’s a great general catch up on what everyone is doing with formal talks and lots of discussion. The theme for this year is “A Strategic View of the Future for Penguins”. This is being held this weekend and we are looking forward to learning more about penguins and talking to people also involved in re-vegetation programmes.

Video Camera
Just before we went on holiday we received a video camera from Rob Harley to both film ourselves, and be filmed by him when he joins us on a planting day in August. This is for a possible VNZF documentary. Having had some very busy months we thought there would be nothing left to film ourselves however we’re sure we will find something – once we master the technology!

Despite the cold we feel refreshed from our holidays and continue with even more enthusiasm than before. We look forward to next month when we will be helping Portobello School plant at their reserve and helping Milton School set up a re-vegetation project, continuing to sow more seeds and working with our lovely volunteers, and seeing the sun come over the hill earlier and earlier in the day!

Until next time
Margaret and Anita

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