Rangers Report - October 2012

Peripatoides novae-zealandiae

Currently we are running ahead of our work plan which is very satisfying, the work is challenging but very rewarding and you never know what the day might bring. Ranger Evan was very chuffed to catch his first kiwi, Tiaki, as he tried to give Cathy and Pete the slip. We also encountered a juvenile common gecko a couple of weeks back and Evan installed a gecko house nearby. To his surprise and delight another little gecko has moved in – so cool.

The photo is of a peripatus (Peripatoides novae-zealandiae) which Evan found (read, jumping about wildly excited) while checking out a rotten log west of the Peach Cove hut. These caterpillar like creatures give birth to live young and have been on the planet longer than tuatara, around 550 million years, extraordinary. By comparison we have only been running around for about 2.5 million years.

Read the October 2012 Rangers Report in full (760kB pdf).

Rangers Report - September 2012

Ocean Beach Ice Plant Clean-up

Thank you to the volunteers who braved a wet Sunday morning to continue with the removal of ice plant from the dunes at Ocean Beach. The area from Proctor’s rocks to the surf club has now been cleared over the two days, a fantastic job. Thanks to Claire Pearson for the delicious morning tea!

In the reserve the clematis and kowhai are putting on a great show and the birds are very active. We are still hearing bellbirds regularly, hopefully some may nest this year, and kaka are noisily going about their business. Just recently I bumped into a fisherman who had been out since the early hours rock fishing at Peach Cove and he commented how loud the birds were at dawn – music to my ears!

Read the September 2012 Rangers Report in full (1MB pdf).