Kuaka video

Kuaka/Bar Tailed Godwit 2

Kuaka arriving with Cuvier on the horizon

Sometimes you can be at the right spot at the right time. I think that this might have been a first! Last Friday, we were walking along the beach at Waikawau, wishing that we had a bucket. There were enough cast up tuatua for a good feed. Further along the beach we could see an ongoing territorial dispute between a pair of N.Z. Dotterels.

Then, in the distance, over the sea, a fast moving group of birds appeared. It was a twenty strong flock of kuaka! They put on a superb display of high speed, close formation flying and then landed in disputed territory.

The male N.Z. Dotterel made a number of full tilt running approaches to the kuaka in an attempt to move them on. Some were nearly skittled, their sidestep not being up to it, but they made a good stumbling recovery and could not be moved. The male N.Z. Dotterel eventually took up a watching brief and the kuaka quickly started to probe the sand for food.

It is possible that they had just made landfall after their epic flight from Alaska. More likely, they were beach hopping on their way to feeding grounds in some southern estuary.

Whanake: From Shore To Summit.

Titimiri Point

The Labour Day break will soon be upon us and the population of Tuateawa will increase remarkably. A great time and place to relax, and maybe, overindulge a little. Should you wish to compensate for the latter I can thoroughly recommend a stroll in the bush. We have been fortunate to have a track from Waiherere Drive to the trig. point on Whanake for a considerable period. More recently this has been added to by the completion of a walkway through the existing subdivision and the new Tokeroa subdivision down to the coast. Now you can walk from the coast a little south of "Boulder Bay" to the trig. and beyond.

Ngaio at the back of Boulder Bay

Shore celery, taste it!

The journey is a relatively short one with no difficult climbs. The coastal trees are very large and probably pre-European in age and there are magnificent stands of nikau palm.

Green hooded orchid on the new path

The vegetation varies as you climb nearly a thousand feet to get to the trig which is well carved with the initials of Tuateawa kids, many now well into adulthood.

Tokaroa from the Trig Track

Titimiri Cliffs from the Trig Track

Beyond the trig about fifteen minutes is a rocky bluff with a view to match any on the journey. It's worth sitting here for a while. If you do you will be surrounded by the scent of a pale yellow clematis that scrambles over the surrounding rocks.

View beyond Kennedy Bay

P.S. I have been quite happy to take advantage of the Labour Day Weekend whilst not knowing too much of it's origins. On investigating I was really surprised that it had it's beginnings in Pre Treaty New Zealand. Samuel Parnell an English carpenter, arrived in Wellington in 1839. He and other tradesmen were in great demand due to their scarcity and were able to negotiate from a position of strength. Wellington was one of the first places to see the eight hour day, forty hour week. This happened in 1840 and has been celebrated by a public holiday from 1900 until the present.

The forty hour working week was brought in by the first Labour Govt. in 1940 but has never been formally enshrined in law. Statistics NZ figures show the average working week to be around 38 hours including some overtime. This average does include a significant number of part time workers. Figures from the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development tell a different story. Forty percent of employees work more than 45hr. a week and nineteen percent work more than 50 hours. This is more in line with my personal experience and observation. The work/life balance of Samuel Parnell has gone a little astray for some of us. Good reason to make the very best of unique places like Tuateawa!

Tuateawa and Kennedy Bay

One of the most upmarket Auckland suburbs bears the name of our archetypal working man, Samuel Parnell. Our prime Minister lives there and, ironically, it is part of the Epsom electorate of our celebrated dancer, Rodney Hide!

New Chums Beach.

New Chums has been drawing a lot of local attention in recent weeks. It is a bit of a journey to get there from Tuateawa unless you go by sea even though Motutapu at it's northern end is part of the Tuateawa seascape. It is an incredible beach and well worth visiting with guests. Just over an hour on the road, followed by a twenty minute walk and you are there.

It's beauty is known worldwide and has been rated as one of the top twenty beaches in the world. The A. A. also has it as one of 101 must visit places. It combines the whitest sand, great surf and a magnificent bush and cave pierced cliff backdrop. The proposal to subdivide the land behind the beach could hardly pass without notice.

It is worth mentioning that the public had no legal access to this beach. Property rights extend to the high tide mark. This also ruled out any legal jurisdiction over the beach on the part of T.C.D.C. and presumably D.O.C. Under the District Plan the land could have been legally subdivided into up to 260 lots. The developers claim a benign, not for profit, interest in this process and have entered into extensive consultation with interested parties in forming their consent application.

The interested parties are many and varied. These include local ratepayers, local Iwi, T.C.D.C., D.O.C. Env. Waikato. amongst others. According to an article in the Weekend edition of the Waikato Times a good resolution of different viewpoints has been obtained. Twenty lots are proposed, none on the beach, the public have guaranteed access and T.C.D.C. have control of the coastal esplanade. In September they gazetted a new regulation regarding dogs on beaches during bird breeding season. This was a D.O.C. initiative and New Chums is now able to be included on this list. This is good news for the N.Z. Dotterel which have attempted to breed on New Chums in non regulated circumstances.

The consent application is yet to be heard before an independent commissioner. What is being advanced as a win win situation by T.C.D.C. may not eventuate.

What must be of general concern to all is the lax regulations that could permit an high density development in such a remarkable location. Concern has been expressed in Tuateawa about legal subdivision as small as 600sq. m./lot. Tuateawa has many adjacent locations with similar values to New Chums Beach. We should not count on the very unusual cooperative circumstances that arose in New Chums being repeated in our part of the world. There is a need for some clear cut sensible legislation to protect outstanding coastal environments such as Tuateawa.

New Zealand Dotterel.

Tuateawa is a place of many and varied pleasures. One of these is surely a walk along Waikawau Bay. Sometimes yours are the only footprints, often there are shellfish to be gathered. After a storm, amongst all the other debris, you might get a good haul of kauri gum. One thing you can always depend on is finding some N.Z.Dotterel (N.Z.D.) At last census in 2004 there were some 1700 birds of the northern race of this species in the whole of NZ. In the whole world in fact because these birds do not emigrate. There aren't huge numbers on the beach as they require a minimum of half a kilometre of beach for each breeding pair. In 1987, before conservation measures were introduced there were only five birds on the beach. The most recent census found ten breeding pairs.

It is always going to be an endangered species as it is so dependent on human management. The good news is that it does respond well although management needs to be quite intensive. Waikawau is one of only two key breeding sites on the Coromandel. Consequently it attracts a big management effort including the fencing of nesting areas and the oversight of a warden during the breeding season. Predator control is included as part of the Moehau Ecology Group's (M.E.G.) Kiwi Recovery project.

Most of the negative factors for the N.Z.D. arise from the fact that it needs to be where we want to be, the beach! Human impact from coastal development, the exercising of dogs and the use of vehicles can be major. At Whangamata last summer only one bird fledged from 29 eggs laid. Dogs were a big factor in the loss of chicks. At other local beaches vehicles probably destroy a number of nests as D.O.C. does not have the resource to monitor all breeding sites.

On Waikawau breeding results can vary. Despite best efforts predators do have an impact. The hedgehog, an animal that we tend to have some affection for, is a big nocturnal predator of eggs and chicks. More hedgehogs are trapped here than mustelids. Beatrix Potter, in humanising some members of the animal world,with characters like Mrs. Tiggy Wiggy, has probably done the rest quite a disservice!

Last season Spring Tides and following seas washed away many nests.

The N.Z.D. does have the ability to quickly replace a nestful of lost eggs and this gives it the ability to respond positively to conservation initiatives. They are quite long lived birds and so have maybe as much as twelve years to replace themselves. It has been calculated that a pair need only to average 0.326 chicks fledged per year to maintain the population. The good news is that conservation has raised this to an average figure of 0.77 chicks fledged/pair/year on Waikawau. Waikawau birds are now helping to populate other beaches. There has been a general increase in the overall N.Z.D. population since the first recovery strategy was put in place in 1993.

Should you fancy a trip to Colville around Anniversary Day or later you can get a good idea of just how successful a year the local N.Z.D. has had. At the end of the breeding season dotterel tend to flock up at Colville Bay. The new birds lack the reddish chest of the adults.

Tuateawa Roads.

Carved into the sides of often precipitous valleys the roads to and around Tuateawa are a frequent topic of conversation. When you have negotiated these sections there is a little time for a glance at the immediate surroundings, particularly if you are the passenger. Roads tend to be agents of change in any area and, consequently there are often things of interest to be seen.

Kumerahou,Gorse and Manuka

Native plants establish themselves on the road verges. At the moment Kumerahou, with its golden flowers, is very obvious . It's extracts are often found in herbal face cleansers and eye makeup removers. Some of this is probably due to the soap like chemicals in it's flowers. One of it's many names is Gumdiggers Soap. There is also a myth which suggests that it sprang into existence from one of the rollers used to launch the great Tainui Canoe so it is also known as Golden Tainui.

Mingimingi

Less obvious at the sides of the road is Mingimingi. At first glance, it is very similar to Manuka. Closer inspection shows it to have drooping flower bunches and black stems (which are not due to fire blight). Later, white fruits appear.

Not at all obvious and definitely not native are the pasture plants introduced into the area by early settlers and their descendants. There is a good variety of flowering herbs and an array of grasses with appealing names like Crested Dogstail and Sweet Vernal Grass. They have been largely suppressed in the original pastures, being over topped by Kikuyu after grazing animals were removed. Modern pastures have many fewer species. They are probably more productive but a whole lot more boring! Grazing does still exist on the verges, if only mechanically, by the council mower! Consequently relics of those old pastures still exist. While helping to preserve something of Tuateawa's biological past the mowers are also busy spreading new plant species along the verges. The orange Montbretia is but one example. Recently Blue Eyed Grass has also appeared and become common.

Not all road verges are created equal. This road cutting near Little Bay has been cut through much harder material than that generally found in Tuateawa. Soil formation is very slow on such material. It presents a potentially very dry environment with low quantities of the essential minerals needed for plants to thrive. Some however manage quite well.

This sundew is flowering now and will have formed seed before the dry weather arrives. As a carnivorous plant it is able to supplement its supplies of nitrogen and phosphorus by digesting insects trapped on it's sticky leaves. Gorse is another plant that has an edge in such circumstances. Nitrogen fixing root bacteria help it overtop less favoured native plants.

Hakea bush

Even spinier and more drought resistant than Gorse is the Downy Hakea. An Australian Protea, similar to our garden Grevilleas, it is a real survivor.

Hakea flowering on walkway to Tokaroa Tuateawa

Should the tragedy of fire eventuate Hakea will spring up everywhere as fire breaks the dormancy of it's seeds.

In the future, we may all become a little more familiar with the road verges alongside our properties. Recently T.C.D.C. devolved responsibility for the maintenance of verges onto the respective rural land holder.