Orokonui Eco Sanctuary

Work continues on several fronts. The pest monitoring is going full
steam ahead and nothing new has been sighted. The bird survey team has
been active again for the autumn bird count. The bellbirds appear to
have had a good breeding season and the team have been enjoying the
numerous and melodious songs of the adults and the "chatty" attempts
of the juveniles. And the resource consent hearing for the visitor
centre will have been heard by the time this goes to print.

At a local meeting Terry Sheppard talked about the rotting remains of
a truck in the bush somewhere on the north eastern side. The
Operations Manager was told that until he found the truck, he didn't
"know" the ecosanctuary. The truck has now been found, one of the bird
survey members spotting Elton's sign "truck (yes a truck)" and on
venturing into the bush found there was a very ancient truck but with
radiator still looking remarkably good.

Another find has been a patch of mature kahikatea. Seeds are being
collected and germinated for later planting out in the ecosanctuary.
These mighty trees produce many kilograms of fruit each year and are
important sources of food for the larger birds. They were once
numerous in the wetter lowland areas of the east coast but were highly
prized for their timber and disappeared early on. It appears these
particular trees survived in a gully while all else around was cleared
and then later hidden as the forest was left to regenerate. The only
other kahikatea known in the local area is the lone survivor in
Waitete Bush. However since male and female flowers occur on different
plants, this one is not setting seed.

For enquiries the office number is 482 1771. For further information
on the ecosanctuary visit www.orokonui.org.nz or see our box at the
Blueskin Bay Library.

by Sue Hensley
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
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