Bay Harbour: September 02, 2020

PAGE 14 Wednesday September 2 2020
BAY HARBOUR
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
BIRDS OF THE ESTUARY
Tanya Jenkins is the manager of the Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai
Trust, a non-profit organisation formed in 2002 to protect one of
New Zealand’s most important coastal wetlands. Each week she
introduces a new bird found in the estuary. Her column aims to raise
the understanding of the values and uniqueness of the area.
Drunk kereru
not uncommon
ONLY FOUND in NZ in
native forest, urban and
rural areas, the kereru
with its distinctive heavy
wingbeat when in flight
can weigh as much as
650gm.
Once they find a mate
they pair up for life and
live like couples. We are
lucky to have a few kereru
pairs settled and nesting
around the estuary. Nesting
begins in September
when only one single egg
is laid on a roughly constructed
nest or ‘platform’
made up of twigs.
The female will incubate
the egg from late afternoon
until the next morning
when the male takes over
to take his shift.
When the chick is old
enough to be left alone,
and only needing a feed
once a day, the parents will
start building another platform
closeby to start incubating
the next egg, and so
on. They can do this up to
four times until April.
The wood pigeon is a vital
component in the wellbeing
of our native trees
Dave Bryce
of the
Redcliffs/
Te Rae
Kura Eco
Village
group says
it is focusing on soils
during September
THE WORLD beneath our
feet.
Soils are not just
something to hold up
plants – they are alive with
organisms, making them
the “engine room” of the
land environment.
A single teaspoon of soil
can contain billions of organisms,
including insects,
worms, algae, fungi and
thousands of bacteria species
(only about 10 per cent
of which have been identified
by scientists). All these
organisms can be working
for you – if you look after
your soil.
Threats to soils are:
• Artificial fertilisers and
pesticides, both of which
can kill a wide range of
organisms and should not
be needed in a healthy soil
• Removal of vegetation,
earthworks, compaction
and cultivation, all of which
HEAVY: Kereru can
weigh up to 650gm
and it has a heavy
wingbeat in flight.
PHOTO: CLIVE COLLINS
as it is able to eat the fruits
and seeds of over 100 different
native trees (with the
kowhai being a favourite)
and shrubs making it an
important seed disperser.
Kereru will also eat
leaves, twigs, buds, clover
and the flowers of some
native trees.
I just have to mention
here that when it comes to
eating, the kereru tend to
get a little greedy by filling
their crops with a large
amount of overripe fruit
which ferments quickly,
turning it to alcohol.
dry the surface; disrupt air
channels, air supply and
organism habitats; increase
carbon loss; and reduce
the soil through wind and
water erosion.
New Zealand has one
of the highest rates of
soil erosion in the world,
losing about 190 million
tonnes into waterways and
the ocean every year (Environment
Aotearoa 2015),
mainly from farming and
forestry activities.
On the Port Hills there
are extensive areas of the
yellowish loess soils. If
vegetation is removed, or
in extreme rainfall, or if
water drainage is changed,
these soils and land can
become unstable, resulting
in property damage
South Westland saw 60
pigeons collected by concerned
locals in 2010 delivering
them to a local bird
rescue centre. Fallen from
trees and unable to walk or
fly it was thought they had
some terrible disease.
All of the birds were
absolutely drunk and after
three days in captivity to
sober up were safely returned
again to the forests.
A similar incident made
the news in June 2019 near
Whangarei where locals
collected 14 intoxicated
kereru over one week to
be taken to a bird rescue
centre for a few detox days
before being released.
The rescue centre receives
on average 80 drunk kereru
each year. Unfortunately,
some are injured after
falling or having flown into
windows.
Drunk kereru also
become easy prey for cats,
dogs and rats. So if you see
a kereru on the ground it
is bound to be both drunk
and injured and take it the
Animal and Bird Hospital
in Ferry Rd to be treated.
Best to look after your soil
RICH: Soil contains
billions of organisms.
and damage to ecology
from silt in waterways and
coastal waters.
Healthy soils will be
damp and spongy, with a
network of plant roots, a
diverse cover of plants, leaf
litter, compost or mulch,
and many visible organisms
living in it.
They will produce healthy
(nutrient rich) plants which
obtain both water soluble
minerals, as well as many
other nutrients and minerals
from micro-organisms,
as those break down dead
plant matter, feed on sugars
from the plant roots and
protect the plant roots from
pathogens.
Healthy soils also contain
a lot of carbon (almost
as much as mature native
forests, per land area), so
improving degraded soils
to hold more carbon would
help to reduce atmospheric
CO2.
Our pledge for 2020
– Always mulch soil . . .
reduces weeds, temperature
extremes, soil erosion
and bird diggings, retains
soil moisture, adds carbon
to feed micro-organisms
which release minerals and
nutrients for plants.