Bay Harbour: July 01, 2020

Wednesday July 1 2020
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
BAY HARBOUR
PAGE 9
News
Librarian’s fourth book
nearly ready to publish
SOME MIGHT recognise
an echo of Redcliffs in a new
murder romance novel being
written by librarian turned
author Stella Court.
It will be her fourth book in
a series set in the fictitious city
of Salisbury, with much of the
story taking place in the village
of Filey.
The backdrop resembles
Redcliffs, where Court lives and
works, as well as Christchurch.
Court came to writing late
after her career as a teacher
and teacher trainer, both in
Cambridge, England, and in
Christchurch.
When an earthquake brought
her teaching career to an abrupt
end, Court found herself armed
with a background in languages,
linguistics, and teaching.
Needing a change of direction
and a new career, writing and
editing seemed the obvious
answer to her question of “where
to next?”
Court said in academic life,
writing plays a major role, from
writing teaching materials to
papers for conferences.
“Teaching writing skills to
students and teacher trainees has
led me to teaching those same
skills to new authors for the publisher
I work for now. It’s a new
EAGER: Redcliffs author Stella Court will be publishing her
fourth book in a series inspired by life-changing earthquakes
later this year.
life that I really love.”
Her experiences of living
life with the backdrop of lifechanging
earthquakes inspired
her writing and from there, her
characters took on a life of their
own in her head.
Now they write the stories for
themselves.
“People are constantly reminded
of the fragility of their
land, and the ever-present threat
of portaloos and long-drops.”
Her three published books,
Shaken, Missing and Mirror, and
all available at Redcliffs Village
Library now.
Court is waiting for “some
kind of inspiration” to hit her
before naming her new novel,
which will be published later this
year.
•For more information
email stellacourtauthor@
gmail.com
Grant to keep young cyclist on track
SUMNER CYCLIST Amelia
Sykes has recieved a grant from
Sumner Ferrymead Foundation
to help purchase expensive
equipment which will help her
compete at the highest level.
Amelia, a year-11 Avonside
Girls’ High School student, is
the fastest national track-cycling
rider for her age.
After having broken both a national
individual pursuit record
and a national team-sprint record
earlier this year, her sights
are now clearly set on a podium
finish in July at the National
Cycling NZ Track Series at The
GENEROUS: Sumner
Ferrymead Foundation
trustee John Christensen
(left) and chairman John
Taylor present funds to
young cyclist Amelia Sykes.
Cambridge Velodrome.
Her aim is to represent NZ at
the Junior World Champs, the
Commonwealth Games and she
has a dream to race at the 2024
Olympics.
SFF chairman John
Taylor said it was fitting for
Amelia that trustee and Olympic
hockey gold medallist John
Christensen was at her presentation.
Amelia presently competes in
the under-17 grade for road and
track cycling but next year she
will move up to the under-19
grade, and while that will more
competitive, she will be able to
enter more events.
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.
DEFENCE: It is not unusual for adult magpies to dive bomb
people and dogs coming within their territory.
PHOTO: PAUL CORLISS
Playful magpie
can also be a bully
YES, WE all know the easily
recognisable and noisy magpie.
THis bird was introduced
from Australia between 1864
and 1874 for the purpose of
controlling insect pests in New
Zealand. I am sure they were
quite happy about that as they
settled quickly and multiplied to
huge numbers.
THey are spread across the
country now, with the majority
found between Kaikoura and
Southland, anywhere between
the coast and the foothills.
They can be real bullies,
especially during the nesting
season when it is not unusual for
adult birds to dive bomb people
and dogs coming within their
territory.
From personal experience
(including my dog) I can tell you
that such an attack can actually
be quite painful.
Don’t bother swiping them
away as it doesn’t work, instead
move away fast and they will
stop as soon as you have left
their territory.
But far worse is the fact that
they are known to attack and kill
smaller bird species mid-air as
well as being observed stealing
eggs and chicks of other bird
nests.
Their own nests are perched
safely high in either pine, gum
or macrocarpa trees around the
estuary.
A more adorable side of the
magpie is the fact that they are
super intelligent and unlike most
bird species, they are playful as
well.
Young magpie can be seen
rolling around the ground and
play fighting with their siblings
and parents and use any object
they can find to play with.
They also love to mimic
sounds of other birds and it is
recorded that a “pet magpie” was
able to mimic 25 different bird
species, could bark like a dog
and neigh like a horse.
Not surprising then that some
people have adopted magpie as
pets.