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BRaid Newsletter #35 : 05 December 2017
Posted on December 5, 2017 by riveraid in ARRG, Ashley, bird survey, Black-billed gull, climate change, kaki, kaki /black stilt, Makarora, Newsletters, NIWA, Waimakariri, wrybill
Greetings, Following on from our last newsletter, we are delighted to announce that Karikaas, makers of some of New Zealand’s yummiest cheeses, has partnered with BRaid. Their award-winning cheeses are now going to be packaged in ‘braided river bird’ themed boxes. Each handcrafted cheese includes information about wrybill, black-billed gulls, black-fronted terns, or banded dotterels, and […]
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Kakī/ black stilt in the Ashley River
Posted on December 5, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley, kaki, kaki /black stilt, trapping
The Tasman River is not the only place where kakī /black stilt are breeding. Grant Davey took these photos last week in the Ashley River area. Although in this case, as there is only one, the hybrid sub-adults nearby are most likely the result of it mating with a poaka/pied stilt. There has been a […]
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Karikaas cheeses partner with BRaid
Posted on December 4, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley, banded dotterel, Black-billed gull, black-fronted terns, wrybill
We are delighted that Karikaas, makers of some of New Zealand’s yummiest cheeses, has released their award-winning cheeses in ‘braided river bird’ themed boxes. The handcrafted cheeses include information about wrybill, black-billed gulls, black-fronted terns, and banded dotterels. Inside is a collectable fridge magnet featuring one of the birds. Best Christmas presents ever! And what […]
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Wrybill chick killed by 4WD on Ashley River
Posted on November 27, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley, wrybill
Life is hard if you are a nationally vulnerable wrybill and are trying to nest on the bed of the Ashley River. Over recent years, fewer have been able to find suitable nesting sites because of weed infestation. This nesting season the weeds have been largely removed by floods. However, one flood occurred at the […]
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Protecting the Wrybill in the Upper Rangitata
Posted on October 17, 2017 by riveraid in Rangitata River, trapping, wrybill
From Department of Conservation Ranger, Murray Thomas Protecting an unusual endemic bird, the wrybill, and the endangered black-fronted tern is the primary aim of a predator trapping programme on the upper Rangitata River. Results from the last two seasons show the expected wrybill predation rate of between 10-25% of all nests was reduced to zero, […]
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Notes from the Ashley Rakahuri: October 2017
Posted on October 11, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley, wrybill
By Nick Ledgard, Chairman Every year we monitor the arrival and breeding activities of birds on the Ashley-Rakahuri river – with particular emphasis on the wrybill. This season, the notable aspect has been the frequency of large floods. Although they have done an excellent job clearing the riverbed of weeds, they have also disrupted breeding […]
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BRaid Newsletter #34; 09 October
Posted on October 9, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley, climate change, community partnerships, Department of Conservation, DOC, Events, migration, Newsletters, Research
Greetings, Following our AGM held September 08, the chairperson’s annual report is available online: We have some exciting news to announce shortly with our newest ‘braided rivers birds’ partner, Karikaas, makers of fine (and extremely yummy!) award winning Dutch style cheeses: http://www.karikaas.co.nz. I won’t go into too many details here, but this will considerably raise the […]
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Chairperson’s Annual Report 2017
Posted on September 18, 2017 by riveraid in Newsletters
BRaid AGM, Sept 8, 2017 Chairman’s Report BRaid was formed in 2006, so this would be our 12th AGM. The past year has been one of good progress – especially considering that we are only a small amateur group, with the majority of us only having spare time to contribute to BRaid. When I look […]
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BRaid Newsletter #33 25 August 2017
Posted on August 23, 2017 by riveraid in Newsletters
Greetings, Firstly, a reminder that the next BRaid meeting is our AGM Friday 3.00pm 08 September at the DOC offices, 31 Ngai Mahi Road, Sockburn. You do not need to be a member to come along, however you do need to be a member to vote. It would be great to see you all there, […]
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Braided Rivers as the ecological nexus of regional biodiversity
Posted on August 14, 2017 by riveraid in biology, Ecology, Fresh water management, Research
Excellent research paper on braided rivers as the ‘ecological nexus’ of regional biodiversity; they are much richer biologically than ‘normal’ rivers, and should be regarded holistically, ie cross-disciplinary. “To be effective, conservation efforts in glaciated mountain landscapes intended to benefit the widest variety of organisms need a paradigm shift that has gravel-bed rivers and their […]
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Postcards from the Ashley Rakahuri River: July 2017
Posted on July 26, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley, Reports
By Nick Ledgard, Chairman of the Ashley Rakahuri Rivercare Group Birds In the last update, it was stated that annual survey numbers were well down on previous years, and that breeding success was similarly in decline. The one good-news story was the black-billed gulls, which nested successfully down at the Waikuku Beach dairy farm by […]
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Braided River Newsletter #32: 09 July
Posted on July 9, 2017 by riveraid in Ashburton, climate change, Events, Exhibition, kaki /black stilt, Newsletters, Orari, Waimakariri, Waitaki
Greetings, Firstly, a reminder that the next BRaid meeting is Friday 3.00pm (not 1.30pm as previously advertised) 14 July at the DOC offices, 31 Ngai Mahi Road, Sockburn. I will be emailing an agenda to members in the next few days. You do not need to be a member to come along, indeed, the meetings […]
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Braided River Newsletter #31: 02 June
Posted on June 1, 2017 by riveraid in Newsletters
Greetings, Firstly, a reminder that the Braided Rivers Seminar is on 29 June. Click here to reserve a seat. Winter is here, and with it, plenty of reading material for you to peruse by the fire. We have a number of reports from the last breeding season, and also two must-read reports: Prime Minister’s Chief […]
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Braided River Newsletter #30: 24 April 2017
Posted on April 24, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley, Department of Conservation, DOC, Newsletters
Greetings, Hopefully you’ve all survived the recent weather events without developing cabin fever. On the upside, foothill-fed rivers that were showing serious signs of vanishing altogether, are now receiving a decent flushing. Nick has been keeping a particularly close eye on the effect on weeds on the Ashley Rakahuri, which you can read about here, […]
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From the Rivers to the Shore: Arts in Oxford Gallery
Posted on April 24, 2017 by riveraid in Art, community partnerships, Events, Exhibition, migration
Opening 3pm Saturday 10 June – 18 July From the Rivers to the Shore and the accompanying exhibition, The Flyway Print Exchange, are art projects that explore the connectivity of place through migratory birds. The shorebirds that nest on the South Island’s braided river beds and seek northern warmer waters over winter, and those others […]
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Management and Research Priorities for New Zealand Braided Rivers
Posted on April 17, 2017 by riveraid in Department of Conservation, DOC, Fresh water management, Research
The Department of Conservation’s Management and Research Priorities for New Zealand Braided Rivers (DOC 3MB PDF) is now available Summary: The distinguishing feature of braided rivers is that they have, over at least some part of their length, multiple, mobile channels that ow across a gravel floodplain. Braided rivers occur widely in New Zealand, but […]
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Ashley River April flooding
Posted on April 15, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley
We are all aware of the rapid increase in weeds on the Ashley-Rakahuri River and the link between the loss of bare gravel areas and the apparent decline in bird numbers. Hence the interest in the recent flood and what difference that might have made. The flood got up to 235cm3 on April 6, which […]
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Braided River Newsletter #29: 06 March 2017
Posted on March 6, 2017 by riveraid in ARRG, Awards and funding, biology, Breeding, community partnerships, Ecology, Newsletters, Orari, Wilberforce River
Greetings, Thanks to everyone who pointed out the dozens (in fact hundreds) of broken links from our website to documents and pages that vanished when ECan rebuilt their website. It was an opportunity to update and restructure BRaid’s website. If you come across any errors that slipped through, I would appreciate it if you could […]
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Weeds choking the Ashley Rakahuri
Posted on February 14, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley, Ecology, weeds
While a picture (or 3 – see below) tells a thousand words, the mapping undertaken by the Ashley Rakahuri Rivercare Group (ARRG) shows the alarming trend of weed infestation in the Ashley Rakahuri. The grey areas are gravel, purple outlines are river channels. For all their ‘bare’ appearance, these gravel areas are biologically rich and […]
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Ashley River Update – January, 2017
Posted on February 3, 2017 by riveraid in Ashley, Black-billed gull, black-fronted terns, Breeding, pest weeds, trapping, traps, Trustpower
Down on the river Birds Being the wet summer that it has, river flows have been good this season, but it is not the same with bird numbers and breeding success. As stated in the December Update, annual survey numbers were well down on previous years, and breeding success was similar. Our 8 wrybill pairs […]
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