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Tēnā koutou, Happy New Year-of-the-Wrybill and welcome back to those of you who were taking a break. Braided Rivers Seminar 2019 As I mentioned in the last newsletter, thanks to funding from ECan, we are hosting full-day Braided Rivers Seminar at Lincoln University Wednesday 26 June. While we don’t yet have a final programme in […]
Comments Off on Newsletter #43 15 January 2019 Continue Reading...Ann-Kathrin Schlesselmann has been researching the genetics of black-fronted terns/tarapirohe for the past few years for her PhD thesis. Her findings represents a signficant breakthrough on several levels, and a clear signal that we have to start managing South Island rivers as interlinked rather than isolated systems. Ann-Kathrin summarises her findings below: “In a nutshell, […]
Comments Off on Linking science and management for effective long-term conservation: A case study of black-fronted terns/tarapirohe (Chlidonias albostriatus) Continue Reading...This long-overdue tool will better enable the assessment of the existing character of braided rivers (and sections of braided rivers) and the degree to which they can be regarded as ‘natural’. Written by Duncan Gray, it’s an easy to follow ECan Technical Report that includes clear criteria and working examples (see one of the images […]
Comments Off on Toolkit for assessing the natural character of braided rivers Continue Reading...Greetings, At our last meeting in February, Ailsa’s Howard’s presentation on the use of ‘nesting cages’ on South Bay, Kaikoura, was impressive, to say the least. This method is proving to be a highly successful technique for saving nesting dotterels, with the added social engagement benefit of placing emphasis on ‘saving’ birds rather than ‘killing’ […]
Comments Off on BRaid Newsletter #37: 08 April 2018 Continue Reading...Braided rivers are home to a number of our special native birds, and they need some help! Creating islands in the river where birds can nest is one way we can help reverse the decline of birds like the wrybill, black billed gull and black fronted terns. Several project to test the optimal size and […]
Comments Off on A quick guide to creating bird nesting islands Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Braided River Newsletter #29: 06 March 2017 Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Ashley River Update – January, 2017 Continue Reading...Merry Christmas everyone. Firstly, a big thank you for your support this year. I’ll keep this brief as I know your email inboxes will be jammed with end-of-year missives. I will be away from Friday 23 December until the end of January. If I manage to snap a few photos of Iceland’s braided rivers, I’ll […]
Comments Off on Braided River Newsletter #26: 21 December Continue Reading...Black-billed gull colony on dairy farm alongside the Ashley-Rakahuri River (Story and video on Stuff) Most of the world’s gull species are associated with marine coastal environments. Not so NZ’s black-billed gull. This endemic species is an inland specialist, which usually breeds on our braided rivers, particularly in eastern and southern parts of the country. […]
Comments Off on Chicks on a Farm Continue Reading...We are off to a slow start in terms of braided river bird breeding in the lower Waimakariri River. There are no settled black-billed gull colonies to report just yet, although one looks pretty close to being established out from “Dixons Bay” on the north bank (McLeans Island is directly opposite on the south bank […]
Comments Off on Waimakariri River update October 31, 2016 Continue Reading...A big thank you to Christchurch International Airport, who sponsored the helicopter flight along the Waimakariri River from the river mouth to the gorge. This helps complete the picture of the national survey of critically endangered black-billed gulls currently being undertaken. See if you can spot the black-billed gulls in photos 6-8. It might look […]
Comments Off on Lower Waimakariri River Nov 2016 aerial survey Continue Reading...from Nick Ledgard Down on the river It is mid-October, which means the birds are back on the riverbed to start their breeding season. I walk a section of the riverbed every month, and 2 months ago there were only a handful of species present – most of which were introduced. Now all our major […]
Comments Off on Ashley River Update: October 2016 Continue Reading...An open letter to Cat Rescue Christchurch Dear Cat Rescue It has come to my attention that Cat Rescue has recently conducted a trap/neuter/release (TNR) programme near the Waikuku Beach campground, apparently trapping some eight cats, most of them feral. I wish to express my deep concern about your charity using the TNR method, especially […]
Comments Off on An open letter to Cat Rescue Christchurch Continue Reading...Hello all, This is a reminder that the next BRaid meeting is this coming Friday 26 February at 2.20pm, not 1.00pm, at DOC offices, Nga Mai Rd. Sockburn. We will be holding a manager’s meeting at 1.00pm, prior to the general meeting. I will be sending the agenda and last meeting’s minutes to all members […]
Comments Off on Braid Newsletter #17: 22 February Continue Reading...From Wildlife Management International Ltd: This video shows how one of the largest colonies of black-fronted tern colonies in the Acheron and Clarence River are under attack. Here, the stoat is killing an adult tern on the nest. The stoat didn’t even eat the bird, just killed it and moved on to another nest. When […]
Comments Off on Ferrets and feral cats decimating black-fronted terns on the Clarence River Continue Reading...From Ann-Kathrin Schlesselmann It was a stunner day down here and I used the opportunity to go out to the Waitaki river mouth. The bar is full of birdlife starting with banded dotterels, oystercatchers, red-billed gulls, black-billed gulls, white-fronted tern, shags and black-back gulls. There is a massive colony of white-fronted terns (more than 500 […]
Comments Off on A glorious day on the Waitaki rivermouth Continue Reading...From Ann-Kathrin Schlesselmann, Otago University After kick-starting the tern island project in the Lower Waitaki in October, we have now finished our monitoring for this breeding season. The aim of this project is to find alternative ways to improve the breeding success of black-fronted terns and other braided river birds by improving the breeding habitat […]
Comments Off on Update on black-fronted tern project in the Lower Waitaki Continue Reading...In early October 2015, a group of hardy volunteers braced themselves against a wild nor’wester to clear an area near the SH1 bridge at Ashburton, so that critically endangered black-billed gulls might have a fighting chance to raise a few chicks. Around 3,000 birds had settled nearby, but invasive weeds including willows and lupins has […]
Comments Off on Ashburton black-billed gulls update Continue Reading...With the help of NZ Jetboating, the Lower Waitaki black-fronted tern project started in October this year is progressing well. The group are currently monitoring 3 black-fronted colonies (70 nests) and predators on 15 islands. Checking the site every 10-12 days, the group have seen 5 fledglings, one colony fail, and a colony partially fail […]
Comments Off on Jet-boaters helping black-fronted terns on the lower Waitaki Continue Reading...