Events

Help Friends of Oakley Creek Te Auaunga wrap up their 2021 plantings

This month’s planting is the final community planting of the season. We will be planting an area below the Kokopu Bridge between Phyllis and Harbutt Reserves, to expand on some of our precious ‘remnant mahoe rock forest’ areas. Follow the flags from the carpark, south-west along the path behind the Akarana Dog Training Club.

Wear sturdy footwear and bring your own gloves and a spade, if you have them. However, we will have spares.

Bring your whanau and friends for a morning of giving back to our precious environment.

Refreshments will be provided.

Sunday 1 August, 10am–noon.

Group: Ngā Ringa o Te Auaunga Friends of Oakley Creek

Come along to the Gypsy Tea Room (455 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn) to hear Mark Booth of Manu Tī Oriori (Eastern Bays Songbird Project; www.songbird.org.nz) share the secrets of what has made their predator control so successful.

Wednesday 4 August at 7pm.

Group: Manu Tīoriori I Te Uru / Western Songbird Project

Many of you will have taken part in the recent NZ Garden Bird Survey counting birds in your garden or local park. That’s a great example of citizen science in action, but we can all do more.

Counting birds is a fantastic way of doing your bit. Keeping track of what birds we see and making that information available for research helps gauge the effect on native biodiversity of all the trapping and planting work we do. We would love to see a lot more people using eBird.

You don’t need a cammo jacket and spotting scope to take part. Urban Ark coordinator, Paul Whitfield, now has a reasonable knowledge of NZ birds, but 18 months ago he could barely tell a starling from a blackbird. Join Paul for an hour-long workshop on how to get started, logging your first checklist and contributing to the NZ Bird Atlas, a five-year survey of Aotearoa’s avifauna.

Where Eric Armishaw Reserve, Pt Chevalier
When Saturday 14 August, 10am–11am
Cost Free
RSVP Yes, please. [Enable JavaScript to view protected content] or 021 150 8284
Bring

• a smartphone loaded with the eBird app [for android, for apple]. Pencil and paper works too.
• binoculars (we’ll have a few pairs to borrow if you don’t own any).
• clothing appropriate for the weather