Welcome to the Friends of Flora (FoF) newsletter where we bring you again the latest news on our efforts to bring the birdsong (and all the other creatures) back to the Flora.

Flora twitch feedback. The Jan/Feb newsletter’s Flora birdlist prompted some responses from readers, as I’d hoped it would. DOC’s Pete Gaze noted the omission of the dunnock Prunella modularis, an introduced bird more commonly found in suburban gardens and farmland. Another common name for this bird is the hedge sparrow; although sparrow-like in appearance it is more closely related to thrushes and warblers. The dunnock has spread as far south as Campbell Island and as high as 1600m – it’s often seen around the Mt Arthur Hut.

Rob Ewers wrote to say the Australasian harrier/kahu Circus approximans should be on the list and as evidence produced a rather good pic of this specimen, just below the treeline on the Graham Valley Rd.

The Australasian harrier, often simply called the “hawk” was quite likely an occasional straggler to New Zealand from Australia and the Pacific, but established itself on the extinction of the Eyles’s harrier, thought to have occurred as eastern South Island forests were burnt off in the 16th century.

FoF Chairperson Maryann Ewers would add Paradise duck, Welcome swallow, Thrush, Black-backed gull, Skylark, Redpoll and Yellowhammer to the list as being occasionally observed in the Flora. Any more? Email me rogers.johnstone@xtra.co.nz

Lodestone lizard. DOC ranger Ross Maley observed a skink on the very summit of Lodestone in March. Although the presence of alpine geckos (black-eyed gecko Hoplodactylus kahutarae and an undescribed species H. “Mt Arthur”) on nearby Mt Arthur is well-known, this is the 1st record of skinks from this area since 1999. Keep an eye out for them while it’s still warm. At 1448m Lodestone is just within the altitudinal range of the abundant common skink Oligosoma nigriplantare polychroma but all lizard sightings in the alpine zone should be reported to DOC irogers@doc.govt.nz

Monthly pest parade Totals for January + February 2008:

Stoats: 20+5 (total 463 since Feb 2002)
Rats: 23+37 (total 1550)
Mice : 3+3 (total 820)
Possums: 14+6 (total 355 since June 2004)

FoF’s catch for the same months last year was 25 stoats, 66 rats, 30 mice and 19 possums. Remarkably similar, but where have all the mice gone?

Calling kea counters! Tamsin Orr-Walker of the Kea Conservation Trust would like to hear from any FoF-ers keen on assisting with winter kea counts in Kahurangi and Nelson Lakes NP this July. “The counts will be very simple and not require too much time from volunteers” says Tamsin. “The information gathered from across the entire range will provide valuable insight as to numbers, distribution and …will identify banded birds for a follow up banding program”. Email Tamsin at n.notabilis@xtra.co.nz and check out the trust’s website www.keaconservation.com

Adult female, Heaphy track. Photo by Tamsin

That’s all for this month. Remember, monitoring weekends are the last two weekends of each month.

Ivan Rogers,
FoF Committee