Welcome again to the Friends of Flora (FoF) newsletter. In it we will tell you more of the efforts of FoF volunteers to rid the Flora Stream catchment of the Kahurangi National Park of introduced pests in order to restore the birdlife.

Rangi and Tane arrive. Two fledgling male whio from the Pearse River were transferred by DoC rangers to the Flora Stream earlier this month. Dubbed Rangi and Tane, they join last year's fledgling transfer bird, Maryann, and up to three wild male birds seen with her from time to time. Later this year Maryann will be old enough to breed, so with no shortage of suitors a nesting attempt is thought to be highly likely. Meanwhile the 15 wild harvested, captive raised whio at Peacock Springs in Christchurch are all doing well and at least six are valuable females. Seven of these birds will be released into the Fyfe River on February 10 and the rest will go to the Gouland Downs shortly after. There will be a ceremony at 2.30pm near Owen River prior to the birds being airlifted to the release site. If you are interested in attending email Gavin Udy at DoC Motueka for the details: gudy@doc.govt.nz

Reluctant Rata, Rutted Road Readers of our December newsletter may have been led to expect a glorious blaze of red along the Graham Valley road to the Flora carpark. In fact this summer's northern rata flowering seems to be in the 'sparse year' phase, in this part of the park at least. There is one good patch (I was relieved to see) to your left as you descend from the carpark just as you encounter the concreted section of road. On the subject of the Graham Valley road, a letter to the Motueka "Guardian" of 24 January signed by a group of Graham Valley residents warns of the current dangerous condition of the road and says that it was 'voted the third worst road in New Zealand by the Christchurch Press in 2006.'

Wasp shock warning It's wasp season again and although they are not as bad this year in the Flora as in many other parts of Kahurangi, caution is advised. While for most people a wasp sting is a painful annoyance, for some a sting can have near fatal consequences. Anaphylactic shock can follow the injection of wasp (or bee) venom in those who have an acute allergic response. Cells producing histamine (known as mast cells) release histamine in a process known as degranulation. This triggers a quick dilation of blood vessels causing a dramatic drop in blood pressure. Breathing can stop and death can occur within minutes if nothing is done. If you know you may have an acute allergic response you probably have a wasp kit (antihistamines and an epipen or syringe and adrenaline). Tell your team leader before you start your monitoring if you have had severe reactions in the past. If you experience a severe reaction, let your team leader know immediately. He or she will have access to a epipen.

Ancient fauna, near the Flora. The oldest rocks in New Zealand that can be dated by fossils occur just a few hour's walk from the Flora at Trilobite Rock, a stone's throw from the Trilobite Hut at the Cobb Reservoir end of the track. Trilobites, an ancient and extinct class of arthropod, are perhaps the most distinctive and well-known fossils to 'your average punter'. The rock there is absolutely packed with the remains of millions of individuals of 16 species (of the genera Koptura, Nepea, Dorypyge, Pianapsis, Olenoides, Ptychagnostus, Goniagnostus, Hypagnostus and Grandagnostus if you must know) all who lived in the Cambrian era, around 500 million years ago. However, these fossils are far from spectacular as most of those genera are what are known as agnostid trilobites - very small, mostly blind and hard to tell their tales from their heads. The fossils are almost entirely cast off sections of carapace discarded as the animals moulted. You can see them in the many pieces that earlier, less considerate, visitors have chipped off the rock. Also present are remains of other creatures from this ancient fauna, known as inarticulate brachiopods. Not speechless, just a primitive shelled creature whose shells were hinged by muscle. Articulate ones had a tooth and socket arrangement, but still nothing to say.

Summer pest peak. The pest kills for December 2006 were:

Stoats - 23 (total 346 since February 2002)
Rats - 52 (total 1131)
Mice - 19 (total 713)
Possums - 5 (total 231 since June 2004).

And no addition to the score for weasels, ferrets or cats.

Bad news, good news FoF Chairman Chris Potter puts the figures above into perspective: Observant readers will have noticed the change in the number of stoats caught in December: from 4 in 2005 to 23 in 2006. This is almost a six-fold increase and certainly had the alarm bells ringing at the January FoF Committee meeting. Are we going to suffer the same scale of invasion that has been reported by several of our neighbouring trapping projects? Should we prepare to carry out monitoring fortnightly to stay ahead of the needle-fanged hordes? We decided to wait and see what January would bring; we have had this sort of spike before. The good news? Only one stoat was caught on I line (the original) and that was below the car park, nabbed before he got into our main protected area. Still, we await the January monitoring results with some trepidation....

Well done says Debs. Forest and Bird's top of the South Field Officer wrote to say: "Thanks for keeping me up to date with FoF information and newsletter. I just spent 5 days in and around the Flora River and up onto the Tablelands with some friends. I noticed a number of catches in the traps - all seemed to be rats within the forest and stoats out on the open tablelands around Salisbury Lodge. Well done with the work FoF is doing and I look forward to the continued updates...."

That's all our news till next month. Remember, monitoring weekends are the last two weekends each month

Ivan Rogers FoF Committee