The fires in Nelson have left a trail of smouldering ashes in their wake. Our staff were part of the first responders and continue to have a presence in Pigeon Valley.
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Come behind the scenes and into the jobs and personalities of the people who work at DOC. Today we profile Delivery Planner Monica Garcia.
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DOC Ranger Kahurangi Cronin shares her experiences as an expert butterfly hunter based in Nelson.
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By Trish Grant, Communications Advisor, Nelson
The battle against the great white butterfly pest appears to be working with detections dropping by more than fifty percent in autumn this year, compared to autumn last year.
The species is only found in the Nelson/Tasman region and DOC has been leading a programme to eradicate the pest out of concern for the threat it poses to our endangered native cresses. Successful eradication of the butterfly would be a world-first.
Catching butterflies is all in a day’s work for the team
The Nelson eradication team’s drive and determination will be a key factor in achieving that success. An example of that determination was on display recently when four of the team armed with nets chased a darting biggish white butterfly through at least five properties, across the road, and up and down hills, determined not to let it escape their clutches. Finally Ranger Maddie netted it. It proved to be an important catch: a female great white butterfly full of eggs that could have set up a new infestation in an area where butterfly finds had become few.
Female great white butterflies can lay up to 750 eggs
The team are not the only intrepid butterfly catchers. Team members searched gardens in one area for several days looking for a female butterfly suspected to be in the vicinity. It was duly presented to them dead by an elderly woman who in spite of poor eyesight had managed to trap the butterfly with a glass on the wall of her house.
This spring will be a pivotal time when the whole butterfly population emerges together from pupae, giving a good measure of its population status. DOC is working closely with the community to clear this major pest from the region and the country.
Rangers with nets at the ready in a large patch of wild brassicas that will be sprayed
The Nelson DOC team will be holding a great white butterfly family fun day on Sunday 28 September.
By Kath Inwood, Partnerships Ranger, Nelson
The Motueka sandspit is an internationally significant site for shorebirds, providing roosting and nesting space for variable oystercatchers and banded dotterel, and temporary lodgings for the bar-tailed godwit. Being so close to town, however, it is a popular spot for Motueka dog owners to walk their dogs.
A variable oystercatcher
Ranger Ross and some of the dogs
To improve awareness of the birds in the area, we got together with Tasman District Council and Birds New Zealand to try out an Australian idea – the Dog’s Breakfast. This event provides dog owners an opportunity to learn about the birds of the foreshore and sandspit over a bacon and egg butty (sandwich).
Around 50 dog walkers turned out to breakfast with their dogs over a two and a half hour period on Saturday 8 March.
With the smell of sizzling bacon in the background, David Melville from Birds New Zealand explained that variable oystercatchers and banded dotterel are key inhabitants of the sandspit area, along with the better-known bar-tailed godwits, who make the 11,000km flight between New Zealand and Alaska.
The crowd gathers for the dog’s breakfast
The purpose of the breakfast was to raise awareness of dog owners about the significance of this area for shorebirds, and to enable them to be more informed about how they can minimise the disturbance to wildlife, while enjoying the benefits of an area such as this to walk their dogs.
