Category: News

A big thank you to Chris Wadsworth who scaled the cliff above Leigh Harbour and collected 432 moth plant pods over two visits and removed many more vines. It was amazing how many passers-by stopped to ask if they were edible. While they do look a lot like choko, efforts were made to educate them about this nasty weed which is aptly named ‘ugly vine’.

On Sunday 4 June we had the pleasure of meeting Richard Henty, a science teacher and founder of STAMP (Society Totally Against Moth Plant). Many thanks to Kate McConnell for organizing this introduction. Richard spent 3 hours collecting another 450 – 500 pods (we gave up counting) and killing many more vines. This environmental warrior established STAMP after he first encountered moth plant on Motuihe Island 16 years ago. Along with help from his supporters, 18,000 moth plant locations are monitored around Auckland.

Three volunteers spent several hours on the 3rd of April and 10th of April clearing an infestation of moth plant bordering the bush on Tenetahi Rd. The vines were massive and had obviously been there for a while but had somehow been missed by our team of volunteers. There are large patches of moth plant around Leigh and we are keen to control the various seed sources.

Our first official working bee for 2023 was held on 2 April when 8 enthusiastic volunteers worked for two hours on clearing weeds along the coastal end of Tenetahi Rd. While the plan was to continue attacking Jasmine which is strangling the bush, most of the time was spent on clearing a large area of blue morning glory. A contractor has sprayed the area twice and we plan to hold several follow-up working bees within the next few months.

We are midway through phase 3 of the pulse baiting programme. There has been a recent spike in rat numbers, apparently due to the wet summer which delayed the breeding season. Our trapping efforts were somewhat thwarted by the rain and slippery conditions, along with the slips caused by Cyclone Gabrielle which blocked a number of the tracks. All rather soul destroying but, on a positive note, one of the large slips above the Harbour took down a massive infestation of moth plant and other weeds which we had been unable to access.

Thanks to our volunteers Neil and Cheryl Sutherland, Kate McConnell, Martin Turner, Jan Sinclair and Margaret and James Young.

Our last working bee for 2022 was held on Ashleigh Lee’s property at the bottom of Tenetahi Rd. 6 volunteers spent 3 hours clearing and bagging weeds stream-side. We identified two new weeds which aren’t so evident in other areas we have been restoring, including Hanging Sedge (Carex Pendula) and Indian Shot (Canna Indica). There is much more work to be done in this area and this will be one of the main projects for 2023.

Lunch

After

On 28 August, 3 volunteers worked on clearing jasmine which is strangling native plants along Tenetahi Rd. This is a massive job and we are investigating employing contractors to continue with this particular project. We also hope to work in conjunction with Auckland Council as most of the affected area is on Council land.

3 volunteers have been making weekly (Saturday or Sunday) visits to Leigh since January, attacking weeds in the valley and surrounding bush remnants. The main target plants have been tradescantia, African Club Moss, climbing asparagus and banana passionfruit vine.

On Saturday 17 September, we had a successful weeding session at the top of the valley. A team of 7 volunteers cleared climbing asparagus which was waist deep in places. We also removed large clumps of stinking iris and huge passionfruit vines – some 4 metres tall. Large areas of Lantana and Jasmine were sprayed. Clearly the wet winter has provided ideal growing conditions for these weeds. We will need to revisit these areas and spot spay the climbing asparagus.

Phase one of our pulse baiting programme has been completed and we will commence phase 2 in early November.

We are already seeing the positive effects of our pest control baiting and trapping programme.

Had a very interesting and entertaining afternoon, on Sunday 26 June, with Kerryn and the stoat detection trainee, Zip. It was hilarious watching him follow his nose and indicate several areas where stoats might be located.

There was great excitement when Zip located the scat (stoat poo) planted by Kerryn at the top of the valley the day before. He also followed the scent to the stoats in traps along Cape Rodney Road as he had done previously.

The scat was obtained from stoats in captivity at Landcare Research and Kerryn said the next challenge is to get Zip to locate wild stoat scat, as the scent will be different.

Kerryn demonstrated how easy it is to open the DoC200’s using the safety straps. We will aim to have these attached to all the DoC200’s.

We are continuing to make good progress following Chris Wadsworth’s environmentally friendly weeding programme. Chris and Keith have travelled to Leigh every weekend over the past 16 weeks. Approximately 250 hours of volunteer labour has been carried out during this period and 30 x 3 cubic metre weed bags have been filled.

Nik, Kerryn and Darren have been working on the track so we can commence our halo of control. This work was started several years ago but postponed due to Covid.

Here are some of Chris’s observations at our working bee on Saturday 23 April when we worked from the top of the valley downwards.

• Lovely spot but loads of crasula, some tradescantia and moth vine. Also, some household rubbish!
• Spider orchids abundant on a tree brought down by a slip
• Discovered a White Maire (Nestegis Lanceolata).
• Lunch was delicious. Sandwiches with avocado, tomato, ham, egg followed by date scones ! (best ever?)
• Saw fresh water crayfish (koura) while clearing tradescantia at the very top of the creek. This area looked better afterwards.

I discovered 75 black sacks of garden waste (probably bagged tradescantia). They had clearly been there a long time as the bags had partly disintegrated.

Brought back several unidentified weeds. Identified ladder fern, AKA Boston Fern (Japanese variety with bulbs which aren’t present in the native variety.)