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Valhalla’s mothplant control programme was running smoothly until Covid and Cyclone Gabrielle affected their regular working bees. There was a further setback when their 2024/25 summer control programme did not eventuate, leading to an explosion of pods. Members of their committee put out an SOS on Facebook.

The Big Moth Plant Fight was held on Saturday, 12 April. With help from members of the Leigh Coastal Care Group, we managed to collect 8 rubbish bags full of pods before joining them for a delicious lunch.

We will continue to support Valhalla with their trapping and pest plant control programme and look forward to the next working bee.

On 24 January, Hana Aickin and Amy Sadler. Catchment Co-ordinators from Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, carried out an eDNA test of the stream water on the border of the Erikson’s and Harvey’s properties. eDNA is a scientific method used to detect species by collecting their genetic material shed into the aquatic environment. They were excited that the test detected the presence of Giant Bully, a regionally vulnerable species in Auckland.

On 14 February, Hana Aickin, Richard Taylor and Briar Broad waded through the spring tide (2.7m HT) armed with their salinity metre and began to measure the salinity of the waterway until they found the upper limit of the high spring tide. This helped to narrow down where to search for potential spawning habitat for inanga. While they were up near the top of the saltwater wedge, they were delighted to find schools of inanga.

On 31 March Hana Aickin, Jo Evans, and Susan Gibbings watched the ebb and flow of the spring tide (2.7m HT) and marked where the tide reached, in order to narrow down the area to search for inanga eggs. A couple of small schools were observed upstream and it is hoped the forecast rain may act as a trigger for the inanga to make their way down to the spawning zone.

Over 50 volunteer hours were spent during January and early February clearing weeds along Tenetahi Rd and on adjoining properties. The main focus was on Ginger, Jasmine, and Blue Morning Glory. Monkey Apple (Acmena) and Queen of the Night (Cestrum Nocturnum) were also on the radar. Several large trees were drilled and killed and many seedlings removed.

Auckland Council contractors are returning in March to carry out further spraying and we intend to hold further working bees during 2025.

Unfortunately, we were two weeks too late clearing Moth plant in various areas we have been managing, and pods are already forming, making the job more labour-intensive than just pulling out the roots of the flowering vines. We will have to act quickly to remove the vines before the pods explode and spread their seeds further.

The Tradescantia leaf beetle and tradescantia rust have become well-established in various parts of the valley and are helping to suppress this weed.

Photos: Kristen and Troy (in the distance), Kristen and Richard, Duncan and Rachel, Tradescantia beetle, Tradescantia beetle eggs.

It was great to catch up with Fiona Francis on Saturday, 23 November, when we worked together to establish a bait line with Rodent Cafes provided by Auckland Council. This line adds to the large network of bait and trap lines we have established in the surrounding area.
11 years ago, we collaborated with the previous landowner, Noeline Wainwright, Trees for Survival, and students from Takapuna Normal Intermediate School to plant native wetland plants on the property by the stream, the source of which is a spring further up the valley.
Fiona has been a dedicated steward of these plants, nurturing their growth with care and controlling a variety of weeds. Along with her husband Mike, Fiona has also carried out further planting in the surrounding area.
The thriving plants, as seen in the before and after photographs, stand as a testament to the hard work and passion invested in this special area.

We are pleased to announce our ongoing collaboration with Valhalla to control pest animals and plants.

On Saturday, 19th October, a trapping training session was held at Valhalla, attended by seven enthusiastic volunteers, including five new recruits. It was a pleasure to finally meet Christina Gilderdale, who organised this event has been supporting us remotely since April 2024, when LHVS members helped establish trap lines at Valhalla.

During the session, we shared essential trapping safety tips, checked traps, and took the opportunity to identify and clear weeds visible from the tracks. Christina has been instrumental in helping us navigate Trap NZ and has kindly agreed to manage this aspect of the project remotely from her home in Whanganui. Though less available for hands-on work, her expertise remains invaluable.

We are also grateful for the input of Damian Moody, an IT expert, who is assisting with the
technical side of our efforts and helping to ensure our records in the Mathesons Bush Block are accurate and up to date.

Our focus over the past few months has been on controlling aggressive species including Jasmine, Japanese Honeysuckle and Blue Morning Glory along the Tenetahi Road bush area bordering Leigh harbour. We have also started replanting this area and distributing
mulch and are currently awaiting Auckland Council’s additional support, once approval has been received from Auckland Transport, which will enable us to tackle this massive weed control project more effectively.

In addition to our work on Tenetahi Road, we have targeted other weed hotspots, including areas where ladder fern and Pitted Crassula are becoming established. Our proactive approach includes removing flowering climbing asparagus before it has a chance to seed, along with managing a large area of ginger that threatens to merge into the bush.

On October 6, we worked with Steven and Leanne Hyde to address a variety of weeds above Omaha Cove, focusing on moth plant and woolly nightshade. Our efforts have been bolstered by Phil Jones, who is also managing significant infestations of these species on nearby properties. Eliminating these seed sources is essential if we are to make further progress.

We’re very pleased to welcome Damian Moody to our trapping team. He is now managing the Mathesons Bush traps. His extensive experience in trapping is already enhancing our pest control efforts.

While we’ve observed a marked reduction in pest animal numbers, we’re gearing up for a new, coordinated trapping and baiting programme this spring and summer, with a focus on mustelid control.

Thank you to all our volunteers and partners for their hard work and dedication which is helping us to make significant headway in managing invasive weeds and enhancing the local biodiversity.

‘For over 200 hours, a team of devoted volunteers has been waging war in Jasmine Valley; that stretch of paper road beyond Tenetahi Road which leads to Leigh Cove, so beloved by all discerning locals.

Who could have known when this English immigrant was brought to our shores with its intoxicating scent and exquisite little white flowers that it would turn into a rampant mass murderer, climbing up and strangling our magnificent natives. Although great in size,
our trees are no match for the stealthy ways of this invader which calls in reserves of blue morning glory, Japanese Honeysuckle, and moth plant to try and wipe out the rightful inhabitants of our New Zealand bush.

Jo Evans, Sue Gibbings and our other volunteers have managed to defeat these invaders in some battlefields which shows that victory is possible and sustainable with careful management. Where the
enemy has fallen, there is a noticeable demarcation zone and our trees are rising again from near death.

There really is great enthusiasm down in the cove at the moment as victory is within reach.
If you are in the area, do listen for the sound of secateurs snipping the strangling vines, Niwashis slashing the nodes and the trees sighing with gratitude at the valiant efforts made on their behalf.’

Kahili ginger has also been on our radar. We have dug out mountains of rhizomes. These don’t break down too well in the black polythene bags. Auckland Council have provided a large drum and have recommended submerging them in water and sealing the lid. This eventually makes a slurry which can later be poured onto the soil. This is also an effective way of getting rid of mothplant pods.

We have purchased some native trees to replace those that haven’t survived strangulation by Jasmine. Auckland Council have provided us with 100 ferns as well as mulch and we have eco-sourced a variety of native plants.

We will soon be advising our volunteers of a planting day to get all these safely planted.

The morning glory, tradescantia and jasmine were trembling in their roots as, in true pioneering fashion, a dozen or so Leigh locals descended on them armed with gloves, secateurs and rakes. There is an extraordinary satisfaction in reclaiming the forest floor and I felt I was in a real life version of Minecraft, attacking the enemy using real not virtual strength. There is also a degree of cunning in hunting down the famous jasmine nodule which Neil said must be found if we want true annihilation of this particular enemy which released its venomous perfume in a futile attempt to pretend it was a good guy. I have to admit nodule detection was not my forte and I fear many wounded Jasmine clumps might recover to climb again and they will all rise from my patch; as the other volunteers had an air of knowing what they were doing.

My enthusiasm however more than compensated. There is pure joy in pulling jasmine off a native tree that it is ruthlessly strangling to death and the tree sometimes springs back in joy at its release, if it‚Äôs not too far gone. There is the same sense of heroism in discovering little ferns quivering under the tradescantia. One group of us worked from the top of the road and one from the bottom of the garden and at one point we reached each other in a real “Doctor Livingstone I presume” moment.

We had pies for lunch as a reward for our sterling performance and there really was a marvellous camaraderie in sharing our battle stories. There were, I’m pleased to say, no injuries amongst the true and brave but at least 10 weed bags full of fallen villains.

We were very fortunate to have the support of Kerryn Johnson and her pest detection dog Pip for 3 full days in May. Kerryn helped to rearrange several of our trap lines. Our aim is to more aggressively target stoats and we have redeployed some of our DoC traps on the borders of the bush and added modified Victor stoat traps. Having said that, weasel numbers appear to be high at present, suggesting there aren’t many stoats around. We certainly had more luck catching them in the early stages of the project. We have caught 10 weasels in a month and possibly more in the AT220’s.

We heard that Forest Bridge Trust have been catching quite a few stoats in the surrounding area. Stoats have a large home range, so this is also great news for Leigh.

Our volunteers Chris and Keith have now recharged all the AT220’s and topped them up with bait so they should be ok for another 3 months.