The outcome is of course less predators and more birds! It is an easy calculation, and it is one that is done all over the country and even the world. While the goal of predator free status is unique to New Zealand and cannot be replicated in other places the awareness towards nature and biodiversity gains traction almost everywhere.

To that end, to increase awareness of the importance of diversity of life on this planet and with it the health of the planet and the survival of humanity, the United Nation  runs a day of biodiversity, The International Day of Biodiversity, which was on the 22nd May this year. The theme for this year was ‘Acting locally for global impact’. It is to celebrate the variety of life on Earth and raises awareness about the importance of protecting it. The IDB is tied to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which sets global targets for protecting ecosystems, reducing species loss, and ensuring the benefits of biodiversity are shared equitably.

I quote from the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) website:

“Biodiversity is the foundation of all life on Earth. But around the world, it is being lost at an unprecedented rate. 

The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) 2026, “Acting locally for global impact”, is a call for us all to take action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Protecting biodiversity includes action close to home with positive ripple effects that can reach far beyond”.
 https://www.cbd.int/

The Convention is a document signed by 150 governments in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit. It is dedicated to sustainable development but also recognizes the importance of biological diversity. It is not only about plants, animals and ecostystems but also about food security, medicines, fresh air and water, shelter and a clean and healthy environment in which to live. 

​How lucky we are in New Zealand! And while I say that we are lucky it is not all that rosy here either. Work needs to be done as we face the same problems of loss of biodiversity as well. Like loss of species and loss of habitat, loss of fresh air and water, loss of fauna and flora that can never be retrieved again.
Sadly, in New Zealand about 4000 native species are threatened or at risk of extinction. That is the highest ratio of threatened species per person in the world! Statistics New Zealand highlights this piece of information on their website:

“More than 75 percent of indigenous species in reptile, bird, bat, and freshwater fish species groups are threatened with extinction or are at risk of becoming threatened”.

 https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/extinction-threat-to-indigenous-species/
 
Now, why should I or should we care that 18 species of hornworts and liverworts are threatened with extinction? What are they doing for us? Why is it important? This is what Statistics New Zealand says:
“Many indigenous species in Aotearoa New Zealand are endemic – found nowhere else in the world – and are our national taonga (treasure). Aotearoa New Zealand species make a significant contribution to global biodiversity, which is important for ecosystem processes and resilience, culture, and recreation. Indigenous species have particular importance to Māori, whose mātauranga (knowledge systems), tikanga (cultural practice), and mahinga kai (traditional food resources) are dependent on the wellbeing of indigenous species. Understanding the conservation status of indigenous species provides vital information for conservation and kaitiaki decision-making in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Indigenous marine and freshwater taonga species (species of cultural significance) hold considerable meaning to Māori identity through whakapapa (kinship), which obligates and guides kaitiakitanga (responsibility to nurture the life essence of taonga) priorities. They perform an important role for Māori in understanding the mauri (life essence) of an ecosystem. The presence, or lack, of indigenous species provides insight into biodiversity and the state of mahinga kai (traditional food resources)”.
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It is a statement heavily flavoured with Māori language and concepts. Some of them are specific to Māori and some do apply to us non Māori as well. I particularly like the idea of kaitiakitanga or the responsibility we have to all life on earth because all is taonga, all is precious and to me, personally, all is of equal value. And that is why it matters. 

I could of course say that extinctions have happened all the time throughout the natural history of earth. The difference in today’s world is that many of the extinctions occurring now are due to our carelessness and our ignorance and our disregard for forms of life we might think are not important. But a healthy  biodiverse environment is important for the very survival of humanity.

There are also specific examples of the importance of plants for say medicinal purposes. Many of these plants might not even have been discovered yet! Anyway, I give you two species growing in the Rakaia Gorge.
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The Māori have over almost a thousand years accumulated a lot of knowledge about the healing properties of plants and also of where they grow and how they position themselves within the larger ecosystem of the forest, how they even heal the forest itself by providing links to other plants and species that make use of them or need them to develop and grow. Essentially it is the knowledge that all flora and fauna live together in a system of mutual growth, development and survival.

One of these specific plants is Tutu. It is a kind of symbolic plant, a symbol for the workings of nature. On the one hand it is highly poisonous and on the other it has healing properties such as reducing inflammation and mending broken bones by stimulating the blood flow around the injury. It is called the ‘bone-knitter’ for obvious reasons.
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It is also highly toxic as said above so much so that sometimes when the passion vine hopper feeds on the Tutu plant and then secretes honey dew which the bees collect, then the honey they produce contains tutin, the poisonous compound in Tutu, and is dangerous to humans. There are quite a few plants along the walkway!

​The other plant is Koromiko. It has been used by the Māori for medicinal purposes for a long time. They treated dysentery, ulcers, kidney and bladder diseases. The efficacy of the plant is beyond doubt. In World War II Koromiko leaves were sent overseas to treat troops for dysentery when the Western type of medicine ran out. Traditionally only the unopened leaf bud and the tender top leaves were gathered to ensure the survival of the shrub. Koromiko is found all over the forest in the Rakaia Gorge but the easiest spot to see them is around the coalmine where the track crosses a stream. Silvereyes can often be seen feeding among the flowers.

​Another good news story is from down south, Rakiura Island, or Stewart Island where one of the most threatened birds of New Zealand lives: the Southern Dotterel or Pukunui. There are 160 birds estimated to be alive in 2026. That is up from 105 last year which is an increase of 52 percent! The main reason for such a large increase was an intensive predator control programme involving an aerial drop of poison 1080, always a bit of a controversial tool. But maybe in this case the means justify the result. 

Interestingly the Southern Dotterel feed for most of the year on the beaches and estuaries of the Southland coast but then to breed they fly up to the highest mountain tops of Stewart Island and stay up there until the chicks can fly back down to the coast and the beaches. On top of these mountains, they are exposed to the predation by feral cats. Have a look at the video below. It shows better than any words why we do what we do and why we have to do it.

https://nznaturefund.org/projects/southern-dotterel-pukunui/

A last quote before I go, by Robert McGowan: “We need to see people as being ‘a part’ of the environment, not ‘apart’ from it. As the land colonises us, we become a different people because of our encounters with our environment. The more this happens, the safer the environment will be, because we will realise that we can only be well if the land we live on is well”. All lovely words no doubt. The problem is that we need to have the will to be part of the environment, we have to want to be part of it, we have to put in the effort and the energy to be part of it. We cannot just stand there and think it is going to happen. It surely is not going to happen on Facebook and Instagram!

So, thank you again, dear trappers, and all friends of the Fantail Trust, for caring and for your interest and help.
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Fantailistic greetings!
Robbie and Christine 

​More good news for the birds is that we opened two more lines. They are called Top Fairway and Lower Fairway and are just below the golf course near holes 14 and 16 just over the edge where there is a strip of native forest full of broadleaf, fuchsia, ferns and mature lancewoods. There are fantails in there too and bellbirds. This area used to be the rubbish dump of the former farm of Terrace Downs. All sorts of things turn up and also a lot of golf balls! They are useful to put into the traps as they attract rodents and stoats! They must think that it is an egg!

The lower fairway is equipped with six AT220 traps and ten DOC150 traps which Marcel helped me transporting and setting up. They have already taken out a fair amount of rats and a possum.

The top fairway has three AT220 traps installed and needs more DOC150 traps which we still have to order. Then I am working on yet another line more down towards the river and I have deployed twelve A24 traps from Goodnature. They are the automatic gas powered rat and stoat traps. The track itself needs a bit more work and sign posting but otherwise it is all go.
























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The fantail shop has been doing exceptionally well this April. Lots of post cards were posted so much so that Juliana had to print another edition! And we had to order another set of our fantail stamps!
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So, what’s not to like about it all. More traps, less predators, more birds, more plants. Good news altogether. Which is what this newsletter is all about. Good news about nature, the birds and the environment.

Other regions and other people are doing the same and much more. But every little thing helps and improves life on our planet. Recently I walked the Caples/Routeburn track and saw loads of stoat and rat traps along the walkway. They were fairly new I noticed and might not have had much impact so far. I did not hear many birds apart from an occasional bellbird or fantail. Once I saw a tomtit and twice, I got ‘attacked’ by a black South Island Robin. They forage on the forest floor and are quite fearless even stepping onto my boots and picking whatever they found on it. Kind of forest shoe cleaners. Similar to those little fish that cling to the big whales and clean the skin of the whales. 
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​There were supposed to be Takahe as well in the Greenstone but I saw none of them. There are many traps all along the valley floor. They are maintained by Ngai Tahu, DOC and the ‘Takahe Recovery Group’ and with support from Fulton Hogan. Eighteen Takahe were released in 2023 and now between twenty and thirty live in the Greenstone Valley. Which is good progress but sadly enough, in 2025 four Takahe were found dead, killed by a stoat. More traps are put in place now and are checked more often.
Checking the traps is of great importance. Because once a predator is caught in there, say a rat or even a mouse, then that trap is ineffective and will not catch anything else. The more ready traps out there the more predators are caught! This is part of our success as we check the traps fairly regularly. As you can read above on 18 days in April!

Another good news story, at least in my opinion, is that recently a Swedish citizen scientist, on a bird watching tour to New Zealand, took a photo of a moth and posted it on iNaturalist, and guess what, the iNaturalist community identified it as the mythical Frosted Phoenix Moth! This moth was thought to have been extinct with only ten specimens ever been found and the last one in 1959. And now it was found again on Stewart Island! 
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Now why does it matter that a single moth, the Frosted Phoenix Moth has been found again? Dr Robert Hoare, a New Zealand moth expert, got excited about the find and said that ‘no other living soul has seen this moth, the Holy Grail of NZ moths’.  It is exciting and significant because the moth was seen again. It is not extinct. It is still part of the fabric of life on our planet. It is still part of us! Because everything that lives and thrives on this earth is also part of us. We belong together. There is no escape from it and the more we destroy, the more we ignore, the more goes extinct, the poorer our earth becomes. And the poorer we become.

It is a sentiment that David Attenborough has told us over many years, and in many books and television shows. Did you know that Attenborough turns one hundred this year?! In fact, on the 8th May 2026. He would be one of my heroes, one of my teachers. Alas, I fear that his most profound teaching has been lost, the teaching that we have to tread more gently, more softly and more considerate on this earth because it is so precious and so amazing. That is the only reason why we should do so, go a bit easier, and it is a reason more than enough.

We could say in a fatalistic view that extinctions have always happened on earth, and new forms of live developed but there was never before a human factor, a human idea that we rule the world, like the Book of Genesis teaches. Infinite growth on earth is not possible, not for humans and not for any other creature. It is still a dilemma for me. Because science tells us that in a few billion years, give or take, the sun will burn up, and all will be gone anyway,

Happy Birthday David Attenborough!

David Attenborough is actually quite positive in humanity’s ability to turn the tide. It is a sentiment I do not share to the same level. As he says we do have the tools to remedy the problems but do we collectively have the will to do so?

I quote from his book A life on our planet where he writes: ‘We often talk of saving the planet, but the truth is that we must do these things to save ourselves’. The world will be turning on its merry way quite happily without us. We must not only use our intelligence, but we must use wisdom. That is hard to find. I remember the story of Diogenes, a Greek philosopher, who walked the streets of Athens with a lantern even in daylight trying to find a wise man! Again, David Attenborough writes: ‘We must not give up hope’. And so, we continue.

We have now removed almost 1300 possums from the forest along the walkway in the Rakaia Gorge. And it shows. We observe what the Predator Free Dunedin, who declared the Otago Peninsula possum free just recently, tells us. Mainly that the forest and native habitat is greatly improving and with it the bird life in the forest. It is a landmark result for Dunedin, and the birds are returning in large numbers. Especially the kereru, or New Zealand pigeons, are observed much more often. Because the possums devasted the population of kereru by eating the eggs and chicks and they are also competing for food such as kowhai leaves and flowers.
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Along the walkway we notice the same. Many more kererus can be heard clumsily flying in and out of the trees or just sitting silently on a tree branch overlooking their little kingdom. What a sight to be seen. And I think this is one of the most obvious proofs we have that our trapping is in fact working!
This month of April was also Conservation Week. A kind of feel good campaign to go ‘naturing’, to bond with nature, to do something. How convincing it all is I am not sure. What foundation it all has is not certain. It is good that people go out there and collect rubbish on the beaches in Wellington. But it would be better if there was no rubbish in the first place!

The New Zealand Nature Fund seems to concentrate its efforts on a subantarctic island way down in the Southern Ocean. Auckland Island or Maukahuka Island. An extremely beautiful place on earth, remote and wild and magic. Yet it is devasted by feral cats, pigs and mice. You would think that at least a place like this would not be affected by human interference. But no, we have to clean it up to enable the native flora and fauna to survive and flourish. You would think that the mice have little impact. Well, in large numbers they attack the fledglings of albatrosses and other birds. What a disaster those few boats that ever landed on these shores have wrecked on Auckland Island.

It will cost a few million dollars to make these islands predator free and to remove all pests introduced by early explorers and settlers. There was a colony of goats, there were cattle and rabbits, all eradicated in the 90s. But pigs remain, cats and mice. Strangely enough no rats are on the islands.

Did you know that New Zealand has joined the international Island-Ocean Connection Challenge? The project aims to make the Auckland Islands, the Chatham Islands, Pitt Island and Stewart Island predator free by 2030. That is in addition to other islands which are part of the challenge.

The Island-Ocean Connection Challenge is an international conservation initiative which aims to restore and rewild 40 globally significant island-ocean ecosystems by 2030. The addition of our three islands brings the total number of committed island-ocean ecosystems to 20. At a cost of 137 million dollars.
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https://nznaturefund.org/news/why-we-must-embark-on-nzs-largest-island-pest-eradication-project-as-soon-as-possible/
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And while the Nature Fund tells us that we are lucky to live in such a place as New Zealand, and I certainly believe so, we still have to do our most to keep it a lucky place. It is what I often hear from people, tourists on the walkway, that we live in an astonishing beautiful country, and I know that all of us together, with a little effort, can keep it that way. Thank you all again for helping with the Fantail Trust project.
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Fantailistic greetings from Robert and Christine

Talking about trees we have also discovered a stand of old narrow-leaved lacebarks. At first, I was not sure what it was, but when I put a photo onto iNaturalist, it was confirmed as being a lacebark. It is endemic to New Zealand and officially named Hoheria angustifolia from the family Malvaceae. Late in summer or early autumn it is full of lovely white flowers. It is evergreen although some trees might lose part of their leaves in winter.

I always thought that it was a bush or a shrub rather than a tree, but when I came upon this specimen it had very smooth straight trunk, dividing further up, with weeping branches hanging low down. The bark was sometimes used by Maori to make traditional textiles. The Latin name derives from the Maori name: houhere.
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Hugh Wilson, biologist over on Banks Peninsula, and guardian of the Hinewai Reserve, found a lacebark with a diameter of 130 centimetres, which is very unusual as they normally are only about 30 centimetres thick. However, ‘our’ tree is at least 60 centimetres in diameter making it also older than the average. Just wait a few years and we are going to beat Hugh Wilson! 

The shop performed exceptionally well too during March. In fact, we run out of things to sell! Anybody out there keen in producing little tokens or souvenirs for sale in the shop? Jon cannot keep up with painting the stones. Christine has not enough clay to make more souvenirs and Juliana is stressed with printing more cards! Maybe we should make the shop bigger too. Who would have thought of that.

A Swiss couple were so impressed by the shop and our work that they donated a substantial amount to the cause and wrote this email: ‘During our holiday in New Zealand we experienced so many beautiful things, above all in nature, that we would like to leave something behind… we hope that thanks to you many more birds and other animals will find their way back into the Rakaia Gorge’. It makes for a fuzzy brain or heart.

The visitors’ book too is full of encouraging comments and makes very inspired reading. I usually open the book when passing and just have a look as to who has been visiting. People from New Zealand and from all over the world. And the post box is amazing. I pick up every time a few cards to be sent to Australia, America, England, all over. We even had to order more stamps. The Fantail Trust stamps of $2.90.

So, it is all good news about the Fantail Trust. But other people have been at it as well. All working to the common goal of making New Zealand predator free or as I would prefer to call it, making New Zealand a paradise for birds and all native species. The movement, if it can be called a movement, seems to be getting traction.
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There was the good news that Otago Peninsula near Dunedin has been declared possum free! What a milestone and what an achievement. It took a huge effort with many organisations involved, like the Halo Trust, City Sanctuary, Predator Free Dunedin and many others. They removed more than 26000 possums in an area of over 9000 ha. It took 15 years of sustained effort to get to this point, more than a 1000 volunteers and Scout, the possum dog. It proves that with support from industry and the public that it is possible to clear large-scale areas of possums. 

Another good news story is that near Stewart Island, on Anchor Island, the first kakapo chick hatched on Valentine’s day! Remarkable as they only breed every two to four years and then face many challenges of survival.
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According to Predator Free 2050 this season there are 187 eggs of which 74 are fertile. Not all of them will hatch but it is a good number and brings a lot of hope of having one day a sizable colony of kakapo on Stewart Island. You can watch the chick growing up on the webcam:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB00JW39528

Yet one more little uplifting story, if you are in the business of trapping, is one also from Otago, but this one among the mountains in the Rees Valley. The one I walked last year where I spotted four takahe. Well, staff from the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, while putting in a new trap line, saw a pair of Whio in the Rees River!
These birds have not been seen in the river for more than 50 years! What a return on effort and investment! It is a significant milestone and of great importance to Ngai Tahu. A Taonga is returning to a stunning river valley deep in the mountains of New Zealand. Important surely for all of us. We must keep going and as Paul Kavanagh, of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, says:  “Our conservation efforts, it just has to keep going. You can't take your foot off the gas so hopefully this pair of whio stay in the area, others naturally return and we get a breeding population of whio soon”. Here in the gorge, we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Tuis!

So, a lot is happening all over New Zealand. But so much more needs to be done. If the goal of Predator Free 2050 is going to be achieved we need more efficiency, better traps, better lures and maybe better poisons too. We should not completely disregard humane poisons that kill effectively, fast and are not a burden on the environment. Because how otherwise are we going to get large, rugged areas, say Fiordland, predator free?

There are many people and organisations working on that, to develop a next generation of tools and technologies to achieve the goal. We use some of these tools like the AT220 automatic traps and the A24 traps for rats. Our network has now grown to just about 600 traps all along the walkway and further into the bush as well. We also use cameras to monitor different areas of the forest just to see what is happening and what predators are still around.
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But as clever as new technology is, it will not be enough to become predator free by 2050. It needs people. It needs you! Therefore, thank you all who have contributed in some way to the future native bird and plant sanctuary in the Rakaia Gorge. And a special thank you to the Chief Trappers! Sue and Jon, Marcel and Mel, Paul and Jo. 

Weasels also breed super-fast. Almost impossible to eradicate as they produce offspring faster than we can catch them. Like a female weasel born in spring can already give birth in late summer! Another difficulty is that most weasels caught are males. They are just a bit less shy in entering a trap plus they also roam much further so the chances that they stumble upon a trap is much greater.

That is the frustrating thing that stoats, weasels and rats reproduce so fast that we can hardly keep up with eliminating them. They are always a step ahead of us or so it seems. My theory is that at least where we have traps, below a tree say, then that tree is kind of protected, or the birds in it are a bit safer. So, each trap creates a sort of safe haven of around a 25 metre radius. That is how far a rat might forage for food each night. Plus, here in the Rakaia Gorge we also have the problem of re-invasion. Especially the possums thrive on the surrounding farms.
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The good thing is that our efforts are paying off! There are more birds, there is more bird song and the sound of the kereru flying in and out of the bush can be heard on a daily basis. They are hard to spot sometimes and on occasion, when I am looking for them, they are perched right above my head. Just sitting there, without a sound, looking out over the gorge. Beautiful to see and to me the most obvious proof that the reduction in predators has worked as two or three years ago there were hardly any kereru around. 

Isn’t it a magnificent bird! And right in our backyard in the Rakaia Gorge! The other day, when we installed a panel not far from the bridge, we looked up and saw four of them in the same tree! How wonderful! And most people I talk to on the walkway tell me they saw one or two of these birds.

While they are not threatened, they still need our support to thrive and survive. They are important birds for our forests as they are the only bird left now who is able to swallow large seeds of miro or karaka trees which they disperse over long distances. A very important function of forest renewal!

Kereru were traditionally hunted for meat and feathers, but that activity is now prohibited. But sad to say in Northland the kereru is threatened with local extinction due to predation, competition and would you believe  it, hunting!

The biggest threat for kereru is predation by rats, stoats, cats and possums. They all eat the eggs and attack the fledglings. Stoats will even go for adult kereru! The possums also compete with the birds by eating the preferred food of kereru, leaves, flowers and fruit especially of the kowhai.

As mentioned above we had 21 outings this month. It was mainly checking traps, it was also stocking the shop. For a while we ran out of stock! No more postcards, no more pottery trinkets, no more painted stones. I had to put an apology into the shop saying that we just have no more things to display! It is one of my great pleasures when down there and then I open the post box and find a handful of cards in there. Sent to all corners of the world! Then taking them home, putting our own stamp onto them and sending them off!

Then we get lovely messages in the visitors’ book. Pages are sometimes not big enough for all the comments. But this week I received a very special one from Melanie, who had sent four post cards to America. She wrote:

‘P.S. the fantail shop brought me such an immense amount of joy while on the hike - it is whimsical and sweet and thoughtful and an invitation to slow down in nature (all incredible things the world needs more of) so thank you!!’

How could I not be happy. And thank you Melanie for writing to us! The postcards are well on their way and will delight the recipients.

Other things we did was the removal of two wilding pine trees. They had annoyed me for a while growing bigger all the time. One was just down from the stile and the other near the coalmine. Jon and Sue helped with the removal of these trees. For safety reasons we also used a rope to get down to them and then carefully cut them with our little chainsaw and very sharp handsaw.

Here is a link to the felling:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2diuykou8swmqag1wks78/20260205_114313_1_1_1.mp4?rlkey=38l98e01kwzzqtdfvm3ehs2hx&dl=0

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​Then at last we installed two panels on the walkway. One down close to the bridge and one at the stile and seat where we cross over from Terrace Downs onto the walkway. They are information panels on the work of the fantail trust, warning walkers that trapping is being undertaken all along the path. In a way they also alert to the trouble the forest is in and that something is being done about it. 
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In last ‘Trapper Monthly’ I boasted about ‘our’ Totara and about a very large lancewood. Now for this month it will be about a massive broadleaf I found some time ago. It is well hidden in the forest on the line called ‘Route 66’. That name comes about because the last trap I installed down there has the number A66!

Broadleaf, or Grisellina littoralis, Kapuka in Maori, is quite a hardy tree. It grows from the coast right up to maybe 1000 metres above sea level. It can tolerate sea breezes and strong winds and is therefore ideal for shelter. It can also be clipped into shape and will easily regrow. They are susceptible to possum predation and in my observations the seedlings often disappear from the forest floor where possums are present. So, when there are lots of seedlings coming up it means there are not that many possums about.

Anyway ‘my’ broadleaf has survived a lot of predation judging by its size. It did not grow straight like the totara. In that way it is a bit messy. No straight trunk, not useful for much at all. No ships’ masts or waka to be made of it. A bit useless really for human use. But the good thing is that branches go everywhere and when there are no possums around new shoots appear all over the old tree trunk. It must harbour a lot of life and provide shelter for birds and insects. Maori used it to treat infections of the skin. 
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I put a trap right underneath this broadleaf to protect its inhabitants from rats. It is an A24 trap. Fully automatic. A rat goes in, gets taken care of, falls out and another rat can go in. Very effective and it does not need clearing out. On this particular trap you see my mascot. He comes with me everywhere and is called ‘Swissie’. The colours might have faded a bit, but it was red and white. Like the Swiss flag. There you go. My big broadleaf. I challenge anybody to come up with a larger one! 

Ah, what is it all about? Mucking around in the forest day after day. Getting rats, and stoats and cats and possums. Who would have thought of it. Not something we do in the Swiss Alps, I can tell you. They would call me crazy! And maybe that’s what it is, a bit of madness. The song of John Lennon ‘Imagine’ comes to my mind. Imagine a New Zealand free of predators and full of native birds, and insects and lizards and creepy crawlies and forests all thriving and growing and all kind of a Gondwanaland.

Whoever came up with the idea of predator free 2050 New Zealand has had the idea of an almost impossible goal. Yet more and more people jump onto the bandwagon and a whole industry has developed leading towards this outcome. To me it is also an idea far more broad and wide, almost like my broadleaf, encompassing so much more, like caring for the environment, caring for this earth and caring for everything that lives and thrives on it. An idea of treading more gently, more considerate and more lovingly.
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Therefore, thank you all very much for your help, for your interest and no doubt for your care and love.
Robert and Christine 

Furthermore, we have now also ‘Adopt a Bird’ certificates for people who donate $50.00 into the trust and specify that they want to ‘adopt’ a bird. It comes with limited edition art print which is a hand finished artwork by Juliana. She describes the process like this: 

A/P = Before ‘The Edition’ begins, the ‘Artists’ Proofs’ are made. It allows the artist to try different inks and papers and to hand finish and hand colour those prints, before an Edition begins. These artists’ proofs are few and far between, thus adding to their value.

11/200 = this number shows how many copies of this artwork are ever printed ( eg. 200 prints is the absolute limit) and where in ‘The Edition’ your artwork was printed (eg 11th). Records of this are kept. The embossed stamp proves this is an original print from that artist’s studio – not a copy.

So far, we had five adoptions! The prints which Juliana produces are really special, very beautiful and collectable and very suitable to be put into a frame. If you like to see more of Juliana’s work then go to Methven, where she sells it in the information centre shop.

And now there is the Totara tree. Previously I wrote about this totara tree I found in the depth of the Rakaia Gorge unknown to everybody. Even the Botanical Society in Christchurch was not aware of it. So naturally I am quite elated having found it. A magnificent tree it is too.

Two weeks ago, I passed it again and measured it! The circumference of the tree is 3.3 metres which gives a diameter of just over one metre. From here we can estimate a possible age of the tree, and it seems that most experts agree on around 500 years! Imagine 500 years ago a small sapling emerged in the forest and kept on growing until today! It is a marvel. No Europeans had ever been to these islands before and the Maori population would have been minimal. It just shows that nature does not need us. That it evolves, grows, mutates and just is on its own. I declare the Totara tree in the Rakaia Gorge a Taonga!

For Maori the totara is a chiefly tree. A chief of the forest! So much so that when a chief of a tribe died, a great chief, a venerated chief, then the saying was that a mighty totara had fallen! I am not sure how they reconciliated that sentiment with their cutting down totara for building canoes. For the wood of the totara is suitable above all other trees to construct canoes, to build houses, tools and weapons and for carving. 

A single tree for instance could be carved into a war canoe capable of carrying a hundred warriors. That is a big tree! But that is not all. Researchers have extracted from the core of the totara a compound they named Totarol, It is effective against many bacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

On the funny side, and bear with me, it is also said in Maori lore that the totara is a windy tree. There was once a contest between trees who met in a forest and argued as to which one was the tallest of them all. Totara tried first and he stretched and stretched towards heaven, straining and heaving, with all his strength, and then he popped. The other trees started laughing and for shame the totara disappeared into the thick of the forest. Maybe that is why ‘my’ totara is so well hidden in the gorge.

There are other massive trees in the gorge that probably nobody has seen before. There is a huge broadleaf hidden away and there are a few really large mature lancewoods around. I was in Akaroa this week where our friends Jack and Charlotte establish their own predator free reserves and when we did a walk around the farm Jack pointed out a huge very old looking lancewood and declared it to be the oldest of its kind in the world! No, no I said. There is a bigger one in my patch! It’s a good rivalry and one I lose on the account of Jack having more Tuis! We have no Tuis. But our neighbour, Cathie, has seen one in her garden quite recently. So maybe they are not far away and then Jack will have a problem!

Another investment in nature is being done by Landcorp. The people who import agricultural equipment, like harvesters, Claas machinery. They have supported for years now the initiative by Mike Fisk, a retired eye surgeon, of the ‘Valleys Project’. It covers an extensive area in remotest Fiordland, the Cozette, Iris, Irene and Pandora valleys with over a thousand traps.

The Valleys Project

These traps need servicing at least twice a year. And it is on one of these servicing trips that I had an accident severing my ligaments in my biceps and being rescued by helicopter. Never mind I survived but probably will not be going back to Fiordland.

It is initiatives like this one that gives hope than maybe one day the goal of predator free New Zealand 2050 will come true. The example of Claas company should be publicised much more to get other large corporations on board the predator free movement. It’s got to become fashionable! Because somehow the funds available by the government are not going to do it. The main thrust of the predator free 2050 movement, its finance, its research and implementation must come from private interests and philanthropic organizations.

For that to happen we need success stories. Stories that entice people to come on board and do their bit. Like the ISAAC Conservation and Wildlife Trust in Christchurch. They just managed to hatch 30 shore plovers who are now looking for safe wild place to live. Somebody needs to love them; somebody needs to care for them. Only around 250 of them survive! None on the mainland, only on predator free island and in captivity. 

What a world we live in! Full of wonders, full of beauty, full of life. Things we need to protect, to care for, to love. I am constantly amazed on my walks down the Rakaia Gorge of all the forms of life, of all the thriving mass of nature and its various manifestations.
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So, thank you all for caring and be part of the project of making the Rakaia Gorge a safe haven for native flora and fauna. It is a very special place. And a special thank you to Juliana Child, the artist.
Nga mihi.

Robbie and Christine 

But that is no good. So, one day I get to the top end and deploy five traps. D170 to D174. It means carrying two traps at a time and then instal them, getting a little platform so they are even and stable. Rats do not like wobbly traps! And then I left it at that. Bad weather. 

The drama starts when I took up deployment again a few days later. It’s got to be done! Nice morning it was even if a bit windy. Now there were three traps left at the depot at the top end of the lane and of course they had to go past all the traps I already had in place. I can only carry two of these traps. They are heavy and clumsy. 

I take two of them and get to the first one I placed a few days earlier, D170. Drop them there and walk back up to get the third one. Then from there I take two again and get to second trap already in position, D171, drop them and make my way up again to get the other one. And so on until I had all three traps at D174. Which to my astonishment had already a rat in it! A brand new trap and a rat in it! Maybe there are a lot of rats around here!

From this spot I have to measure the distance to next deployment which is forty metres. I have a blue tape twenty metres long. I stick one end, which has a kind of needle attachment, into the ground and go my way. After the twenty metres are out I have to pull the tape towards me to continue. And you think that you could just pull it, but no, it always snags somewhere which means I have to go back and disentangle the thing. Then stick the end again into the ground and walk another twenty metres. And that is the spot where the next trap will go!

For that to happen I need to walk back again to my depot of traps, get two of them and get to this location, make a flat area with my hammer, put the trap on to it, put an egg into it and peanut butter, close the thing, label it and put it on my GPS on trap.nz. 

From here I measure another twenty metres,  and then come back, pick up the tape, and then measure another twenty metres. Go back pick up the other traps and install one, then measure again and back to pick up the last trap. It is amazing how in this forest the tape can snag anywhere and everywhere. A little branch or a log. And then it goes all into knots and it takes ages to undo. Me in the forest undoing knots and entanglements of the tape or rope which I use. Hard work!

Finally, I walk towards the end of Penny Lane, where there are seven more traps to do. Arrrgh! In between I use chain saw to cut the track again because in high winds it all got blown over with trees and branches. Then I put in more blue marker ribbons so that other people can find their way through this maze of bush. 
 
I manage three more traps to put further down the lane but not to activate them. Just too much. Then I realise that I got the numbering wrong somewhere! The last trap I installed should have been D177 but it was D178. One too many! Which means I have to go back and sort it all out. What a nuisance. On top of it I lost the little wrench to open the traps with. I am exhausted. Still have to walk home. Made it in five hours! A day in the life of a trapper!

The other pleasing thing is that the shop down by the coalmine has done exceptionally well in December. We sold Christmas cards and other festive things and we can hardly keep up stocking the shelves! The post box is used quite a lot too. It always puts a smile on my face when I open the box and see three or four letters or postcards in there to be posted. With the help of Juliana Child, our friend next door, we have ordered special stamps from the post office with a fantail on it and the words: ’The Fantail Trust’. It looks beautiful. If you like to receive a post card with the stamp on it, please give us your address, donate ten dollars to the fantails and we send you one. The Fantails account number: BNZ, 02 0868 011730 25. Reference: Post Stamp. Thank you. Make my day!

​We will retrieve the visitor’s book for 2025 and put the new one into the box. I must say the 2025 book is amazing with all the entries and comments. Sue Whitty, another friend, has indicated that she might transcribe the book and give us another statistic as to how many persons signed, where they came from and what they might have written.

To the birdies now: 

The Fantail or Piwakawaka: 
















Song of a fantail:

www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/south-island-fantail.mp3

The fantail has done reasonably well in New Zealand despite a greatly altered environment. It has adapted to feeding in exotic forests, gardens and orchards. Part of the reason is that fantails have a very broad range of insects to live on, but they also produce lots of eggs and so it is likely that a few will always survive. Having said that they are still vulnerable to predation by rats, cats and stoats. 
They are able to move quickly in all directions with their wide tail to catch insects either by flying directly into a swarm of insects, or by disturbing them in bushes or catching them by following walkers or other larger birds like silvereyes.  
They surely are one of the most beloved birds in New Zealand.


The Bellbird or Korimako

Song of a bellbird

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/bellbird-06.mp3

Bellbirds are usually recognised by their song which Captain Cook likened to the sound of ‘small bells exquisitely tuned’. The song can vary a lot from one place to another. Bellbirds were very common when Europeans arrived but then declined sharply and were even thought of being in danger of disappearing completely. 

They have recovered somewhat but are still missing north of Hamilton, are rare in Wellington, Wairarapa, and inland of Canterbury and Otago. Not so in the Rakaia Gorge where there seems to be a healthy population of bellbirds. 

They like to feed on the kowhai flowers in spring which flower along the walkway from early June to the end of October providing delicious nectar during the breeding season. Then they also like the fuchsia flowers, again for their sweet nectar. 


The Grey Warbler or Riroriro












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Song of a Grey Warbler

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/grey-warbler-song.mp3

Grey Warblers are tiny birds and are found throughout New Zealand. They are not threatened but still, trapping helps them to survive in larger numbers. They fly in and out of trees and bushes and are hardly ever seen but their song gives them away, a song which is amazing considering the size of these birds, about the third of a mouse, making them one of New Zealand’s lightest birds!
 
The nest of the Grey Warbler is prey to the shining cuckoo which removes an egg from the clutch of up to five Grey Warbler eggs and replaces it with its own. It is not rejected but when the cuckoo chick hatches it throws all the other eggs or nestlings out of the nest! Strange what nature does! 

It is only the male that sings the long melodious song during the breeding season. That is why they seem to disappear from the forest at other times. 


The New Zealand Pigeon or Kereru

Sound of Kereru

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/nz-pigeon-song.mp3

The Kereru is not threatened but still the numbers are in decline where there is no predation control or where they are still illegally hunted as in Northland. The threat also comes from rats, cats, stoats and possums which eat their eggs or fledglings. Possums also compete for seeds, flowers and leaves. Kereru are an important species for the native forests as they can swallow large nuts and disperse them to other sites. 
They lay a single egg usually between September and April and when fruit is abundant, they might lay twice in a season. It takes almost two months from egg to young fledgling. Both, male and female, sharing in the brooding and feeding of the chicks. 

While their preferred food is ripe fruit from native trees, they also eat the leaves of kowhai, the flowers and buds and they love tree lucerne! In Akaroa I have seen flocks of kereru feeding in stands of tree lucerne. 

The kereru in the Rakaia Gorge are to me a very special sight and very dear as they are a good indication that the trapping has an effect on their numbers. I hardly ever saw one at the beginning of the project but now almost every day I can observe them in trees, just sitting there looking out over the forest. 


The Silvereye or Tauhou














The song of a Silvereye

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/silvereye-song-22sy.mp3

Silvereye are considered to be a native species but have only been recorded since 1832. The Maori name means new arrival. They are not threatened and are often seen in large flocks among the matagouri or gorse making quite a lot of noise with their chirping! Real busy bodies among the branches!

During the breeding season, August, September and February, they raise two to three clutches each one of about three eggs. A population therefore can increase rapidly especially if there is no predation by rats or stoats. 

They are an omnivorous bird eating insects, worms, caterpillars and flies but they also like fruit, native fruit and exotic, often to the dismay of orchardists for whom they might be considered a pest devastating plantations of cherries, apples, peaches and all other fruits as well. 

In the winter they are readily attracted to bird feeders liking fat and lard and especially sugar water. We have such a bird feeder at the back of our house and some days there are up to twenty silvereyes fighting for a spot on the feeder. Occasionally bellbirds visit as well. 


These are some of the birds down in the Rakaia Gorge. Other species which I see sometimes are the New Zealand falcon, robins, tomtits, chaffinches, blackbirds, redpolls, yellowhammers and song thrushes. Not all of them natives but all are adding up to the bird chorus filling our little sanctuary with their song. My hope is that we will get over time other species as well like Tuis maybe, parakeets and the ultimate goal: kiwis!

As a Maori proverb says:

Tamina nga manu, ka ora te ngahere. Ka ora te ngahere, ka ora nga manu. Or in English:
Look after the birds and the forest flourishes. If the forest flourishes, the birds flourish.
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To that I would like to say that if we look after the forest  and the birds then we save a little bit of our planet earth, a flourishing Earth, for future generations to enjoy. Enough incentive to keep on going. Thank you all for being such a big part of it. 

Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends

Back in the saddle again after a long sojourn to Switzerland. No possums over there! And soon no possums in the Rakaia Gorge too! Again, a very low number was caught. Only four for the whole month of November! It is almost a miracle that in the last three months we only got 11 possums whereas in the years before it was always over 50 and one year even a 100! And just last August it was still 21.

The rats are a different story. They just keep coming and for November we had 20 of them plus there were two weasels and one hedgehog. They are few and far between as well. A good thing really. This was all done in nine outings. Only nine?! Well, coming back from Switzerland I did not feel all that good and had to stay indoors!

Basically, I did only Piccadilly Line a few times, once I did the Grand Tour, which is Northern Line, Circle Line and Piccadilly line in one day. Then I went down Waterloo Line and inspected Penny Lane, which had suffered quite a lot from that big storm back in October. Lots of trees came down and obstructed the track. Lucky, I had my little chainsaw with me and opened it all up again, but it is still not finished. The battery did not last that long.

But it is very pleasing to see so much regrowth of all sorts of plants among the broom and gorse. There are lots of broadleaves, cabbage trees, pittosporums and now and then a kowhai. The ferns are back too and one area is all covered in a large leaved ivy. Delightful to see but of course not a native. Unfortunately, there are also sycamore trees sprouting up. They really need to be controlled otherwise the whole area will just become a sycamore forest.

If you are going through there and see a sycamore seedling just pull it out. It is also pleasing to hear a lot of grey warblers in that part of the bush and usually fantails are around. I believe that fauna and flora are doing quite well in the gorge. More needs to be done and to keep it all going as re-invasion lurks just around the corner.  







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All is going well then on the trapping front. A few traps are missing or are damaged. We will replace them or repair them. There are also some new traps going in especially on Penny Lane which has no rat specific traps at all. I allocated about twelve to fifteen DOC150 traps all along the path, say every 40 m a trap.

Another pleasing thing is the Fantail Shop. It really has surpassed all my expectations and while I am sure sometimes things go missing, most of the time the items taken are paid online and often there is an extra donation included. The post box is also a great success like in November we had twelve letters or cards to send off into all directions of the world! It seems it is more popular with tourists than New Zealanders.

And then there is the visitor’s book. Amazing how many entries per day we get. Sometimes the page is not large enough! And the comments are delightful to read. It will be a big project to transcribe it all and maybe produce a statistic of how many visits and from where. Alas, I feel that the Fantail Shop one day will go viral and then we might think we should never have done it! Luckily the long way in is a bit of a deterrent. 

​The shop is now well-stocked with even some Christmas things. My sister back home made us some angels and Christmas cards of which already a few have sold. Then there are the lovely post cards Juliana Child makes. They are a best-seller and then we have the talismans, small tokens with a fantail imprint, made of clay by Christine, also selling like hot buns. Jewellery items are there and painted stones.

This month I also had an interview with the environmental reporter from The Press, the daily newspaper in Christchurch. It was all about the trapping but also he was very interested in the shop. You might see the article soon with a picture of the Fantail Shop! Let me know if you come across it.
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To broaden the interest and appeal of this newsletter, as you might have noticed, I try to include some information of a different kind and slightly different content but  naturally always about trapping and conservation. And today it is the remarkable story of the survival of the Black Robin on the Chatham Islands.

The Black Robin was on the brink of extinction back in the 1980’s when only five birds lived in a small area on Mangere Island. One of them was a female of breeding age and she was called Old Blue. The only hope of the species to survive.

The Department of Conservation under the leadership of Don Merton and his team devised a plan and a management strategy to save the birds. Their efforts and success are now part of the history of conservation and provide a model for other endangered species around the world.

The eggs of little Old Blue were fostered by Chatham Island tomtits which are related to the black robin. They raised the chicks to adulthood. A process over many years until the robins could sustain their own population. It needed tireless nest monitoring around the clock and banding to get the black robins back from extinction.












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A big problem was in-breeding as each of the surviving birds descended from Old Blue. The lack of genetic diversity leads to an increase in diseases and reduced fertility. To overcome this handicap the birds were moved between two groups living on two different islands, Rangatira Island and Mangere Island. Most birds live on Rangatira Island while the ones on Mangere Island are struggling. There is just not enough suitable habitat for them and while there are now over 450 birds alive, they might have reached a limit due to this lack of habitat.

The battle to save these birds is of course not over. They depend first and foremost on a  predator free environment, as an influx of rats or stoats could wipe them out in day or two. It is a powerful reminder of what trapping can do. Not just on the Chatham Islands but across New Zealand. It means that every trap line, every trap out there is important to keep our native bird populations alive and thriving.

Another project that caught my attention is what our friends are doing on Banks Peninsula, Jack and Charlotte. They have made their farm possum free. Thousands of the critters must have lived in the bush on their farm. Their efforts, together with the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust, has led to a recovery of native species not only of birds but also of plants such as tree fuchsia, which is a favourite for possums. 

















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​The fuchsia is also a favourite of native birds, like the nectar feeders bellbird and tui. While tui thrived on Banks Peninsula long ago, they disappeared in the 90’s completely. 70 tuis were re-introduced in 2009 and 2010 and are now thriving all over Akaroa and they are a frequent visitor on Jack’s and Charlotte’s backyard delighting them and all visitors with their magic song. What a bleeding heart story of conservation.

We have no tuis in the Rakaia Gorge. I have never seen one or heard one. But our neighbour says that she saw one in her garden. I am not sure whether there are some at Washpen Falls, but if so they might migrate to the Rakaia Gorge. There is a large colony in a little remnant of forest near Geraldine and tuis are known to fly long distances to find their favourite trees, the kowhais. Of which we have plenty. Maybe we could introduce some tuis?!

As Jack says we can do little bits, and we are doing little bits, and we get a benefit, everybody really gets a benefit, the flora and fauna get  a benefit. The planet earth gets a benefit and again as Jack says: ‘I’m quite positive amidst all the gloom in the world around us’.  So am I in the specific context of the Rakaia Gorge and of the wider one of the planet.

So, thank you yet again for your help and effort to make this positive change. Maybe all trappers are of a positive nature, surely of an optimistic disposition!

Have a fantailistic day! Thanks for reading. And lest we forget: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends, greeting from Switzerland!

It is sensational. In September we only caught two possums! Last year it was 29! It seems we are on top of the pest. Some will still be lurking around down there but not many. Cameras will be showing what and where. And then we can target those with more traps! It is very exciting and promising. The birds will love it.

Thank you all for doing the work and going out and looking after traps. The weather seems to have been quite bad in September too. But despite that the shop has been doing a roaring trade with lots of souvenirs taken and lots of postcards being posted.

Rats are of course still around too, and we caught twelve of them plus one stoat. That is a good result too. There are some hotspots for rats like around D15 on Piccadilly and D37 on Waterloo. That is very pleasing too.

There are mice as well. There is a phenomenon called mesopredator release which means that when one species like rats is eliminated another one like mice takes over and the population just explodes and causes real damage to ecosystems, like  stripping of seeds, predation of insects and skinks or geckos and ground nesting birds.

This month was also the New Zealand Bird of the Year competition which was won by the falcon or Karearea. There were 73 birds contesting the competition and the New Zealand Falcon won with 21% of the votes out of 75000 participants.

The falcons hunt at great speeds reaching up to 200 km an hour when diving for their prey. There are only about 5000 to 8000 of them left putting them at risk of extinction. Incidentally Sue and Jon on one of their trapping rounda saw a pair of them in the Rakaia Gorge. Hopefully they will be nesting somewhere in the cliffs above the river.  They are magnificent birds as the two pictures below show. 

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There are 38 species of falcons worldwide and the New Zealand falcon is the only one endemic to this country. It is found both in the North and South Islands even down to Auckland Island. There are three forms of which the bush falcon lives in the forest mainly in the North Island, an Eastern variety in the central South Island and a Southern one in Fiordland and Auckland Island.

They usually lay three to four eggs which take up to 33 days to hatch. The falcons do not build nests but lay their eggs in scrapes on the ground or under rock outcrops and sometimes in an emerging forest on an epiphyte.

That makes them very vulnerable to predators. Especially cats are a problem as even the falcon finds it difficult to defend the chicks against such a large predator. But rats, stoats and even hedgehogs are known to have attacked their nests. Another problem seems to be windfarms, shooting by people despite their protected status and electrocution on power poles.
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There are positive things too in this battle for a better world. There are areas where real success has been achieved in eliminated predators like the Miramar Peninsula in Wellington, Zealandia of course and other sanctuaries. That is great motivation to continue the fantail project and turn the Rakaia Gorge into one of those sanctuaries. So, thank you again for your support and trapping efforts. 

Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends
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August is usually the best months for possums. It did not disappoint. While not as many as in past years it was nevertheless 21 possums compared to 31 last year. It was also 20 rats and one weasel. The rats were due maybe because we re-furbished all D traps along Piccadilly Line. There was a spite of catches after that. Now it has all gone quiet along that line. It seems to be very low in predators although one camera still picked up a possum. The hunt is on. By the way we also had 20 outings between Marcel, Jon&Sue, Paul&Jo and myself. Which is a fair good number. So thank you all very much.
The title trapper of the month has to go to Marcel for his discovery of a weta. Yes he has seen a weta and taken a picture!





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This one is apparently of the genus Pleioplectron, a cave weta. There are ten species endemic to New Zealand and all but one live in the South Island and are fairly common. Not in the Rakaia Gorge I think because I have never noticed one and the Weta Condo down by the coalmine still has no resident weta in it.

They live in darker places of the forest, in caves and under rotting vegetation. All are flightless with long antennae and legs and are nocturnal. (maybe that is why I have never seen one) Marcel must have disturbed this one in its sleep so it is a very lucking sighting. It is very exciting to know that there are wetas in the forest and that not all of them have been eaten by the possums and rats. I think we call it Pleioplectron Marcelinus!

The other discovery made down in the bush was discovered on camera. I could hardly believe it, but you can judge for yourself.

As you can see right by the fantail shop which incidentally has been doing a roaring trade and we sold a record number of tokens and souvenirs. Unfortunately, some people from overseas find it hard to pay online and I have now added a Wise account number to make it easier. A number of postcards have also been put into the mail box which always puts a smile on my dial. The oddest and remotest post box in New Zealand for sure!
But it also impressed one of the walkers and he sent us this email:
Just a quick email to say how impressed I was to see the amazing work that you guys are doing in the Rakaia Gorge, with both the trapping work, explanatory artwork, and of course the brilliant Fantail Shop!  This was my first time ever walking in this area, and it was brilliant to see the level of trapping occurring hereand, more importantly, hearing the birdlife. It was a very different experience to the normally silent bush that unfortunately we have all become used to. And the idea behind the Fantail shop is amazing - its so nice to see that you have placed such a level of trust in people that they will take merchandise from the shelves and pay you later.  Its reminiscent of a time when everyone trusted each other, and so I truly hope that most people who partake in this do indeed support your work.
 
I have deposited the $15 for the lovely fly broach into your account, which in itself was a very cheap price to pay for something so anatomically correct - I could even see the halteres behind the main set of wings!!  I was also happy to donate some more money to help you guys out on this brilliant initiative - it was a highlight of my weekend in the area.
 
All the best for your future work.
 
Is that not a nice email and such an incentive to continue the work. Not that I have any thoughts of stopping the project. It is always such a pleasure to walk in the forest, see the plant growth and hear the birds. Plenty of bellbirds, grey warblers, silvereyes and fantails and again, as I said before, quite a number of kereru. 

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​Most of these birds feed now in the kowhai trees. The whole forest is yellow with the blooms many of which fall onto the path giving away the locations of the trees. It is such a distinctive and beautiful flower used as an emblem on New Zealand coins, stamps and banknotes and has even featured on Megan Markle’s wedding veil! So if you want to see a profusion of kowhai flowers you should go for a walk down in the Rakaia Gorge these next two weeks.
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They seem to flower over a long period of time. The first ones I usually see in early June, the 5th June this year, and they will continue to flower until the end of October providing nectar for almost half a year! For the Maori the first flowers were a sign of spring and that it was time to plant kumara. But obviously this would not work with our kowhai. 

​Maori also used the kowhai flowers to produce a yellow dye. The tree itself was a source for remedies of a lot of ailments having strong antiseptic properties. They made an infusion of tree bark and used it to treat skin diseases, cuts and bruises and even broken bones were bathed in ‘wai kowhai’.
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Two little stories will illuminate the lore and fascination with the kowhai: ‘A young Maori semi-god, a Tohunga, was sitting under a bare kowhai tree with a beautiful young maiden and he asked her to marry him. But she resisted saying that she would only marry a man who could perform a miracle. The Maori Tohunga summoned all his magical power projecting it onto the kowhai tree which burst out into a splendid spectacle of yellow flowers. He reached up, took some flowers and made them into a golden crown and put it on the head of the girl. Of course she said yes!

There was a pub in Bluff and the owner made beer usually with cabbage tree roots. One day a group of sailors broke into his premises and helped themselves to the beer, smashed his shop to pieces and stole all the grog as well. When the ship returned the old man was all in for revenge and he added kowhai leaves and flowers to his normal brew and left it ready for the sailors. Naturally they came again and drank themselves silly. But they did not make it back to the ship being very sick and vomiting for twelve hours!1

A last paragraph about the Kaki or Black Stilt:

‘The kakī (black stilt) is one of the world’s rarest birds — and it’s uniquely ours.

Once widespread across Aotearoa’s wetlands, rivers, and estuaries, this striking, jet-black wader has been pushed to the brink, now clinging to survival in just a few isolated braided riverbeds of the South Island. With fewer than 150 adults remaining in the wild, every single bird matters.

Its story is one of beauty, resilience — and heartbreak. Despite decades of tireless work by conservationists through captive breeding and release programmes, the kakī continues to face a deadly and persistent threat: introduced predators. Stoats, feral cats, hedgehogs, and rats don’t just pose a nuisance — they decimate nests, devour eggs, and kill fledglings before they ever have a chance to fly. Even adult kakī aren’t safe.

This iconic species, a taonga of Aotearoa, is battling extinction not because it failed to adapt — but because it’s up against enemies it never evolved to face. And without serious intervention, we risk losing it forever’.2
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It is not only that every single kaki bird matters it is that all birds matter. So, thank you all for reading and trapping and caring. We are getting there and it has occurred to me that we might soon have to change from being trappers to being bird watchers! Twitchers!


















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1 The meaning of trees, Robert Vennell, 2019
2 Connovation, 08.2025

The Award!

​​July was a cracker of a month. We had a long spell of good weather and I could work on the newest trap line called Penny Lane. It is an off-shoot of Waterloo Line and if you look at the map there is about halfway down the walkway a kind of peninsula jutting out into the river. The name Penny Lane comes from the first three letters and the last two letters of peninsula!  All a bit of fun. You might think it is kind of Swiss fun. Never mind.

This peninsula is all overgrown with gorse. I think it was at one stage grassed over and used as a paddock by the farm just behind. Then it was let go and the gorse and broom took over. But now, to my big surprise, when I cut a path through this jungle there is vigorous growth of native bush and trees throughout the area. Cabbage trees, pittosporums, lancewoods and even kowhai. They are all pushing through the gorse canopy. In a few years it will all be native forest again! It is also full of native birds especially grey warblers. Quite exciting to see it all.

Now being a cracker of a month, we had 24 outings in July! That is a lot of checking traps and a lot of hours spent in the forest. The results were not so spectacular in one way but of course very spectacular in another! Less predators caught but more birds seen and heard. So, we had 20 possums, which is a bit more than average for July but far less from last year when we had 37 possums in July! Then we had 17 rats, a few more than last month but a lot less than the 49 we got in May. On top of it we had two stoats and one weasel. It brings the total of predator catches to well over 3500!

It is getting more common now that I come home with nothing caught at all. Which is of course what we want. The big highlight is that almost every day I see kereru, one, sometimes two or even more. A pair is hanging around the coalmine and the shop area. And the bellbirds are still feeding in the kowhai trees which are full of flowers and the fantails frolic about and the waxeyes are tweeting in the bushes and the grey warblers warble their lovely song throughout the forest.  
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As I outlined in last newsletter, we have three cameras operating in the forest to see what is happening and what might still need to be trapped. With footage and knowing what is around we can better target the predators. Like now I use sometimes dried rabbit meat and down by the coalmine we installed a ramp leading up the tree straight into an AT220 trap! See below. 

Our installation near the coalmine. On the tree you see an AT220 with the ramp underneath. This is an automatic trap. What goes in falls out and the trap sets itself again.  In the middle is a DOC150 trap with an egg in it, plus peanut butter and in the lower right corner you see the camera recording all the action!

Talking about birds have a look at this one: It is a Pukunui!

It is the world’s rarest wading bird and only breeds down on Stewart Island. As of 2025 there are 105 birds left, up from 101 last year. At one stage they were even down to 62. Lots of traps and the efforts of may people helped to stabilise the population. DOC has a dedicated team of rangers looking after these birds.

The danger is ever present in the form of rats, stoats and sadly feral cats. The New Zealand Nature Fund has partnered with DOC and raised more than $400,000 for the campaign to safe this bird from extinction. A lot of money really, more than $4000.00 per bird!

It is great to know that a lot of people care about a little bird and are willing to contribute financially to the efforts of saving it from forever gone. I really believe that collectively we have a responsibility and a duty to prevent the disappearance of these birds.

On the other hand, I have seen in the news that Peter Jackson wants to bring the Moa back to life through genetic engineering. The proposal is to extract DNA from Moa bones containing well preserved DNA which can be extracted and manipulated and then grafted on to DNA of Emu to give birth to the Moa.

The company behind it, ‘Colossal Biosciences’ gives it a good chance of success and Peter Jackson has invested twenty three million dollars into the project. I have already contacted Peter and asked that the Fantail Trust will get the first two birds to be released in the Rakaia Gorge! By the time the birds are born the Rakaia Gorge will be predator free and the Moa will be safe! Really what a waste of money!
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Some other exciting news this week is that I have rediscovered deep in the bush a Horopito or peppertree. Maori used it to alleviate toothache and skin infections, and it is no wonder as the plant has strong anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. The early settlers used it as a pain killer and a cure for stomach aches. Chefs use it nowadays to give dishes a distinctive New Zealand twist and flavour. There  are also many companies selling horopito sauces, oils and even teas.

But to top it all I have found another plant down on the new Penny Lane. When I was cutting my way through the bush I came across some golden jelly type thing on a tree branch. At first I thought it might be a worm or snail or something like that. It was very unusual and prompted me to take a picture and put it on iNaturalist. A great website for anything flora or fauna wise. Just put a picture of it onto iNaturalist and somebody will in a short while tell you what it is.
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So, it turns out that my yellow jelly thing is a fungus ‘Tremella mesenterica’! In common language it is called ‘Witches Butter’! It has its uses as it is not poisonous. The Chinese put it into soups such as an immunomodulating cooling soup with lotus seeds or lily bulbs as the rubbery and gelatinous consistency of the mushroom gives texture to these soups.[1]

But far more interesting than this culinary usage is the origin of the name ‘Witches’ Butter’. I was really intrigued and found out an unlikely story. It is in a book from 1814 titled and written by Mr. George Sinclair, the ‘Late Professor of Philosophy in the College of Glasgow’:

‘Satan’s Invisible World Discovered; or a choice collection of modern relations, proving evidently, against the atheist of this present age that there are devils, spirits, witches, and apparitions, from authentic Records, and Attestations of Witnesses of undoubted veracity’. This is what he wrote:
“They confessed also, that the devil gives them a beast, about the shape and bigness of a cat, which they call a carrier ; and he gives them a bird, too, as big as a raven, but white : And these creatures they can send any where and wherever they come, they take away all sorts of victuals they can get, as butter, cheese, milk, bacon, and all sorts of seeds, whatever they can find, and carry it to the witches. What the bird brings, they may keep for themselves : but what the carrier brings, they must reserve for the devil, and that is brought to Blockula, where he gives them of it as much as he thinks fit. —They added, that the carriers filled themselves so full oftentimes, that they are forced to spew by the way, which spewing is found in several gardens, where colworts grow, and not far from the houses of the witches. It is of a yellow colour like gold, and is called the butter of the witches”. [1]
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The records and attestations he refers to come from a trial of witches of the 17th century in Sweden. Astonishing really that even in the 19th century this believe in witches was still alive and believed. Anyway, to satisfy your curiosity below is the picture I took of the Witches Butter.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella_mesenterica

[1]  https://wellcomecollection.org

Witches Butter below:

Now on a lighter side this month also, on the 22nd July was the Day of the Ratcatcher. Not kidding. You must have heard of the story of the Pied Piper. It dates from the Middle Ages. The town of Hemelin in Germany had a problem with rats. The mayor put out a prize of 1000 guilders for anybody to claim, if they could get rid of the rats. That was in 1284.

The piper accepted and used his magical flute to lure all the rats into the nearby river where they all drowned. But the mayor reneged on his promise and now the piper played the pipe and lured all the children away from the town.  Be that as it may, but I wish I had a flute like that.  
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TrapNZ, the app where we record all our catches, asked for stories on catching rats from all organisations such as the Fantail Trust to celebrate the Day of the Ratcatcher and offered as a prize one of their hats with the TrapNZ logo on it. Naturally I entered a story and submitted all the names of our volunteers. My story came first and your names went into a draw and Jon Whitty won the prize! Congratulations Jon!  (TrapNZ did not renege on the promise) Below some pictures.
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Thank you all again for caring and helping to get those Moa back!
Robbie and Christine