​
​

It has been a kind of quiet month on the possum front. Only 12 possums for
the whole month! But it is in line with previous years. Like last three it
was 11 possums. I wonder why that is. In October they definitely have young
ones and we catch more but then in November what are they up to? Maybe they
stay well down in the forest and eat new shoots of plants such as fuchsia
and wineberry or even kowhai! So no need to travel far up to the green grass
where we have lots of traps.
 
Some good news is that those two possies which were on camera along
Piccadilly Line, near trap T57 and AT11, have been caught. First it was the
young one, poor thing and then the mother about 10 days later. In the same
trap with the apple. They did not go into the AT11 which is nearby. It just
shows that the apple as a lure works every time. Patience is required
sometimes but eventually a targeted possum will go in and try to get the
apple. It means putting fresh apple into it as often as possible. Sadly the
cat which was on the same footage has not yet been caught. It has
disappeared from around there.
 
In November we also have refurbished all A24 traps. They needed new gas and
new lure. Jon and Sue helped with Elizabeth Line and Piccadilly Line. I did
the rest like down on the Embankment and along Circle Line. Some of them
were very hard to find again. Growth of plants hid them often or leaves
fallen onto them. The pleasing thing was that quite a few of these traps had
a rat underneath or sometimes a mouse. Also one hedgehog. Prove that they
actually work. The problem I have with them is that lots do not connect to
the phone so I have no data as to how many times they have fired. Must sort
it out with the manufacturer. Maybe it is a battery problem.
 
In November we had 14 outings resulting in 12 possums and 23 rats. The
possums are in line with previous years which was 11. It is interesting that
for the last four years the average has been exactly 11 possums. I wonder
why that would be. As I told Marcel maybe they stay deep in the forest and
feed on new seedlings of kowhai, or wineberry or fuchsia. In October we
catch more because they have young ones and they are out to feed on grass.
The rats are always there. Hard to know what impact all our trapping has.
 
Also this month I had Michelle and Tim on an inspection of the trap lines.
Michelle is from Ecan who have been good sponsors of the trust and Tim is
from DoC also interested in what we do in the Rakaia Gorge. I took them down
Piccadilly Line then up to lookout point and from there back to car. We did
not get any catches until the last trap T17 had a possum. A kind of bonus.
There were plenty of birds and even a shining cuckoo was present. It should
have been quite impressive. But they have not come back to me. Also took
them to the visitor’s book which is receiving lots of comments all very
positive.
 
The Fantail Shop is all installed but has so far no goods for sale in it. I
am still looking for things to sell which are reasonably cheap. Kind of
souvenirs like cards, small pottery and other stuff. The Weta Condo is also
still empty. It might take a while to get Wetas in there. If the rats and
possums have not all eradicated then we should surely get some residents.
 
So that is all good news. The birds should be busy still nesting and raising
chicks. They can be heard sometimes calling for food. I just hope that by
end of year we will have lots more bellbirds, fantails, grey warblers and
waxeyes. I am also always on the lookout for a Tui. Our neighbour has
reported a tui in her garden this month so they cannot be all that far away.
There is plenty of food for the tuis in the gorge. Especially fuchsia. And I
have recently discovered many fuchsia trees along the walkway and especially
deeper in the bush. I had no idea that so many are still growing. They are
still flowering and some are producing berries. Konini berries they are
called and are quite delicious.

​Another month has passed. It goes so quick if one is catching possums! We managed to get 26 of them which makes it the best September since start of the project. It did bring the total to 1031 possies! Then we had 33 rats and 3 stoats. These are good numbers. Interesting is that some of the first traps out there, D2 and D3 have had rats on a regular basis. Have they come back or are the traps now ‘matured’ and rats go into them?
 
Such numbers are only possible because we go out there so often and clear the traps and rebait. In fact we had 19 outings in September. Some lines need constant attention. District Line and Waterloo Line are always good to check. I have not done Central Line for a while because there the possum numbers have come down quite drastically. Used to be a star performer. Still traps will remain to get any stragglers or newcomers. I find that even with old apple inside the trap the possums still go in. But always better with fresh apple.
 
The trapping numbers are really also good because we have not been able to do Northern Line and top of Circle Line because of lambing. Also of course the new area, Mornington Crescent, has not been done in September because of lambing. But that will soon change. So, in the meantime I have been working on another line which I simply call Backtrack. It is between the golf course and the neighbouring farm. There is a strip of land with lots of native plants and quite a few birds in there. Fantails, bellbirds and grey warblers especially. It is along fairway 5 and 7.
 
So I redeployed the Trapinator traps which had been down on the walkway not doing much at all in the tall pine trees and already caught about 10 possums! Then through the middle of the new growth of natives I used 24 traps Marcel had in his garage doing not much at all and they are now doing good work catching the rats and mice. The track is not quite finished yet and I have to get more inners. The supplier short changed me by sending only 20 of them instead of 40. But it will be rectified.
 
Then I wanted to know whether Piccadilly Line was free of predators and put the camera near trap T57 to see what is going on in the forest. The camera was there for 10 days and when I took it home to see the footage on computer to my great disappointment it showed one large healthy looking cat! It passed the camera basically every day. Then on most days there was also a possum going up and down its own track. Heartbreaking. Not predator free yet and we have been trapping there for three years!
 
So now I put the big guns down there! In the form of an AT220 which has proved rather good at catching possums and cats. So have to see. And then of course camera goes back to make sure nothing else moves around. At least I saw no rats on the camera footage. Great relieve.
 
Thank you all again for helping with this project. It is going really well and I believe the bird numbers have increased yet again. Also the Fantail Visitors Book is doing really well. It is used on lots of days and people write nice things into it. The Fantail Shop is also going to be open soon. The cabinet for it is almost ready and now we have to get some goods to go into it. The newest idea that came to mind is why not have a Fantail Post Office down there? People can buy the card, put the address on to the envelope and then put it into the Post Office Box, we collect the mail and send it to wherever. Service costs ten dollars! All funds go into the Fantail Account. Later on I will be working on the Fantail Gallery as well. I have already earmarked a spot for it on Circle Line. It will be panels with pictures of all the birds and a small description of their characteristics. Such good fun it all is.
 
If you have any other splendid ideas please let me know. We turn this walkway into the best walkway in New Zealand!!

​​Long time no tweet! But things have been happening. The fantails are all over the place. so are the bellbirds, the grey warblers, the waxeyes, kereru and even a few tomtits are about. And there will shortly be many more once the breeding season starts in a few weeks. 

Yes, we have been eliminating predators in large numbers and the reason for this tweet is that we have reached a magic number of 1000 possums. Not sure why it is magic, but it sure has got to make a difference. No more nest raiding by possums, no more stealing the kowhai flowers and no more clearing the forest floor of seedlings. Poor possies. 

Then we have had loads of rats. In fact, almost 1500 rats have gone into our traps and have been eliminated for the benefit of the birds and for a whole lot of other creatures living down there in the forest. A better chance for the birds to survive, a better chance for the birds to breed and a better chance for the birds to tweet! Lucky birdies!

And then we have removed stoats, weasels and hedgehogs and others, all adding up to nearly 3000 predators gone. How ever anything survived in the bush is amazing. But everything is now slowly coming back. The next breeding season is our third giving hope to a real improvement in birdsong. The forest itself is recovering as well. New seedlings sprouting all over regenerating the plant life. 

It started all so slow with a few traps just to see what would happen and then more traps and more traps and now there are over 500 traps installed and ready to pounce. They need looking after, checking, re-setting, cleaning, re-luring. It is a big job and for that purpose, to make it easier, the traps are along traplines with names like Piccadilly, Waterloo or Circle Line. Do not ask me why I chose the London Tube to name these lines. Maybe it is because when I enter the forest it is a bit like going underground. If you like to see the whole network go to www.trap.nz and request to become a member or send me an email.

To make it even more interesting for the walkers we will soon have a visitors book down on the walkway near the coal mine and the fantail shop will soon open too. It is a self-service shop where painted stones will be sold, painted by the local school plus other kind of fantail memorabilia. All funds going to the trust. I let you know when it is all open. 

I have to thank you again for supporting the trust with donations. And especially I would like to mention a few volunteers who help with trapping: Marcel and Mel, Jon and Sue, Paul and Jo, sometimes Lindsay and Anthony too. So again a big thank you from us, Christine and Robbie of The Fantail Trust and from the fantails too. Below a picture from a recent trapping outing with some children on an environmental educational walk.

​

​What a day! It was trapping with Jon and Sue, (Dr. Who and Sue) and their grandchildren. They wanted to come a week ago but Sue got sick and they could not come. They would have stayed the night and we would have had two days of trapping. So they came today before they go back to Ireland. The kids. They have been here two years ago and had great fun.
 
I had a big day planned for them. Deployment of seven new traps and then checking the new traps I already had out there. I did not go out to check them deliberately because then better chance to get something. Anyway, I had four traps in my pack and each kid had a trap as well. So off we go about 10.30. Just walk from here as it is not too far to get to Northern Line and the new Mornington Crescent.
 
The three traps of the kids were going to go into the trees just along the track running along the golf course but on the other side. They were all traps I recovered from down Waterloo Line. They had never done much so thought better put them somewhere else. The fist trap we just put on a tree not far from the third house down from us. I made the children write their name into the trap. A souvenir for me. Each time I open one I see their name on it. Then I said if they are at home and go into my website they can see how many possums they caught.
 
So, we go on and put the other two further down. You can see them on the map with their name: trap Ruadhri, trap Aoife, trap Meabh. All strange Irish names. But nice. We get to the first trap and nothing in it. Funny there is always possum poo around there and still I have caught no possum there. From there we make way along Northern Line and Ruadhri puts some lure onto all the traps which have nothing. He is very keen to help.
 
Then we get to Mornington Crescent, and I have great hopes for a possum. The first trap T17 has nothing. Again, there is possum poo around but no catch. Next trap is FT1 on a tree and it has nothing. Then it is T35. Nothing. The kids run along the fence to T50 nothing, but they missed a blue marker indicating trap AT2. I call them back and make Ruadhri go over fence to check. He goes down and calls back: possum! Great relieve for me and I ask him can you bring it up and then we throw it into the bush. After some reluctance he picks it up and we see that it is two possums. A baby as well. Bonus point. Then he swings it and it flies into the fence. He runs after it and picks it up again and then throws it over and into undergrowth. Good. So much fun.
 
We make our way around the corner to T71 and again nothing, then T31 nothing. Then we get to blue marker showing site of AT1 just over the fence and down the slope in the bush. Again, I tell Ruadhri to go down and his sister follows him as well. They disappear for a while and then shout out: three possums. I can hardly believe it and go down myself. And there indeed under the trap are three possums. So, sister takes one up and I take one up and Ruadhri takes one. And then one by one we swing them over the fence and into the bush. Poor things.
 
The children are getting excited now and we get to T99 which is empty, then to T100 again empty and T101 also empty. Ruadhri runs ahead to trap T102 and he calls out more possums! I get there and we shake possum out of trap and big disaster I thought because there was also a baby, but it was still alive! I thought I am going to traumatise these kids as they all come up to see. I say well nothing we can do but throw it over into the bush. It will die eventually. Not sure what they thought but we all did. I just said sorry to the possum, and they agreed.
 
Then we went further along fence and passed trap T103 which is empty, but the kids already seen trap T104 and they run really fast and again really excited call out: possum! Ruadhri goes over the fence, and we prise the possum from the trap and this one too had a baby but dead. So not so much a problem. Same procedure, Ruadhri takes possum and throws it into bush, and I say sorry.
 
That was the end of the line but from there we deployed four more traps along the fence and now trap T108 is the last one. From there slow walk back home and the children quite exhausted. Mind you so am I. It was more than three hours! But I still had to do the cooking for dinner. I promised them a chicken pie. They almost fell asleep on the table especially Meabh, the youngest one. Now they are gone and I write report. Have you counted. It is nine possies!

Jon and Sue came out here in fact for a birthday celebration. But we did manage to get out on their first day here and we were able to deploy three more traps. Automatic ones. A104, A105 and A106! They are in an area which we have not trapped that much before. Just above the river and below the walkway. Not easy to access. 

It was such a wonderful, beautiful day. And when we worked on one trap attaching it to a kowhai tree there were at least 20 bellbirds right above us. Plus we heard several times a kereru flying past.
 
Then on the next day they went down onto Piccadilly Line and got a rat in D3 and one in D27. Both traps have been there for a while now and have not caught anything recently. So good to know that they are still necessary. 
 
Encouraging was also an article that I read that in Wellington on the Miramar peninsula they have eradicated Norway rats, weasels and almost all ship rats. The Norway rats are very large but we do not seem to have any here. Thanks God. They did it all with trapping. No poisons used. They have thousands of traps all around the suburbs and coastline and have been going for about ten years I think.
 
So that really was good news for me because if they can do it then so can we. Mind you the terrain here is quite different from up in Wellington. Some areas of the gorge are just too steep to put traps in. So maybe some rats will always be there and from there re-infest the forest. Such a nuisance.
 
Our tally for August was 21 possums, 42 rats and 1 weasel. Not bad. In fact the best result since January. We had 24 trapping days in August. Thank you so much everybody for helping. 
 

​

​Down Piccadilly Line today. Just crossing over to the walkway a young man came along. So I asked him have you seen the closed sign and danger sign at other end of walkway. No he said. Maybe somebody moved it? Anyway I talked to him and he was interested in the traps. He was from Holland working in Singapore. So I took him along to hopefully show him a dead rat.
 
Alas there was no dead rat! But I opened a trap to show him the mechanics. Then we got to near coalmine and T6 had two possusms!!! Quite exciting for him because he had never seen a possum let along a dead one.
 
So today we got three more possies. The first one was down at the house where the people complained about a possum always coming to their doorstep and leaving a mess. So now we got it! 

But today's highlight was the sighting of two kereru! First there was one sitting on bare branch and then suddenly a second one flew in from further down. Very exciting and beautiful.

​Checked all the new traps and had a rat in one of them. That is good news because now I know they work. They are different from all the other traps. Wooden boxes too but smaller so I do not think I get stoats in them. Mainly rats. They are the ones I got for free from the prison guys in Christchurch.
 
Then I went down Waterloo Line and did only get a rat in D42 and a possum in T45. Which is great news. The rats will soon be in the thousands

July was quite a busy month. Spent June in Europe. So only limited amount of trapping has been going on. Nevertheless trapper Jon and Sue, trapper Lindsay and trapper Margaret and Anthony have been out a few times while we were away. They did a great job and I am so grateful that they come out and look after the traps. 

Between us we have been 19 times on different lines and getting lots of vermin. The total for July is 14 possums, 7 stoats or weasels and 45 rats. We really seem to get the rats now. The traps have been there just over a year and start becoming attractive to rats. Mind that we often re-lure them with peanut butter which always makes a difference.

We also deployed 10 more Timms traps for possums and 12 tunnel rat traps with a T-Rex trap inside. It will take some time to see how effective these are going to be. 

Total of predators eliminated is now almost 2000 and we hope by the end of August that it will be more than that. Another milestone will be a 1000 rats and 800 possums. All getting very close. 

We also observe lots of Kowhai trees in flower and always bellbirds feeding in them. It is a delight to see and to hear! Hopefully the birdies will fatten themselves up on the nectar and then be ready for laying their eggs in late September and during October. Busy time ahead. 

​Anyway possums are go again. Had one down by the coalmine in T46. All eaten by a cat I think. Then further up in the same stream gully was another one T54. Also mangled and eaten by cat. I know there is a cat around there. It was on camera a while ago. Must make more effort to get it.
 
Then again along the stream there was a rat in D35. Very good. Tomorrow trapper Lindsay is out. So I do not have to go. Might deploy more traps around golf course. See how I go. 

​Anyway today was wonderful day and I thought why not I can do the golf course traps. Always good for an easy outing. Still about two hours. I walk right from house onto golf course and first trap is not far. Nothing in it. Nothing in second one either. But then I get to TD3 by the small lake and see something sticking out. I open it and it is a nice large stoat. How good is that. Then around the lake is another trap and when I approach the marker has been sucked up. Something must be inside.
 
Open it and it a small weasel. Just about the same as the stoat but smaller. What a day. From then on I walk the other traps and nothing in them all. Back up the hill to lakeside and nothing there either. Now on homeward run. Get to TD6 and again the marker is up and I have to check. It is another weasel! Then I have to walk around back onto golf course again and down to lake.
 
The trap I have by a large tree is completely submerged in water. I leave it. Never seen the lake so full. Around I walk and get to trap TD9. It is floating in the lake! Normally it is high on dry ground. I see the marker right up and so decide to retrieve the trap with my walking pole. Open it and guess what: another weasel.
 
That is now three weasels and one stoat. Fantastic.