August 26th, 2024

​​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.

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