Welcome to Pateke Lagoons Wetlands, Kapiti Coast New Zealand
Pateke Lagoons Wetlands is now being offered for private sale.
Take a virtual tour of Pateke Lagoons Wetlands
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Pateke Lagoons is a fifty acre wetland in sand dune country on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand. Its owners,
Adrienne and Peter Dale have turned the area into a wildfowl refuge and have planted thousands of native
trees to help the re-generation process. The wetland is covenanted with the Queen Elizabeth National Trust
as a waterfowl refuge.
See History>
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Bird Life |
The area was drained for farmland about 80 years ago. Now the land is returning to its natural state with water-ways providing secure roosting and nesting for a wide variety of waterfowl. Shovellers, mallards, grey ducks and teal abound, as do dabchicks, heron, Canada geese, shags, paradise shelducks and pukeko.
Also seen at Pateke Lagoons are native falcons (karearea), wood pigeons, tui, bell birds and rosellas. Pateke Lagoons is named after a rare brown teal, the pateke, which may someday take refuge here on our wetland.
More Info
Forest Birds: Bellbirds and tui feed on the flax flowers which are in full bloom and full of nectar.
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Early morning mist covers the wetland. Flax flowers are ripe and thousands of birds feed on their nectar.
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Weed Wars
If you are keen enough to try to control your own infestations of blackberry, read on.
Writing
See our family photos >>>
A summer morning splashes yellow on the trees
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ACCOMMODATION
Pateke Lagoons offers two guest rooms, each with en suite facilities, outside access, and their own private courtyard. There is unsurpassed viewing of the wetland from the decks above the lakes. Adrienne and Peter Dale welcome visitors to Pateke Lagoons Wetlands. They are enthusiasts for wetland, wild fowl and native forest. They have made paths that are mostly level so that folk seeking 'gentle adventure' can stay at the lodge and wander at their leisure around the property. Accommodation is top quality. The cuisine is fresh New Zealand. Pateke Lagoons offers peace and quiet in beautiful natural surroundings.
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Ruth Pretty Cooking School Accommodation.
We are situated very close to Ruth Pretty's Cooking Course venue and offer a drop-off and pick-up service for people attending these exciting courses. We have been to some of her courses and can vouch for them as entertaining and informative.
Native Bush is returning to Pateke Lagoons, in particular rimu, totara and kahikatea, all very tall swampland trees which were once the dominant forest type. In the swampier areas, native flax (phormium tenax) is prolific with many large bushes reaching well over three metres, their flowers supporting many birds with their sweet nectar in summer. In former times flax was a major industrial crop in this area providing fibre for twine and rope and a coarse linen.
The seasons roll:
Winter 2010 It has been a cold winter so far with more wind than usual and a lot more rain. The clear nights and frosty days of June went missing this year. Instead the frosts have come later, in July and just a few of them. The lagoons have been full of ducks, particularly grey teal, whose 'chukka chukka chukka' is quite a common background sound throughout the day. A blessing has been that the Canada geese have been late arriving--in fact the 22nd of July. They have been flying around in flocks during the night but until today have decided to stay elsewhere. Last night they arrived en mass with squadron after squadron on a noisy glide path followed by a tremendous splashdown then a garrulous battle for who could recount the experience at the greatest decibel level. Today they are having their annual patch protection battle--with the same pairs as last year probably the winners for nesting space. Can't wait for them to get it over with, do their business and go silent while the nesting and rearing carries on. Canada geese are lovely then as we get to see the best parenting in nature through the January when they all fly away.
The dabchicks are also skittery with sporadic mating flurries, while a couple of swan fly in daily for a bath and a flap around.
The tuis are making heavy use of the bird bath and it is lovely to see so many more than we used to have in the early days. The puriri and karaka trees have borne fruit this year which must be a boon for the birds. Be nice if they attracted a few more keruru as well. (an interesting aside- spellcheck did not like keruru and offered Kerouac instead!)
As for the stock, feed is hard to find at the minute so they get a different view every few days in a new paddock, also with little grass, while they wait for their feed out times.
Inside we have fires, eat slow-cooked curried goat, and hearty pea and ham soups.
As ever, life is quiet but life is good.
Winter into spring
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Pateke Lagoons in drought.
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Pateke in Autumn.
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April at Pateke.
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Summer 2010. Read More
For the Birders: There are a number of great places for birding, whether estuarine, coastal or bush that are close to Pateke Lagoons Wetlands.
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