Wetlands
Update April 08
We have had a real drought this summer, with no rain to speak of from December 10 until 29 March, when the skies let drop a gentle rain that lasted for days and days. Paddocks that were bare have suddenly become green again. The ponda almost dried out but they have filled to about half full now and that bodes well for the winter. The dry has pushed the dabchicks away and we have a few canada geese, although they have been flocking up big time, and no doubt they will be back for the winter!
Fortunately the flax and the swamp plants have done well so the water table cannot have been too far down.
However with autumn well and truly on the way more rain has fallen and the totaras and kahikateas have spruced up a little in their branches. Dab chicks have had another successful season with four resident pairs working on two sets of lagoons. The canada geese have reappeared in the very early morning making a noise to waken the dead only to fly off for feeding around five am. The tuis are back after a sojourn further up in the mountains feeding on the honey dew. From a farming viewpoint we worry if we have enough feed to go into the winter for the sheep and horses and may yet have to cull some more lambs. The Shining Cuckoo arrived from the Solomon Islands in the Western Pacific for the summer and their call is heard everywhere. They search out the nest of the Grey Warbler and lay their eggs for this tiny bird to hatch on its own. In the process the shining cuckoo rolls out many of the grey warbler eggs. They have now left again for the Solomons, and judging from the number of their calls over summer they have had a very successful breeding season.